Breakfast of Champions

Wish I could share with you all a picture of my breakfast this morning, because it is made of total awesome-ness that I deserve a nobel prize for coming up with such a combination. In fact, it is so good that it now comes in 3rd in my list of 'All-Time Favourite Breakfast of Champions'. Yes. There is such a list. Somewhere. (And you get a cookie if you could correctly guess the first 2)

I may not have a camera or a phone camera to share this exact moment, but I'll make do with whatever stock photos I've got.

A tall skinny double-shot latte, nice and warm in my tumbler.

(In all honesty, I only drink coffee in the morning when I'm desperate.

Only had 3-hrs worth of winks last night.)

+

Oreo cakester!!!

Two of these badboys are crammed with 250cal and 23g of sugar.

If I can't get my sugar fix with these, I don't know what will!

Is it worth all the hours I need to compensate at the gym? Definitely!

Bangkok: Condoms and err... where's the Cabbages?

On the 5th day of the month of Syawal, I packed my (relatively) empty bag (yes... singular) and headed out to Bangkok for the long weekend with a few friends from office. And our purpose of this trip is for one thing and one thing only: SHOPPING!! (Are you surprised?)

It's not hard to narrow down places of interests once we've set out our agenda for this trip. And even then, 3.5 days is still not enough! Sure... we covered Suan Lum Market... Chatuchak Market... Siam Square... MBK... and walked till our feet swells and turned purple and blue and violently protested every alternate step we took and till our purse begged(!) to be put down. But we still didn't get to a chance to go through the wholesale area of Pratunam or stroll down the streets of Chinatown or just soak up the atmosphere of Khao San Road. And this is already my 3rd trip here. Even if given a week, I don't think I'd be able to fully experience Bangkok.

Anyways....

I  managed to get hold of Nancy Chandler's Map of Bangkok (after a few recommendations) and it is heaven-sent! Full of colourful crayon doodles of the streets and river and shopping malls and markets and restaurants (etc... etc...) of Bangkok, it also includes useful tips of note-worthy places to go. I find it especially useful when trying to decide places to eat.

My friends and I went to the legendary Cabbages & Condoms on our first night...

 It was such a great place for a dinner - tables lined up in the gardens, overlooked by shady trees twinkled with fairy lights...

Rice served square...

Of course, it aint a complete meal without a serving of tomyam. This one was quite good, although not the best I've had in Bangkok.

Deep-fried fish which was fresh and not overly cooked, topped with mango salad...

Lukewarm red rubies was not the highlight of the night.

Oh look! They gave us mint with our receipts!

What? You're telling me this is not edible??

They named it 'Cabbages & Condoms' for a reason...

... although I'm still not sure about the Cabbages. Hmm...

Spied this picture in the halls on our way out. It's too cute not to be given a mention.

And of course, a night here will not be complete without a presence with the infamous Captain Condom!

(yes... he is wearing nothing but condoms and pills)

Well... it is an educational restaurant after all. So we took a moment to do some self-learning.

(notice that the pictures includes girl-boy, boy-boy & girl-girl examples)

Hang on there. More of Bangkok coming soon!

A Baking Project

You see... I had this "P.R.O.J.E.C.T." that I had made up in my head - to bake my own cookies and unearth the ever elusive domestic goddess in me and everyone will bow at my feet by just a simplest lick of my cookie crumbs. That's how good I was expecting my cookies to be. I had poured over my Green&Blacks cookbook and scavenge through sosososo many foodblogs for recipes. And now, 4 days and 2 batches of cookies later I've come to a simple conclusion.

FACT: I hate roll-out cookies.

(and roll-out cookies hates me)

I'm not even going to bother sharing pictures more or less cookies with you. And I don't want to re-live those moments - those precious precious hours slaving in the kitchen! - by recapping it here. So there. I shall leave it buried and gone. Out of sight, out of mind. I think I should just stick to cupcakes and muffins and drop cookies.

A successfull attempt: flourless chocolate cupcake

(recipe courtesy of Donna Hay)

Ramadhan is here!

What do you do when you're hungry, you're counting down the hours till iftar and you happen to have plenty of time on hand?


Do you.....

... look up pictures of food, imagine what it would taste like melting on your tongue whilst trying to look absolutely unaffected and hope against hope that you won't start drooling all over your keyboard?

... or do you read up other people's description of eating and enjoying food (that you most probably can't afford), all the more tempted by pictures of the seductor - elegant, strikingly bold and simply plated and ready to be devoured?

... or your sense of curiosity and adventure beckons you to search for that one place (or two. or three.) that could take your senses of taste.sight.smell beyond your realm of imagination?

... or do you sit and ponder of your own abilities to recreate that taste - something akin to happy thoughts that made Peter Pan soar to the sky?

... or maybe you just want to find a place to share all of the above with beloved families and cherished friends? (yet still be able to not cringe when the bill comes up)

>Yes? No? .... Any of the above?? Mmm.... well, I guess it's just me then.

Have a Blessed Ramadhan everyone!

[PS: For links of the above sites, do check up the column on the right.]

Breakfast @ Chinoz in the Park

Vietnam is clouding my head. I can't think straight anymore. I can't even think about exam tomorrow (yikes!) when I have Vietnam in my head!! But... yes... I am trying to navigate around that problem by distracting myself with the internet. (hint: not studying) Do you think I can sue Facebook and Youtube for compensation if I fail my exams? ... *silence* ... I figured not.

The familia balik kampung today to Alor Star (fka Alor Setar), leaving me home alone yet again. And after Monday's 'incident' (no... it's not an accident) I don't trust myself alone, unsupervised, with the car. Who knows what I'll do to it next?

But of course, Sunday is a compulsary family day no matter what. So, with the promise of Chinoz in the Park @ KLCC for breakfast, I made the extra effort to wake up early (translation: 8am!) this morning.

Never had breakfast here before, simply because I find difficulty waking up early on Sunday morning (translation: 10am and beyond only!). Apparently they have a buffet spread for breakfast, starting from 8am - 11am. @ Rm15 you'd get free-flow of fruit juice, pastries, muesli, yoghurt, cereals and a local specialty dish (today: lontong). For an additional Rm6, you can add any ala carte choices available in the menu, which consists mostly of egg-based breakfast set (ie. omellette, sunny-side up + full english breakfast, poached eggs + cured beef strips, scrambled eggs + smoked salmon) as well as a pancake set. We skipped the buffet, and jumped straight to the ala carte items instead (which comes with complimentary coffee/tea).

Poached eggs + cured beef strips + english muffin + hollandaise sauce.

This was quite good, although I wished they had balanced it with some greens or something, because on its own, it was a bit salty and the sauce was very rich and creamy. The yolk wasn't runny though - which would've made it a trademark perfectly made poached eggs.

Full English Breakfast = 2 sunny side-ups + sausage + beef strips + mushrooms + roast tomato + baked beans + toast

The serving was quite big, and although I didn't get a bite of everything else on the plate, I thought the roast tomato was nicely done: sweet with a hint of garlic.

Omelette (with a choice of turkey ham, cheese, mushrooms and/or herbs for fillings)

Again, another huge serving. Best shared between 2 people.

Overall, it was quite alright, although I find it rather frustrating that the coffee/tea was not refillable. But it was so nice sitting outside by the park, embraced by the still quiet of early morning, before the hussle and bustle of the day begins. I really need to start waking up early more often to enjoy this sort of moments. An excuse to try the pancake set next?

Hanging out @ Espressamente, Pavilion

You know how yesterday I mentioned that I've cleaned up my room? And that I've pretty much settled all of my working matters? And how, all I have to worry about now is study?

Obviously that didn't happened since I was out and about (again) today. Hee... If Ms Sheila - my lecturer - reads about this, and is physically here, I'm pretty sure I kena ketuk kepala dengan buku teks yg seberat 2kg tu. Adoi... *rubs away imaginary pain*

Anyway, I had a good reason to be out today though. After months of empty talk and promises, I finally made plans to meet up with an old friend from college, who has been back since January and whom I haven't met for 2 years! It would've been more ideal if we could meet up with the rest of the gang, but some of them are busy with working lives, one is panicking over her exam (which I should be doing), and the other one is still in UK furthering her studies. So... Two is still a company right?

We met up at Pavilion for lunch, went shopping, and ended the day with coffee and cake. I'm still on an Illy's high, so we went to Espressamente @ Pavilion for my daily dose of coffee, after buying some pastries at The Loft. I went ahead with their Coffee Set, and ordered Cappucino Viennese with an extra shot of espresso, and the apple crumble. I have to say that I've never been much of an apple-anything person, but this... this basically converted me to a worshipper. I think this is going to be my new go-to place whenever I'm in need of a good hearty bite of apple crumble. See the picture, and I'll let you be the judge.

It was great hanging out here @ Espressamente. The staff were cordial and attentive, the atmosphere was good, the coffee and apple crumble are fantastic, there were plenty of magazines to browse through, and we had a good window seat for people-watching. I'm not much of a people-watching person, but it was nice to see the world go by while you're in your comfort zone. The company of an old friend is definitely a comfort zone for me, and it was great catching up with Azzah, get up-to-date to where the rest of our classmates are now, reminiscing on the good ol' days...

Thanks for the day Azzah! We definitely have to meet up again very soon, and this time with the rest of the gang!

PS: I ran my first 5k today! Huuzah!

Lunch @ Espressamente, Bangsar Village

Have been a cranky person the whole day. I blame the lack of sleep, and the physically strenuous activities yesterday. Hardly had the energy to open my eyes, yet even more, to function properly. I think the only thing that was on my mind was food and sleep. Because that was the only thing that I can properly do well.

My pick-up point would have to be lunch, where we had Sandwiches, Pastas, & Coffees at Espressamente @ Bangsar Village, an Illy's based cafe. My mum had been raving about their set promotions, so we decided to give it a go. My dad, sis and I ordered the Sandwich Set: a juice + any sandwich of your choice (RM16). My youngest sister had the Pasta Set: soft drink + any pasta of choice (RM17), whilst my mum had gotten herself the Coffee Set: any Illys coffee + any cake of choice(RM14). Considering that most of the a la carte items on the menu were above the RM10 range, I'd say these are definitely value for money.

The drinks came first, and I have to commend that they didn't skimp on the juices as these was fresh and not overly sweet. Both of my sisters orders came next, and the pasta came with a side of sliced baguette with garlic-infused olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and a small serving of parmesan cheese. Not bad.

There were mix-ups with the order, and my dad and I had to suffer a very very long wait that had forced me near tears. (I warned you that I was a very cranky and moody person today.) Despite being one of the first few to order during the lunch hour rush, our food came last. My sisters and mum had moved on to dessert at this point. But the manager had been very gracious to apologize and offered desserts on the house. I was just too happy to finally get my food!

I ordered the Foccacia Pollo: grilled pesto chicken, mozzarella cheese, mushrooms, olives, tomatoes and arugula leaves layered in between two thick slices of chilli foccacia bread. The ingredients were fresh, taste appropriately balanced and and the foccacia bread was soft and chewy. It was good, although I find the pesto a bit bland. But I love the combinations, and the portion was big enough for me to struggle to finish it (which I eventually did).

We had the apple crumble and chocolate cake for dessert. The chocolate cake was smooth, rich and very chocolatey without being too sweet. My preferred the apple crumble as it had a good bite, and a nice balance with the crumble.

Of course, Illy's is known for the quality of its espresso-based coffees, so it's almost criminal for a coffee-lover like me to give this a pass. I had the Marocchino: a shot of illy espresso, a dash of chocolate and topped with steam milk. Imagine this as a concentrated Mocha served in a shot glass, but to not be drank like a shot although the end result is the same. The coffee was velvety smooth and darkly rich, and I savoured it in small sips the best I can. And the caffeine effect came almost instantly, which was exactly what I needed, and I was my bright sunny self again (to the delights of my family, who had unwillingly became victims of my crankiness).

Now that I am fully charged-up with caffeine, need to roll-up my sleeve and get back to that overdue workload of mine. Shall blog about my caving and white water rafting trip once I get the pictures from my friend.

For the Love of Pavlova

Let me enlighten you with a love story.

It began in early 2008. At that moment in time, I was developing a habit of reading up local food blogs in my spare time. But it was this post specifically that made me believe in love at first sight.

Now, up to this point, I've only heard of Alexis and could only entertain daydreams of being a 20-something career woman who can actually afford to go to this sort of chic places to socialize with other 20-to-30-something career people (I blame the tv for putting these ideas in my head!). But now that I've a full-time job that entitles me to that position, I figured that my excuses have run its course.

So, in one of those rare moments when I'm actually in the office with nothing to do, I grabbed a friend along for an early lunch to Bangsar, where we pretended we were in a scene from SatC (brownie points if you know what this stands for!) and had gossip-over-salad for lunch and sins-with-cream for dessert. And I know that from the moment the waiter placed it in front of me for my indulgence, I was convinced that this feeling that was pitter-pattering underneath my ribcage... it's real. And a bite was all it took for me to believe that the feeling is mutual. And thus began my beautiful affair with the Pavlova. The light-airy-marshmallowy bite paired with sweetened cream and the sharp fresh tang of strawberries... Really. How can you not salivate at this ?!?!

Of course, since then, I have toyed with the idea to make my own Pav (not to be confused with Pavilion) a few times but I was worried I might taint those beautiful memories I've had with Alexis. So... call it a call of the spontaneity when out of restlessness I decided to make my very first Pav for Mother's Day last Sunday evening. At this point in time, I've the recipes memorized and stamped and inked into my brain from those countless times that I've perused through other people's attempt at Pavlova. So preparation didn't take up much time. HOWEVER, I do have a problem with the sugar content as prescribed in the recipe though. Most of the recipes (ranging from 4-to-6 eggs Pav) calls for 1 cup of granulated sugar. I'd decided to halved this (and still think it's too much!).

Dealing with white eggs for the first time was both nerve-wrecking and exciting. I knew the consistency that I was looking for, but I want to be extra careful for my first attempt. And lo and behold, you have no idea how excited I was to see a bowl of white fluffies!

Even Pixie wants to jump in.

Originally I had planned to make two 8-inch discs to make a Pav sandwich, but I realised too late that I don't have enough egg-whites for that. So decided on just one just 8-inch mountain instead. And in all honesty, I've no clue on how to handle this, so for a moment there, all you can see is a mess before I came up with this:

Yes. I know. It's still a mess, but it looks tangible enough.

So, with fingers crossed, popped this in 120 C pre-heated oven for 1.5hours and leave it in the oven to cool down completely, says the instruction. Of course, this wasn't what happened since my oven's temperature is all whacked-out and the Pav got browned early on in the baking process. So I turned down the heat to 80C and baked it for a further 15 - 20 minutes just to be sure.

It came out alright, but it looked slightly deflated, so I had reasons to be worried. I packed it up and left it to cool down overnight. Bought (Indonesian) strawberries (saved on my carbon prints but found it rather sour) and creams last night after work, and finished off the assembly.

The Verdict?

A clean plate in under an hour.

Mammy...

I still have about an hour left to give this shout out to my Mammy, so...

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY MAMA!

Hope spending another quiet Sunday with your girls didn't disappoint. =)

Anyway, I HAD made plans to cook something for dinner today, since just last weekend both my mum and I had lament how bored we were of eating out. BUT... my dad was home and he had promised my mum to take her out for brunch to one of her favourite place, which happens to be Chinoz in the Park @ KLCC. And... really... how can I compete with that??

But... I didn't give up entirely though. I still manage to make my Pavlova in the evening. The results? Mmmm... maybe tomorrow.