Lengx2 Blogs!

SI TIGUN CAFE

2009-05-02T22:15:00.015+12:00

Instead of having our usual weekend catch up at the coffee chains, today we decided to try out somewhere different, hence we were at Si Tigun Cafe on Nagore Road, next to New World Park. It is situated along a stretch of beautifully preserved pre-war buildings.

Whenever I see tiramisu (rm7.50) on the menu, the other cakes will automatically become second choice! haha... I'm glad we went for this, it tastes as good as it looks. The alcohol in the cake packs a punch too! Goes so well with a cup of strong Turkish coffee (rm4.50).

I'd come back here to try out their different types of coffees and cakes. Overall, it's a nice & relaxing place to hang out. Nothing pretentious, prices are reasonable and just somewhere nice to spend an afternoon.

Here are more pics that I took today....

HKD SEAFOOD RESTAURANT

2008-11-17T21:07:00.013+13:00

This is a belated post for my birthday dinner this year! Just 2 months overdue, don't worry, the menu of this restaurant is still current! hahaha... Now as usual, I'll let the pictures do the talking, while we droooool over it! Here goes:

This is a "must order" whenever you come to this restaurant - Peking Duck!

It comes with a second dish by using the leftover meat on the duck. So order a dish, you get another! This time it is stir fried with mung beans. Or you can order "Sang Choi Bao"... where the duck meat is stir fried with other veges and you eat by wrapping it in lettuce leaves.

Since it was my birthday, my dear friends surprised me with this dish!!!

Thank you!

LOBSTER YEE MEIN!!!

Deep fried blue cod, very fresh and aromatic - so nice just with plain white rice

Homemade tofu, crispy on the outside, silky smooth inside!

Deep fried prawns balls coated with salted duck egg. Sinful (who cares!) yet yummy.

Feeling so hungry now that you want to eat the monitor?? hahaha.... See below for restaurant details :)

HKD Seafood Restaurant

928 Dominion Road

Mt Roskill

Auckland

09 - 620 8928

PIC OF THE DAY 05/09/2008

2008-09-05T22:11:00.003+12:00

Please excuse the reflection in the glass... saw this at a bus stop by Downtown Auckland.

SYLVIA PARK

2008-07-24T19:02:00.010+12:00

Just recently had the chance to properly explore Sylvia Park, this new mall not far from my home. Quite impressed with the design and atmosphere at this mall. Especially quite keen to walk around the new Warehouse Extra which sells groceries along with the usual Warehouse products. Here's a few pictures which I managed to snap while exploring this huge mall.

Walkway from the carpark to the mall

The outside

This is the sign that you can see while driving along the motorway

Cute!

The atrium of the mall

Warehouse Extra from the road

Overall it's a nice mall, everything is still shiny & new. Will go back soon to check out their Borders Bookstore!

NO. 1 BBQ RESTAURANT, COMMERCE STREET

2008-07-12T12:34:00.010+12:00

I haven't been here for a long time now so it was a good idea when my friends suggested this place. The last time we were here may be a year or so ago, the restaurant was clean and food was delicious. This time is totally opposite of our previous encounter.

The first thing which would come to mind as you enter the restaurant is THE MOST SLIPPERY FLOOR ever! As my friend said, it felt like being in a ice skating ring. I have my sneakers on and it felt like walking on oil! Even the staff there have to be so careful when serving the food. Ridiculous!

The dishes were nothing to shout about. My roast duck and BBQ pork combination on rice was marginally OK. The meat were not hot and duck skin certainly wasn't crispy.

Other below average dishes which we ordered were....

Certainly won't be coming back here in a hurry!

PIC OF THE DAY - 04/07/2008

2008-07-05T02:24:00.003+12:00

This the view of Downtown Auckland taken by me last week. As you see in the picture, they are adding a couple more floors to the previous Air New Zealand building. Slightly to the right is the Vero building which is currently Auckland's tallest office tower.

What a beautiful day!

JOLIN SHANGHAI RESTAURANT, DOMINION ROAD

2008-07-01T18:26:00.009+12:00

Had dinner here over the weekend. Here are some pictures to show some of their dishes if you've never been there. Could only get a table close to 8pm since they can get really busy most nights. Their service is good, restaurant is clean and food is delicious! Definitely one of my favourite places to dine.

Welcome to Jolin Shanghai Restaurant! As you can see the menu has pictures of the dishes available. Especially useful if you're not too familiar with Shanghai cuisine.

You can see the portion of the dishes are quite large as well.
One of my favourite dishes, the braised pork ribs. The meat is so tender. The sauce is superb to go with a BIG bowl of plain rice.

Another signature dish here must be their xiao long bao. The skin is really thin and soup inside is full of flavour. This is a must-order here.

They have deep fried dishes such as salt & pepper prawns, chicken or pork.

Hungry yet? Go give it a try and tell me what you think of it :)

PIC OF THE DAY - 28/06/2008

2008-06-28T17:53:00.003+12:00

This one is for my number one fan who is not in NZ at the moment. So, here's something to remind you of home! Our usual Friday night gatherings at Dorothy's Sister, Ponsonby :)

P/s: Please excuse the ashtray full of cigarette butts behind... don't know where that came from... hahaha.

PIC OF THE DAY 26/06/2008

2008-06-26T19:00:00.002+12:00

Snapped this with my new Canon IXUS 80 which I just got yesterday! Was on my way to the bus stop after work when I saw this "bubbles & flame" fountain just outside Downtown Shopping Centre.

HAS IT BEEN THAT LONG?

2008-06-07T09:54:00.003+12:00

Wow, looking at the date of my last post, I started asking myself, "Has it been that long, since September last year?"

Anyway, just a little update here and there to keep my blog alive. Hmm... what have I been up to for the last 9 months or so?? Well, there was the Xmas & New Year holidays, I have completed all my examinations (YAY!!!), completed all my practical objectives sign offs (for my qualification YAY!), went on a holiday to Malaysia and Singapore, ate heaps (obviously, and not just on the holiday), started swimming, doing some weights at home, a lot of coffee sessions, movie nights, tvb series nights, gain & loss heaps of weight, reading other people's blogs and of course, work.

Yup, that sort of sums up what I have been up to since my last post :)

BANGKOK - THE FOOD

2007-09-09T22:11:00.000+12:00

Ah... this shall be the last part of the Bangkok series. The Food! My taste buds have had such a wonderful treat! Let's have a look what was devoured.

I was really craving for durian and mango with sticky rice. So naturally we had this less than 2 hours after we touched down. YUMMY!!!!!! Look at the yummilicious durian. Isn't it sinful???

At the local coffee shop, we also ordered chicken rice (boneless and so so smooth chicken meat), satay, fried eggs with oyster, rice noodles soup.

At chatuchak weekend market, we had fried quail eggs, fragrant fish cakes, fried pineapple rice, interesting looking fried thai rice noodles and juicy chicken pieces in yam basket, fleshy coconut juice and miniature cute looking burgers.

In the Silom area, Alex brought us to this really nice cafe called Bug & Bee. Didn't know they are so famous until all the reviews from my web search of this cafe. This is a small sample what we ordered as I too busy digging in to take more pics. Hahaha..

Fish cakes with wasabi mayo

Chicken Salad

Hong Kong Fried Rice & Prawns with Crepe Noodles

Crispy Prawns

Chicken with mango

While waiting for our cabaret show to start at the Asia Hotel, of all things, we had mooncakes! hehe.. why not since it's not too long to go before Mooncake Festival. We had a durian flavoured and lotus seed mooncake. Can't say it's the best mooncakes I've had but still a good experience nonetheless, eating mooncake in the hotel bistro with full cutlery! How luxurious!

On the last day, after all $$$ has dried up, we ate at a fast food kinda place at MBK mall called Santa's. Very good value as all the meals are 39 to 49 bahts (approx NZ$2!). Here's one with fried chicken strips, eggs and fried rice. See what I mean?

So this concludes this series of my Bangkok trip:) Of course there are still loads of food which we tried over there but if I were to post all of them, I think Blogger will be overloaded! Hehehe. Look forward to more travels in the near future!!!

BANGKOK - THE PLACES

2007-09-06T21:50:00.000+12:00

It was such a whirlwind 4 days, hopefully I could recall the places that we've been to. Here are some highlights:-

1. Boat trip around the Chao Phraya river

The 4 of us had the boat in the picture all to ourselves for 1 and half hours, 400 baht each. Basically it went along the river and we could stop at a few places if we wanted to, such as the crocodile farm. You can actually see how some of the locals live while travelling along the river, passing through the backs of people's homes. You along go pass a few temple along the way, the one which I really wanted to go to was Wat Arun. Somehow we must have missed that stop. The tour ended by the Grand Palace which was our next destination. Though on that day, it was only openning at 2pm and we were suppose to meet the others at 2.30pm. Since we have 2 hours originally planned for the Grand Palace, we opted for tours on tuk tuks around the different temples around that area.

Beware of the very cheap tuk tuk drivers hanging around there as they will take you to souvenir shops and tailors before actually taking you to your destination. Nice experience on the tuk tuks, I guess when you're on one, you just have to trust the driver to be careful of your safety! haha.. Anyway, the guy took us to a few shops and it was quite frustrating since you get wanna get to your destination straight away instead of all these unnecessary stops. They'd get petrol vouchers it seem, if they bring tourists to the shops. Anyway, we told the driver NO MORE SHOPS after the last one, so he brought us to the temple we wanted to go to. Guess what? When we came out, he was gone! Yes, no where to be seen and we haven't even paid him yet! He was supposed to bring us Siam Paragon to meet our friends! Probably made enough from our stops along the way. hahahaha... Here are some pics from a few temples which we went to:

2. The Malls

I am especially impressed with the interior design and the exterior landscaping of the malls. So beautiful!

3. Chatuchak Weekend Market

This place is amazing, so many things to buy, to see, to eat & to experience! You can get anything there, clothes, shoes, homeware, food, etc. My favourite part of the market has to be the pets sections, especially the puppy, kitten & rabbit section. I couldn't believe that so many adorable animals were to put out on display for shoppers to touch and play with. Unlike the ones here, there are no glass panels to separate you and the small animal. You can actually TOUCH them! If not for my eyes, I would have hugged all of them!

4. Calypso Cabaret Show

This show is at Asia Hotel. Really didn't expect such a stylish and elaborate show! 1000 baht well spent for the show (1 1/2 hours) which includes a drink as well. I think this is a must-see show when in Bangkok. I'm sure you will be as impressed as I was!

5. Massage

Of course must go for massage when in Bangkok. I went to Health Land Spa & Massage. The main entrance looks as if it a resort that you're arriving at, very luxurious. I had the aroma therapy massage (850 baht), 1 and a half hours ( I just realised a lot of activities are 1 and a half hours in BKK) and it was so relaxing with private room and shower. Total relaxation with soothing music and oil massage.

Since we're on the topic of relaxation, here's a pic of pool in our hotel, Indra Regent Hotel.

So there you go, the highlights of some of the places which I visited while in Bangkok. Trying to pack so many things into the short 4-5 days is so hard. Nevertheless, I had a wonderful trip and fully enjoyed myself, every minute of it :)

BANGKOK - THE PEOPLE

2007-09-03T21:07:00.000+12:00

What a fantastic holiday! One minute chatting with friends over coffee of my desire to go away for a short break, the next thing I knew, I was giving out my passport name to book a holiday to Bangkok, Thailand. Thanks Ivy for organising the trip! You see, Nothing is Impossible!

Now, who went on the trip?

Charles, Anthony,Ivy

Peter, Me, Ivy, Anthony at Bangkok airport

There we met up with,

Rongo, Alex & Samuel

As you can see, it was a BIG gathering for all of us. I haven't travelled abroad with such a big group of friends before. How fun!

This is one of the very few pics of me without sunnies on. Why? My eyes (yes, notice the plural, BOTH eyes got eye infection!) started to swell on the way to the airport from Auckland! Hahaha... Great, what a nice way to start the holiday. Hehehe... I am determined not to let this eye infection business ruin my catch up time with great friends, my eating adventures and, shopping!

Just to let you see what I mean about my poor eyes, feast your eyes on this! As you can see the swelling is on the upper lid on the right eye and lower lid on the left. Believe me, this picture is already toned down for sensitive readers. Hahaha. Yikes!

Not to worry, just put on my stylish sunnies, problem solved!

Now, isn't this much better? hahaha... tricky bit is how to conceal this during night time??? Being in a shopping paradise has its advantages, just buy a lighter shade sunglass! As you shall see in the coming up posts!

RANDOM FOOD PICS

2007-08-02T20:57:00.000+12:00

Here's some random food pics for you foodies out there. Been eating out so much lately, but unfortunately I don't have my reliable cam with me at all times, so here's just a snippet of went into my mouth. Hahaha.

Steamboat at Ivy & Anthony's

Nothing beats a hot and steamy steamboat on a chilly winter's night. Should be able to fit in another few sessions before this winter is over.

Recently went to the Newmarket Cock & Bull for dinner. Had always wanted to try it out since the food looked quite yum from the window when I was walking pass. My verdict: Good, simple yet comfort style food. Value for money as the serving was quite large. Not one of those fansy mansy big-plate-fucking-tiny-portion nonsense. Here's a peek at my Steak & Stout Hotpot ($16.95).

Steak & Stout Hotpot

After dinner, we walked over to nearby Safran Cafe & Bar. The food & service here is excellent. Chocolate + coffee = bliss! We were all craving for their very famous Steamed Chocolate Pudding. Look at all the desserts!

Steamed Chocolate Pudding

Ahhh, weekend is almost here. Will start it off with our company function in the city tomorrow night. Taxi chits all ready for the trip home, so will bus to work in the morning. Nite nite!

SUSHI TRAIN, AUCKLAND

2007-04-07T11:19:00.000+12:00

It is through this foodie couple that I have come to know of this relatively new Japanese restaurant called Sushi Train. Thanks Mr & Mrs T!

What can I say, the food there is of the freshest ingredients, beautifully prepared right in front of you and service is fast and efficient. Because of the prime train seatings, be prepared to wait around dinner time.

I'm sure everyone is familiar with the concept which is basically just choose whatever you want from the "train" and start eating! That would make up for the waiting time for your seats :)
Here's a peek of what we ordered that night.

This is the sushi which is the most impressive that night. The chef stacks about 4 sushis together, places a saladdy kind of mixture on top and blow-torches it! Hence, I shall call this the "blow-torch sushi"! The taste was amazing but be warned it is very rich in taste.

If you don't see the stuff that you want going pass you, no worries, just point to the items on the menu and the chefs will make it for you!

The prices are quite reasonable, from memory ranging from $3.50 to $7.00. However, most of the items are around the $4.50 range. Four of us went that night and the bill came to $25 per person. I think it's quite a good deal considering we were very full. To those who know me, you know it takes a lot to fill Lengx2's tummy! Hahahahaha! Enjoy!

SECRET THAI GARDEN, OTAHUHU

2007-03-25T19:15:00.000+12:00

After reading about this place in Canvas, we decided to try it out. And am glad we did!

We ordered the set dinner menu which is $35 per person. It includes entrees, tom yum soup, 4 main dishes (incl a noodle), rice and fruit platter. Totally yummy food and remember to tell your waiter if you want your dishes to be spicy as they have moderated the spicyness level.

I am most impressed with the garden setting hence the name Secret Thai Garden. Tables are set in lush beautiful garden setting and you totally can't tell that it is so beautiful from walking along the main road. The atmosphere is 8/10, just like you are on your Thai holiday!

The service is superb which makes the whole dining experience even better. Friendly & efficient.

BED, PENANG

2007-02-23T04:54:00.000+13:00

Thanks for visitng www.lengx2.blogspot.com, I am now updating my blog from Bed Cafe in Pulau Tikus, Penang, Malaysia!

This is the first time actually updating my blog from somewhere apart from home. One of the things which I really like in Malaysia is that you can get FREE wifi from any cafes here. However, it's not my lappy which I am using now, this belongs to one of my very dear friends :)

How I hope Auckland cafes can have such great facilities FREE for their patrons. From my limited amount of IT knowledge, I don't think this is so difficult to do with a limited expenditure. Why isn't it happening in Auckland??? Can someone please tell me?

AKL TO PEN FLIGHT MH0130

2007-02-18T17:01:00.000+13:00

Hooray, finally made it to Penang! I have to say my flight from Auckland to KL this time must be one of the most comfortable flights I have been on. The back part of the plane was only half full this time hence those who are seated at the back had the choice of choosing where we wanna sit! There was so much choice to choose from. There were window seats or the ones by the aisle with four seats to yourself. You can lift up all the hand rests and make a bed also! I chose a window seat with no one next to me. Best seats in the house. We were all so comfy at the back.

There was a sign at the check in counter in the Auckland Airport that says MAS is having a special offer now, economy passengers can pay $NZ700 when checking in to upgrade to Business Class.I think the space I had was so much better than Business Class. Suckers! Like that also call a special offer ah??? Offer $200 or $250 for the upgrade la, I doubt that they have a single person that day that took up the offer. Would be interesting to find out how they did on that offer, don't you think?

Anyway, I didn't sleep at all during the 10 hr 50 mins flight. How come? Well, they have Movies, Music & TV on Demand for all economy seats now! It was great, can choose from a long list of movies on offer whenever you want to start watching. You can play, pause, fast forwar & rewind the movies. So convenient! I watched Marie Antoinette, Phone Number 601, Men Suddenly In Black II & My Name is Fame. So time passed fairly quickly.

When I got to the domestic terminal, found out my flight to Penang was delayed. A bit disappointed but no worries, I've travelled 11 hours already, what's another 45 mins, right?

LAPPY HAPPY

2007-02-18T16:33:00.000+13:00

Here are the pictures of my laptop as promised! I have to say, the screen seems to be bigger than what I thought! haha. Functionality wise, this is the 3rd day I'm using it, so far so good (touch wood)!

As I have learnt from reading other blogs, what I should do is actually take pics of the new laptop with my blog on the screen!!! hahahaha. So here goes.

One of my fave parts of the lappy is the white trim on the sides. Looks so cool :)

There you go, the new lappy. Everyone say hi to Lappy!

WHO MOVED MY CHEESE?

2007-02-04T22:57:00.000+13:00

Tonight I read a really good book called "Who Moved My Cheese?". This book was loaned to me by a very dear friend this afternoon. Don't act so shocked, ok? I do read once in a while, you know. haha.

I think this is such a good book, a kind of motivational/self-help book which I think I can really apply the concept in my life now. It tells a very simple story and yet the message is so inspirational. Want to know what's it about? Well, I won't spoil it for you, get the book & go have a read yourself!

May be we can have a little discussion about the contents :)

SMOKED SALMON, AVOCADO & CREAM CHEESE SUSHI

2007-02-01T11:23:00.000+13:00

I just had the yummiest sushi from St Pierre's downtown. Best of all, it was made fresh right in front me. They didn't have it pre-packed on the counter, so it was made just when I ordered. They are usually quite good at taking requests, if you don't see what you want on display, you can always ask them to make it for you, well unless they have run out of that particular ingredient.

If you like smoked salmon and cream cheese (either combined or individually), believe me, this sushi is made for YOU! The cheese is so smooth and adds richness to the sushi. And it blends so well with smoked salmon.

Go get it now!

P/s: I find that at St Pierre's, the wasabi they use has no "kick" at all. Thinking of keeping my own tube of wasabi in my desk drawer for sushi days.

LAPTOP ARRIVED

2007-01-26T11:31:00.000+13:00

Last weekend I finally I put in my internet order for my newest toy, a Dell lappie. After months of considering what to buy and how much, I have decided that I would go with Dell, the main reason being that their laptop specifications are the highest for the lowest price among the other well known brands that I can find. Not that I will need EVERYTHING, but why not???

I think the hard part in making up my mind to go with Dell is because they don't have shops or even booths here in NZ where you can actually go in to SEE & TOUCH the actual object that you are considering to buy. I know, when I am buying anything (especially when they are in thousands of $$$) I would like to at least be able to touch and feel it in my hot little hands. Oh well, what to do? I'm more concern with its functionality rather than its look.

I have to say I'm very impressed with Dell's account security department. Because I'm buying this laptop using a NZ issued credit card and the laptop is to be delivered to a Malaysian address, it has raised some bells. So they actually called me in NZ from Malaysia and verified that it is indeed a valid purchase and the address to be delivered is correct. Not only that, they also called my bank here and my bank called me to verify this purchase! Now, some vendors would jump at chance of any sales, as long as they got paid, right? Kudos to Dell Malaysia for having such a professionally-run finance/sales department! If it is indeed credit card fraud that is happening, prevention is so much better than cure.

Anyway, all the calling was on Monday to verify the purchase. After that, you can track at what stage your order is currently at on their website. I checked mine and the ETA is this Friday. By Wednesday, my sis in Malaysia has already received the lappie by courier (which they did call beforehand)! TWO days after the order! How's that for service :) She's currently checking the lappie and all its bells & whistle for me. Fingers crossed that everything is OK!

Can't wait to land my hot & sweaty little hands on it when I arrive in Malaysia in 3 weeks time!

p/s: I can guarantee there'll pics of it when it happens! haha!

NEW YEAR, NEW TEMPLATE, NEW ME!

2007-01-20T13:45:00.000+13:00

Since it is still January, it is not too late to wish everyone a HAPPY NEW YEAR! It has certainly been a while since my last posting. I will make sure this year this blog will be better than eva. Not too hard because there was hardly any postings last year anyway, cheeky eh? Give me a break, ok? Trying my best here.

I feel really motivated this morning, determine to put into motion some of the goals that I set out to do this year. It doesn't matter if the goals are not accomplished or finished, I would just want to know that I've tried and not just keep thinking about it and haven't moved my butt the whole year.

I won't list out my new year resolutions or "targets" (accounting talk here, haha) here. Why give myself more pressure , right? However there are a few traits which I'd like to change/improve this year and I don't mind sharing this with you guys. Also, it might motivate you to do the same too :) if you feel that you are that way inclined.

For one, I really need to be more certain of what I want or in other words, to be more decisive. I put it down to being a Libra, I can always see the pros and cons of the decisions which lie in front of me, thus making choosing one alternative rather than the other seems so very difficult. Of course I am not saying I want to make big life decisions without giving it an overall thought, I am just referring to the smaller things in my daily life.

Those who know me can vouch that I am the worst decision maker they know. Always waiting till the last minute to make up my mind, be it going out for a meal to holiday plans to what size of eggs I want to buy! You see what I mean about how indecisive I am? Luckily I have very understanding friends who can tolerate my attitude. Or may be they feel more in control next to someone who's like that?

Secondly, I am the worst procrastinator I know! May be this can be linked to the item on top. I always wait till the last minute to do things, namely studying. Not just studying I am referring to here, it includes sending out birthday cards, waking up in the mornings, cleaning up before guests arrive, sending out CVs, etc. May be I do things better when I am under pressure or with a deadline looming? Could be, but wouldn't it be nicer to be able to have time to relax with a glass of wine before guests arrive rather than looking flustered and huffing and puffing putting the bulky vacuum cleaner away when the door knocks. Or having time to enjoy my first cup of Nescafe before driving out to face the morning peak hour traffic?

By the way, I really like the new template, especially when everything on the sidebar is aligned! Haha. I am so easily pleased. (in certain matters only, mind you) I hope to update more often this year so, here's to an exciting, happy, great, fun, intriguing 2007! You all take care, ya!

THIS TIME HE'S GONE TOO FAR

2006-11-19T20:51:00.000+13:00

I think it's time to actually start using my blog for the other initial intended purpose, that is to jot down my feelings and emotions. So far I haven't touched on my personal life much apart from the meals I've had.... How do I begin?

I've just found out that one of my good friends have been doing some stuff behind my back. For many reasons I do not have the right to be upset about this, but somehow the hurt feelings I just can't control. I find that this is a type of betrayal which I absolutely cannot take...

I just need a place for me to vent my frustrations and not a people bashing exercise, so if I am not writing this post out to be fully comprehendable, please forgive me. I always try to be a good friend to my friends, and luckily I do have a few friends which I know I can trust 100%. This particular "friend" has really gone too far this time. The situation has been played out before, with me being the latest being hurt.

The emotions that I've gone through in the last 48 hours has been a real roller coaster ride... I felt anger at first, then came hurt, betrayed, lied to, confusion. All my previous values and beliefs of how friends should treat each other have been turned upside down. Now I'm tired. Mentally and physically tired. So after calming down and much contemplation, I've decided that it is not worth it to continue this "friendship".

I do not need any explanations or anything like that from him, I just want to let go... I just need to be surrounded by people that really cares about me, not someone who apprears to be everyone's friend.

SORE BACK

2006-10-27T12:00:00.000+13:00

Woke up this morning with a really sore neck and upper back. I hope this is not a sign of age creeping up on me! I am not sure how I hurt it. May be just the way I slept last night.

Is summer coming anytime soon? I am still using my electric blanket till now.

Till next time. Ciao!

I said in my last couple of post that there'll be more frequent updates since I have broadband at home now, remember? Well, due to my laziness, the updates are even more infrequent that before!!! Chee sin one... hahaha... Welcome to my world!

REVIEW: SOTO JAPANESE RESTAURANT

2006-10-02T15:35:00.000+13:00

As you can tell this is becoming more and more like a food blog. Well, at this point in time I'm more interested in writing about food than anything else. So there, those on a diet can quit now. Life is too short to eat limited food. Hehehe....

My birthday celebration last week started with a lavish dinner at Soto Japanese Garden Restaurant. I've heard about this place before at the beginning of the year from a fellow foodie Ange who was totally impressed by the place and I really wanted to try it out for myself. Now, when Ange says that a restaurant is good, you better believe her.

Weirdly enough when Nev wanted to shout me a birthday dinner last week, I totally forgot about this place until he suddenly suggested "Soto!". I immediately answered, "Yes please!". Off we went to St Mary's Bay, I wasn't too sure how to get there but I knew it was behind the Belgium Bar which serves steamed mussels. We finally found the restaurant, the entrance is so simple that you wouldn't think that it's a restaurant inside if not for the windows.

We were greeted by the waitress and shown our table. The deco inside is so japanese, they even have a nice tranquil garden setting at the back. Started off with their house sake. It came in a little tea pot but don't be deceived by the size of it, the sake lasted very well.

We ordered the Zensai Platter (for 2), it came with a selection of entrees. This is good to try out little bits of what the restaurant had to offer. The deep fried Calamari & Beef Karaage is really good. Yum :) Nev also had the miso soup, he said that was pretty good.

We requested that they leave the menu behind as we wanted to order as we go, hehehe... Then came the Tataki Beef salad for Nev. I tried a couple of pieces of the beef, sooooo tender and not over-cooked. Definitely recommended for steak lovers.

Next came my Prawn, Scallop & Oyster filo tempura. ow, this is a MUST TRY! The presented itself is worth every cent. I had the mouth watering prawn & scallop while Nev had the oyster.

Next, I ordered the Crispy Juicy Teriyaki Chicken with Tawara rice rolls. Seriously, the best ever teriyaki chicken I've had in my life! The chicken is seasoned, deep dried and topped off with teriyaki sauce. The sauce is not overly sweet and the chicken pieces is really crispy & juicy. The rice rolls which are seasoned complemented the dish so well, instead of the usual bowl of plain rice.

Although feeling very full, I wasn't going to do without dessert! I'm glad I didn't! You acn choose 3 items from the dessert menu and they make a dessert platter for you. We were greedy and the fact that I wanted all my desserts to myself, I made Nev order his own platter. Hahaha... *evil*

For my selections, I had black sesame ice cream, black sesame creme brulee and the maccha (green tea) tiramisu, pitured. Nev chose the maccha ice cream, vanilla ice cream & dango with sweet anko sauce and papaya pannecota with lime caramel sauce.

You can tell from all the above, it was a totally indulgent night.... I have to mention, the service was top-notch. The waitress was even thoughtful enough to bring the brandy which Nev ordered out on the courtyard to us while we were having a ciggie break.

THANKS NEVILLE!!!!!!! I had a really great meal and excellent company! :)

SUNDAY RAMBLINGS

2006-09-24T12:16:00.000+12:00

Yo! Yo! How's it going everyone? Again apologies for the lack in posts lately. Just been studying most of the nights after work.... as my no.1 fan pointed out to me, my last post was 27 AUGUST 2006!!! hehehe.... So here's just a few Sunday ramblings that pop into my mind.

Just a warning to anyone going out sunbathing today, please read this, better to just stay in the shade and avoid direct sunlight. It's very hard to stay indoors though today since it's so sunny and beautiful outside. Damn, should have done my laundry today. I guess the UV in the sun's rays can kill any germs better bleach! hahaha....

Since I have broadband internet connection now at home, I guess there's no excuse for no postings for long periods of time... Ya, finally joined in the bandwagon of broadband users, thanks to my flatmate Kj :) When he was installing the router thing and setting my PC up for the connecton, the install CD seemed to have some problems automatically setting up on my PC. I thought must be the age of my PC. Luckily the friendly helpdesk guy managed to talk Kj through setting it up manually. Phew! Here I thought I have to get another computer. But the night before, when Kj wanted to install the router, he couldn't find the socket on my PC, reason = no ethernet. Hahaha... so this is what I bought.

I think I have two gay guys living across from my unit.... just a general observation. How do I know? I haven't been spying if you're thinking that, I guess you can call it a "neighbourhood watch".... hahahahaha...... they are in their mid-forties/fifties living with a cat/dog?.... not sure, as I said before, I wasn't spying! hahaha.... oh, my next door neighbour moved out yesterday. Not sure if they were just renting or what. They've just been in there for less than a year... hmm... if they're selling, may be a a very kind banker can top up my mortgage so I can afford to buy it.... then, I knock down the walls and joined the two together! Mwahahaha..... build my own castle!!!!!!! Welcome to Istana Leng Leng! hahahahaha.... I think I need to join more than two terrace houses to call it a castle....

Yay! My birthday is coming up next week!.... Gosh, how time flies. Must take stock of what I've done/accomplished this year and what's the plan for the coming year... hmmm... another post, ok? Need some rather in-depth thinking for this, not to mention a couple glasses of wine:)

Made a bacon & egg pie a few weekends ago for our NY friend who was here. Here's how it turned out. Quite yumm if I say so myslef :) Hahaha.. that night, when I was wiping up after making the pie, I accidentally brushed/pushed a whole freaking tray of eggs from my benchtop to the floor!!! Horror!Luckily only a couple of eggs broken.... phew! Here's how the pie turned out. Have to say it goes very well with roast duck & roast chicken... *wink*

OK, that's all from me for now... Have a good Sunday everyone!

PAN MEEN

2006-08-27T12:32:00.000+12:00

This is such a belated post. A few weeks back we've been treated to a marvellous home made pan meen dinner by L. I've never tried this in Penang believe it or not. So, I'll just let the pictures do the talking. This is gonna such a mission on dial-up connection but I shall give it a go... :)

Started off with the ingredients for the pan meen creation. Of coz, when cooking you have to have some titbits to munch on

Nice setting to set the mood (cozy & casual)

Now, here comes the fun part! Making the pan mee! Everyone gathering around the huge pot of boiling water to make the meen.

Looks fun, eh?
Can you spot my no. 1 fan? Hehehehehehe....

Now here comes the assembling part, just like an lean mean assembling factory, ingredients are placed on the noodles with accuracy & precision.

Please note, I've added an extra ingredient from my own creation. See the paste like thingy next to the canister? Well, the garlic bulbs used for making the soup stock was gonna be chucked out. So I grabbed the garlic bulbs out of the waste disposal (I bet didn't need to know that, hahaha) which smelled very fragrant and mash it all up to add to the noodles! Genius! Hahahahaha.... Apart from my kay poh ingredient, the essential things that goes with this type of noodles are fish balls, shitake mushrooms, fried anchovies, spring onion, fried mince, veges & fried shallots. Our generous host L prepared all this by himself the whole afternoon. *HUGS*********

THE FINISH PRODUCT!

and the verdict?
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YUMMY!!!!

Thanks L for the whole make & eat experience:) Your cooking creations always top of pops!

We will definitely miss you when you leave Auckland in a couple of weeks time. Make sure you bloody use your return ticket!!!!!

I LEARNT MY LESSON

2006-08-17T15:21:00.000+12:00

Lesson I learnt this week is that never, NEVER EVER, send cash through the post. For my sister's birthday, I sent her a birthday card last week and thought would be nice to include a $20 dollar bill in it. I guess I don't have to continue telling you what happened! But I'm going to anyway...

Let me tell what this person (animal) did. First he/she would have to scan all sorts of mail to know that there's money in an envelope. The bill was in between a greeting card which is quite thick, so this animal would have to put it through xray or whatever to find out. Ok, once $$$ detected, this animal actually took a lot of effort to cover his/her crime. He/she carefully cut the side of the envelope, got out the money then you wouldn't believe this. He actually glued the side up! Like as if nothing happened. I'd rather he just dump the card or just did a really bad patch job! This f*cker had the audacity to take time to beautify his handy work as if he cared! When I spoke to my sis, she didn't even know that there was $$$ in the card in the first place (I didn't mention the note in the card, just a spontaneous action).

This type of person should be caught and fired and stoned!!! But we know how the system works, don't we? He/she would probably get a little talking to (not even a warning) from his/her partner-in-crime boss. Then continue whatever it is they are doing, probably gluing more envelopes. Sucks! To even get to that stage, the animal needs to be caught.... I just don't even know how to catch someone like that when there are thousands employees working there... sickening!

I guess it's my fault to send cash in the first place, but but but.... argghhh, let's just not send anymore cash in the post.

P/s: I purposely didn't mention which country it is I think is involved as I can't prove it. End of story. So just consider this a lesson learnt :)

REVOLVING DOORS OF VENGEANCE

2006-08-03T15:47:00.000+12:00

A good friend recommended this Hong Kong TVB series to me. As the title suggests it's called The Revolving Doors of Vengeance or the cantonese name is "Chou Tim Fong Wan". Don't you think whoever thought of the English name for this series is such a genuis? For me, I would have thought of something lame and similar to a direct translation, let's say, "Hotel Wind Cloud"! hahahahaha.... So smart and creative some people are.

I am not disappointed, this series is marvellous. Ok, I'm not talking about The Da Vinci Code storyline standard, but just for some light suspense, romance, business and family war, this is sufficient. There are 30 episodes and I only have 10 days to finish it. Not that it is a difficult task to accomplish, me being a TV addict, but it does add some pressure, y'know?

The story goes something like this:

This hotel owner has 3 sons who are not the ideal type sons, ie gambling lah, money laundering lah, fighting la, ya the terrible types. Also, not fighting with other people outside only, the 2 elder ones are constantly bullying the youngest son, Kai Kit (Ron Ng), and his mom (2nd wife, 1st wife passed away). The hotel owner wished that his 3 sons would one day work together like happy family to run the hotel.

So, he and Martin (Joe Ma Tuk Choong) worked out a plan to make his dreams come true.. The theory is that if an outsider comes in to mess with the family, the sons would reunite to protect the family. Of course, we know that it's not so smooth one, right? Martin would come into the hotel board of directors and act like a baddie to get rid of the 3 sons. The deal is when the 3 sons prove that they are capable of running the hotel, Martin would reveal the grand plan and leave. Who knows, the old man after transfer his shares to Martin, got hit in accident and died! So, cannot prove that he is actually there to help the brothers instead of really being a nasty a**hole. Can you believe that most of this happen in the first episode??? So kan cheong...

Anyway, there is some romance in between the storyline. I especially like this character called Happy Li Hoi Sum (Ella Koon). She's very pretty, I don't recognise her from any other movies. I'm really bad at remembering faces, for all I know, I might have seen 10 of her movies. Anyway, I think she'll become a big star if she's not already one by now. As her name suggests, she's the happy go lucky type. People take advantage of her also don't know one, though she doesn't act like a bimbo...

Of course in these type of dramas, there must be the evil characters. This time it's a father-daughter double act. These two damn evil, trying to take over the hotel and gave the family all sorts of trouble. The father (John Chiang) is ok la, do what a normal evil character does, quite good. The part I can't stand is the daughter (Elaine Yiu). You know the type, act like so innocent like that but extremely evil inside. This is not the problem, the worst part is her voice! In "weak" mode, she speaks so soft and slow, I can't even hear what the hell she's saying. Just so want to slap her till real tears roll... hahaha... In "nasty" mode, she pushes my fave character, Hoi Sum, out onto the road to be run over by a funnily decorated truck (they were in Phillipines for that scene) but luckily it managed to swerve in time. Guess what? The truck rammed straight into the b*tch!!!!! OMG, I know I shouldn't laugh but remember this is only acting and she's been a real bad a**... The worst is yet to come for her, you see. The reason for the attempted murder is because she and Hoi Sum going for the same guy, Kai Kit. When she's lying on the hospital bed, Kai Kit went to go chase after Hoi Sum. He's also quite heartless in that fact but I overlooked it because I want HS to be with him... hahaha... chee sin one..

In the end, bad people either die or paralysed. Good people have loving families and become rich & successful. Great viewing! There you have it, 30 hours of screen time summarised to a few paragraphs.

Anyone else wants me to do reviews for any other movies/dramas/series? Drop me an email. hahaha...

MERCURY PLAZA ~ JAPANESE FOOD

2006-07-22T15:04:00.000+12:00

Apologies for the lack of updates recently. Just been really lazy after work most nights and couldn't wait to catch up on the TVB series I'm currently watching. Will talk about that in another post. But for now, I'd to share with you some great tasting Japanese meals I've been having on most weekends. You know, Jap food can be very addictive.

This shop is actually located in the Mercury Plaza foodcourt. Ok, this place is rather old and shabby inside, but trust me, the you gotta try the Japanese stall in there. It's da best! Don't let the interior deco deceive you, I'd rather sit in shabby place eating wonderful meals than sitting in an pretentious looking restaurant and eating crap food. hehehe... This place is good value for $$$ and taste wise, superb! You can't go wrong :) Plus parking is just right outside the foodcourt free!

First up, this is the sushi box. $11. The fish is sooo fresh and the rice that they use is just the right texture, sticky but not gluey. You can taste each grain slipping down your throat with enough vinegar and sugar to give that extra bite!

Next up, you have the Dinner Box where you have a choice of either chicken or beef. Trust me, if you have BIG appetite like me, then this box is for you! $12 for vege tempura, teriyaki chicken, sashimi, sushi, miso soup, rice and salad! I'll let the picture doing the talking.

Simply satisfying!

These are just two of the things that I've pics of. They have plenty of other dishes to choose from. The other thing that I'd usually go for is their Lunch Box which starts at $7.50 from memory (available at nights as well). You get heaps of stuff in that as well.

Yet to try their katsu don, but from what I can see from my next door table's order, it'll certainly be on my list in the next visit!

A BLONDE MOMENT

2006-07-08T16:08:00.000+12:00

On my usual weekly visit to the neighbourhood petrol station today, I realised that I'm having one of those days where I ask myself, "Am I a blonde in disguise???" hehe...

After punching in $40 on the machine, I was standing there waiting for it to fill up. Halfway through, the counter showed 23.40 and it stopped! click here, click there on the hose..hmmm... still not continuing to fill. Quite frustrated by then. Are they trying to cheat my money? What if I didn't notice when it had stopped, I'dwould gone in to pay for the full amount. OK, showdown time!

I marched straight into the shop, and told the cashier that their machine is not working properly, stopped at 23.40 when I wanted $40. The shop assisstant knowing full well what had happend yell out....

"Excuse me, you are looking at the litre pumped counter!!!"

Hahahaha... how crazy can I be? So embarassing! There were other people in the shop that also heard my complain and the shop assisstant's answer :( Oooppss... I think instead of having a blonde moment, a more appropriately term would be, I was having a "Lengx2 Moment!" Hahahahaha........

Hope you are having a great weekend everyone!

ELECTRIC BLANKET

2006-06-29T11:25:00.000+12:00

What a wonderful invention! It keeps you warm during those cold cold winter nights, uses very minimal power, cheap to buy, and provide something very valuable even money can't buy: a cosy night's sleep. Of course, I'm referring to the ELECTRIC BLANKET!!!

Going through my 12th winter here, I just realised how much comfort this thin flat piece of material and bits of wires can provide. Can't believe how come I didn't buy this wonderful invention sooner! I suppose I haven't really needed an electric blankets in the past as houses that I've lived in in the past have been quite warm and the winters haven't been as cold as this year's or other obvious reasons.

In the last few weeks, I've been woken up in the wee hours of the morning feeling so cold that I'm unable to go back to sleep, (hate it when my xxx dreams are interrupted, hahaha). So, started my quest for the perfect heating solution. Of course not everything is as straight forward as it should have been. I started to think that since I'm going have heating, I might as well go for something that would be able to warm up the different rooms that I'm going to be in and easy to move around the house.

There are so many different types of heaters available out there that it became a BIG research project for me. There's the fan heater, convector heater, gas heaters, oil column heaters blah blah blah, the list just keeps going on and on. Since a lot of people have been recommending oil column heaters to me, I decided to give it a go.

Monday, bought a 9 fin column heater. Tried it in the lounge, waited waited and waited for it warm up the whole room. I think I'll be waiting till summer at this rate. I think I was expecting too much from this poor little machine. I was hoping to be walking around the house in my boxer shorts and either singlet or T-shirt while watching TV. How wrong can I be. I doubt that it even warmed up the surrounding areas. I think I felt more warmth (and even broke a sweat) from lugging this thing up from the garage to my lounge and taking it out from the box! Not light you know...

Tuesday, returned it! Hahaha.... I think may be I should have given it another chance given my unrealistic expectations. However, I wanted instant results... Surprise! I exchanged it for an electric blanket! Even for e blankets, there are so many sub-choices to make. Do I want 2 switches? a gazillion heat settings? fleece? sizes? feet warmers? fitted or tied down? In the end, I thought since this is a trial run, I'll just grab whatever that's on the shelf in the big red shed that we all fondly know as The Warehouse. What a bargain! Half the price of the heater some more.

They were having a 20% sale for all electric blankets so must be my lucky day. When I got home, I decided to change the sheets of the whole bed to really be able to indulge in the "experience". Fixing the electric blanket onto the bed was a mission as the strings have to go all around and underneath the mattress. One by one, got it all tied up. Deciding where the switch should be. Then, there's the deciding which duvet case, pillow cases to use and changing the duvet case.... Phew! (hot already, no need blanket hahaha...) After all the mucking around, it is all set up! Fresh crisp luxurious sheets, big cuddly pillows and puffed up feather down duvet.... my intention to create the ultimate sleeping experience is almost done. And FLICK!

Straight away set it onto the highest setting available. Hop onto the bed immediately to see if can feel the heat... chee sin one. Of course can't feel it so fast but I thought I'll try anyway, can't resist the bed. Left it turned on then went to downstairs to continue watching my canto drama. All the while, was hoping there's no fire engulfing my bed upstairs.... hahahaha... touch wood.

Judgement time has come, feeling anxious, slipped my hand under the covers... OMG!!!! The bed is warm!!!! Wasting no time, immediately hopped into it! So nice, so warm, so comfy, so cosy, BLISS!

Flick, turn off blanket and zzz... zzz... zzz... zzz.... zzzz.... zzzz.... zzz... zzz... zzzz... (too much zzz?????) GREAT!

P/s: 2nd night, I forgot to turn it off (on full power) last night and fell asleep... lucky, I didn't get roasted, or worse, char-grilled. Gosh, so hot... have to get the hang of this.... my latest toy :)

P/s/s: Do you think I can wrap one around myself while it's turned on to watch TV on the sofa? or even just pop outside for a ciggie? Believe me, if it's not so difficult to set up or take it off the bed, I would have tried by now :)

Nite nite!

DRINK MORE WATER!

2006-06-18T10:10:00.000+12:00

With the constant rain, it is damn depressing when you are falling sick as well. I actually like the rain in winter, especially if you have tonnes of dvds and tv series to catch up on. However, when you are feeling extremely cold and lack of any energy, the winter chills and rain can be DAMN depressing!

So, at the moment, my body is becoming a huge dam for hot honey drinks and warm water. What is the first thing people say when you tell them that you're not feeling 100%? "Drink more water, ok?" hehehe... this is like the old grandma remedy for every sickness under the sky. DRINK MORE WATER. What to do? Drink more water lor....

Of course, in the height of my fever, I'm going to buffet lunch in an hour's time is not going to help my situation, right? I suppose, my reasoning is to eat more so that I can have more energy to combat the flu? Haha, that's my remedy for everything, "Eat more lar!"

Yes, I have been eating pretty well this weekend. I have tasted something which I have heard on hundreds of Hong Kong TVB series. Can you guess what this is? Chau Tau Foo? No. Tong Sui? No. Poot Chai Koe? NO! Give up?
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LOONG HAR YEE MEEN!!!!!!!! Ta da!

I have had lobsters thermidor, lobster salad, lobster california roll, steamed lobster, but never tried an actual lobster yee meen which I constantly hear those rich tai tais in TVB series place their order with skinny pale looking "care leh feh" waiters... hahaha... I have to say the lobster flesh was divine! It was firmer than crab meat and I felt that added substance to it... hehe... I must say, it blended very well with the noodles which you can't really see from the pic as it was under the mountain of lobster meat. YUM.

This dinner is actually a celebration of a dear friend CS's achievements. So what do you do when you want to celebrate something? BIG DINNER, of course! Along with this brilliant dish, we had something else which was only had in the olden days in the Song Dynasty by Emperors! Want to do the guessing game again? hahahaha... I'll spare you the torture, it is none other than "Poon Choi" !

My gosh, I'm gonna be late for my buffet lunch if I don't go and get ready soon. But what the heck, I'll type as fast as I can... as JL once said to me when met me after waiting for a good 5 minutes (may be 15 mins), "It's confirmed! You can never be punctual!" hahaha...

Anyway back to the Poon Choi. My first time having this dish as well. It is basically a a pot lined with various types of meat and veges on different layers. As you can see from the pic, there's roast chicken, roast duck, roast pork, prawns, mushrooms, veges, mussels etc. Delicious! Thanks CS!

We had this dinner in the relatively new China Restaurant in the CBD. The deco is quite beautiful and stylish, service is excellent. I hear that they serve yum char as well. So will definitely try it out sometime soon.

Nice?

So let's recap an important lesson from above when feeling under the weather, DRINK MORE WATER!!!!!!!!

LAKSA NIGHT

2006-06-04T23:12:00.000+12:00

Last Friday a group of us were invited to a "Laksa Night" at Jeffery and Murray's place for dinner. What a nice way to start off Queen's Birthday long weekend, a nice meal with friends.

I have to say Jeffery did a wonderful job of creating a little bit of Malaysia in New Zealand. The laksa tasted superb! With the cold weather upon us, the aroma and spiciness of the laksa brought much comfort to taste buds....I especially like the tofu pok in the soup :)

Since many are away for the long weekend, we could all fit into the dining table. Which is a change to our usual gatherings where people tend to spread out through different parts of the house with sub-groups having their own little conversations.

After dinner, Jeffery gave all of us a surprise by bringing out a fully lit birthday cake for Murray! Yes, it was Murray's birthday last week and this is sort of a belated celebration.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MURRAY! May you have another wonderful year full of interesting travels!
This cake is definitely one of the much better cakes I have tasted recently. Full of fruit, light and creamy. Bad experience with a whole cheesecake I bought recently :( However did I managed to finish the whole thing by myself though... hahaha...

After dinner, all of us sat around a chimmena (you won't believe how hard it was to find the correct spelling! Pronounced cheem-me-na? hehe.. Gosh, this one's expensive, no wonder no bids yet. Chimmena anyone? ) outside in the garden. For cold nights such as these, it was a such blessing. Sort of like sitting around a camp fire in your own backyard.

Wonderful dinner with great friends... what more can you ask for?
Once again, Happy Birthday Murray!

WINTER WONDERLAND

2006-06-04T10:37:00.000+12:00

The rain is a sign that winter is indeed here! When you mention winter here in Auckland, it doesn't create a vision of little white snow flakes slowly falling from the sky, covering rooftops, smoky chimney and garden covered with white blankets of snow. But instead, what you get is this:

Yes you get, rain, rain and MORE rain! Silly me, I hung out a load of laundry yesterday late afternoon, I knew it might rain later in the night but I still did it anyway. I think it's my way of adding a little excitement into the whole laundry process. What's the point of hanging out the laundry knowing without a doubt it's going to be dry. hahahaa.... So, what's the outcome? Wet shirts, wet pants, wet towels, wet G-strings, wet socks, wet wet wet!

Secretly, I am hoping that one day when I wake up in the morning looking out the window, it would suddely snow!!! Hahaha.... I mean if you're going to experience winter, might as well get 100% winter feel, right?

There is one tremendous benefit to winter though, you get to eat non-stop while comforting yourself that it's winter and you need to eat more for the warmth! Hmmm... one down side to this is I haven't recovered from last winter! and we've been through last autumn, summer and spring! Oh well, this just shows that I'm consistent!

Food pics to come!

Let's Start

2006-05-28T17:44:00.000+12:00

Wow! I can't believe it! I have finally made the first step in creating my own personal blog!!! I have to say this is one of the most exciting thing I've done in ages! Since I started reading Gina's blog about 2 years ago, I'm hooked on blogs.
Now let's stop here and just try if this post works!
Fingers crossed everyone!