iamthewitch Food and Travel Escapades » Friends

Mystical Eve Countdown to 2012

iamthewitch — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 06:10:41 +0000

Remember the countdown party that I wrote about a couple of weeks before the year 2011 ended? Like you, I had my doubts about going to crowded places on New Year’s Eve, thinking that the traffic would be horrible, parking would be a mess and the sweaty crowd would be a turn-off. Still, judging from the stellar line-up of events in the Mystical Eve concert, I dragged Saucer to go along with me anyway, and boy was I impressed! We were there by 9pm on the eve and surprisingly the traffic was not bad at all – the best part was, we even managed to find a parking space really close to the venue. The night seemed to be starting off really well.

The crowd at Mystical Eve Encorp Strand

The Red Carpet Avenue at Encorp Strand was still a relatively new place to hang out, so most of the surrounding shops were new. While we were walking towards the venue, we could already hear the sounds of Mizz Nina singing ‘What you waiting for?’ from afar.

Little black dress

The massive crowd

Mizz Nina performing

In between performances, the two gorgeous hosts Julie Woon and Megan Tan were busy entertaining us, with highlights of the performances and even suggestions on where to have dinner.

The hosts Julie Woon and Megan Tan

After Mizz Nina’s rocking performance, it was Dennis Lau’s turn with his violin. However, before he began playing, he introduced his partner-in-crime for the night – Shawn Lee the Beatboxer. It was the first time I watched Shawn Lee performing live and I was blown away by his beatboxing talent. Who could have known that such sound effects could come from the mouth? You have to watch the video below to know what I mean! Bear in mind there were no other musical equipment used in the performance, only a violin. So whatever sound effects that you hear (resembling drums especially), were all from Shawn Lee. It was also coincidentally my favourite performance of the night.

Dennis Lau and Shawn Lee

Dennis Lau the violinist

Shawn Lee the Beatboxer

After the concert, there were various performances by the aerial acrobats, doing their stunts high up in the air. It was quite amazing watching how they balanced themselves and hung on to dear life by just clinging on a piece of cloth.

Aerialists doing their stunts

Hanging in the air

There was also an Illuminating Laserman show towards the later part of the night, another performance that managed to wow the crowd.

Illuminating Laser man show

Of course, all these performances and shows wouldn’t mean as much if we didn’t celebrate the countdown with dear friends. I attended the event with a group of gorgeous bloggers from Malaysia’s Hottest Bloggers, where we were showered with plenty of Johnnie Walker Gold Label Reserve – a special drink that’s befitting the last day of 2011.

with the gorgeous bloggers from MHB

Bottles of Johnie Walker Gold Label Reserve

What’s more? The sweet couple Caroline and Eric who happened to be free that night also came to join us for the countdown. With free flow of beer, endless entertaining performances and wonderful company, we really could not have asked for a better countdown party. Some of the pictures I took with the bloggers that night:

with Caroline

Saucer and witch

with Mei Sze and Brigette

with Emma and Rachel

with Kim Ong who was back for holidays from Melbourne

The 5000-strong crowd

At the stroke of midnight, the skies directly above ENCORP Strand were filled with multi-coloured fireworks, to mark the inaugural launch of ENCORP Strand’s New Year Eve Countdown. It was definitely a night to remember!

Happy New Year 2012 at Red Carpet, Encorp Strand

Fireworks at the stroke of midnight

We left the venue by 1am and may I just add, traffic was kind to us too. Happy New Year 2012!

For more info on Red Carpet Avenue visit http://www.facebook.com/encorpstrand.
For more info on Johnnie Walker Gold Label Reserve, visit Johnnie Walker Gold Label Reserve.

Birthday Celebration in Mezze

iamthewitch — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 01:40:55 +0000

Today marks the beginning of December, a date which is all the more special for two of my dear friends Foong and Caroline, because it’s their birthday. To celebrate their special day in advance, we had painstakingly planned a ‘surprise’ birthday dinner for them at Mezze. If planning a surprise for one person is hard enough, try planning for two! Both Eric (Caroline’s other half) and I had to come up with different stories to get them out for dinner on the same day, while making sure both of them never got to talk about it. It was quite nerve-wrecking. And finally, the day came…

Pictures on Mezze

It was our maiden visit to Mezze and once we entered, our first impression was that the restaurant reeked of smoke, probably coming from the cigarettes and cigars at the bar area which was just next to the dining area. We asked for a table upstairs instead but were informed that the section upstairs was closed on that night (or perhaps there is no dining area upstairs? Can anyone confirm?). We had no choice but to switch to a table further in, in the hopes of alleviating the smokey smell.

Carbonara (RM26)

I have heard from a few friends that we had to try the Spaghetti Carbonara if we ever dined in Mezze. What makes it different was the raw egg yolk that it was served with, in a shell. The presentation itself scored some points, even before we started eating. We mixed the whole egg yolk onto the pasta before digging in. Perhaps we shouldn’t have put in the whole yolk because some of us found the pasta to be overly creamy afterwards, almost soggy. I didn’t mind that it was creamy but thought that it lacked flavour. Still I can’t be a good judge of this because I seldom order carbonara pasta. I’m more of a marinara or aglio olio type of person.

Add in the raw egg yolk for a creamier texture

Foong chose the Olio Bacon pasta, which I thought fared better than the Carbonara. The texture of the spaghetti here was firmer and more al dente, while the generous amount of bacon gave it a nice savoury flavour. This was actually pretty aromatic!

Olio Bacon (RM29)

My choice was the Funghi au Truffle pizza, topped with sauteed mushroom, tomato, mozzarella, oregano, rocket and a drizzle of truffle oil. From the looks of it, I’m guessing they have a wood-fired oven, which gave the pizza the occasional charred edges and crispy crust that I love. The crust was sufficiently thin and light, and had the right amount of cheese on top. The addition of mushrooms and a light drizzle of truffle oil gave a subtle earthy taste. I actually enjoyed this pizza and would have had more if we were not sharing.

Funghi au Truffle (RM28)

Majority of our dining group preferred the Salmon Pizza though, which looked quite similar except that it’s topped with slices of smoked salmon. Again, I loved their thin, light and crispy crust layered with cheese. I also thought the addition of rocket leaves not only made the pizza appear more attractive, it balanced out the savoury and cheesy flavour perfectly.

Salmon Pizza (RM31)

The best dish that we had that night had to go to the Chargrilled Spatchcock Chicken or spring chicken. Our first impression was that the chicken was small – but it was so good! It was skilfully marinated and meticulously grilled to a shiny golden finish that was bursting with flavour in every bite. The skin was crispy and thin with no apparent layer of fats, while the meat remained juicy and tenderly delicious. My only gripe was the small size of it so we only had a couple of bites each.

Chargrilled Spatchcock Chicken (RM34)

Last but not least, a birthday cake for both the birthday boy and girl. Since the success of the Durian Cheesecake that we bought from Caffe Cino last time, we decided to try the Cherry Cheesecake this round from the same bakery. Unfortunately, I thought that the cherry cheesecake came short of the Durian cheesecake. Somehow the flavour of the cheese was neither here nor there – I couldn’t decide whether it had more flavour of the cheese or the cherry. Anyway, that’s not important because this was not a cake review session.

Cherry Cheesecake

Here they are, the birthday boy and girl! A very Happy Birthday to both of them. Many happy returns and may all your wishes come true! I have said it before and I’ll say it again, that I’m truly thankful that our paths crossed. Here’s to more birthday celebrations and many more food outings!

The birthday boy and girl

Caroline & Eric

Saucer & witch

Although the food at Mezze was rather good, we were pretty turned off at the end of the dinner when the smoky environment became almost unbearable. There was no proper separation between the bar and bistro area, and since the whole place was enclosed and air-conditioned, it meant that the smoke was circulated internally. At one point, a few of us even had watery eyes such that we decided to leave earlier than expected. I really hope something would be done to improve the air ventilation here or at least give diners the option to dine upstairs. I’m sure diners would appreciate this gesture to protect them from second hand smoke.

The company that matters

Mezze Wine Bar & Bistro
132 Jalan Kasah,
Medan Damansara,
50490 Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia.
Tel No.: +603-2095 0122
Opening Hours: 12pm – 1am daily except Sunday
Website: www.mezze.my
Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/mezzebarbistro

A Malaysian Chinese Wedding Ceremony

iamthewitch — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 05:00:15 +0000

Chinese all around the world practice different customs when it comes to the wedding day. The very traditional Chinese marriage rituals have since been modified according to different countries’ customs especially for the young and modern couples. I would like to take this opportunity to share the Chinese wedding ceremony customs that the modern Malaysian Chinese families typically follow, on the actual wedding day. It was my younger brother’s wedding last weekend and I was happy to witness the whole process that started early in the morning, with both the bride and groom getting ready at their respective houses.

Bride’s father getting ready for prayers

Offerings to the Gods

On the actual wedding day, the bride would get ready with her wedding gown and wait in her room for the groom to ‘collect’ or ‘fetch’ her back to the groom’s house, a process fondly known as ‘Chip San Leong’. While waiting for the groom to arrive, the bride’s parents would set up a table of offerings for the Gods to ensure that the couple has a happy and long-lasting marriage, and to bless them on their wedding day.

Burning joss sticks

According to the auspicious time set by the fortune-teller, the groom and his entourage would arrive, accompanied with loud, blaring car horns along the way, to signify to the rest of the neighbourhood that someone is getting married! The bridal car would be parked outside the house, followed by the groom’s buddies or ‘heng tai’. The groom, however, would have to remain in the car until the bride’s brother opens the door for him.

Bridal car

The groom and his ‘heng tais’

Waiting patiently in the car

The bride’s younger brother (or cousin brother if she has no brother) would then open the groom’s car door, so that the groom could proceed to the house to see the bride.

Out of the car

But it’s not so easy! The house was locked! And all the bridesmaids (chi mui) were blocking the groom’s entourage from entering. In order to enter the house, the groom and heng tais would have to go through several ‘tests’ set up by the bridesmaids. This was done to make the ceremony more fun, and to make the groom overcome some obstacles before getting to the bride.

Bridesmaids blocking the entrance

Some of the games played that day included finishing up a plate of sandwiches. Now they might look very yummy from the outside, but these bridesmaids had put in various ingredients that made the sandwich taste quite horrible. Perhaps this was a test to the groom so that in the future, no matter what his wife cooks, he’ll have to finish it!

Sandwiches for the groom and his brothers

Thick layer of salt! and a slice of lemon among others

Cheers

Very salty!

After the sandwiches, they were made to drink glasses of weird-looking drinks. True to their spirits, the guys lived up to expectations and finished the gross-looking beverage.

What is this?

Would you drink it?

Wonder how it tasted

The eating and drinking was just the beginning of a series of tests. Soon, the girls prepared a layer of cling film patterned with tomato ketchup on both sides. The task now was for the guys to lick the ketchup clean, on both sides of the film! And they had to do it simultaneously.

Cling film with tomato ketchup

Licking it clean

The guys completed the task well and thought they could enter the house, but no, there was another task in store.

No entry… yet!

Each guy was to put on lipstick on their lips, and make an ‘I <3 U’ sentence by kissing on pieces of paper pasted on the groom’s body.

Applying lipstick

Kiss the paper

Getting carried away with kissing…

The final product

Soon, all the bridesmaids were inside the house, a sign that they were ready to let the groom enter, but only after a little reward. This was when the groom’s brothers would help to negotiate a price with the bridesmaids, reaching an agreement such that they would be allowed to enter the house.

A red packet for the bridesmaids to open the door

First stage passed!

Little did they know that there were still a couple of challenges awaiting them inside the house, before the bride’s room! The first task was to kiss the word ‘Angie’ on the papers pasted on the wall. Based on their previous experience, the guys were already expert in this!

Teamwork is crucial

Finally, the last task that morning was for the groom to painstakingly peel the skin of some grapes, as a sign that he would do so for the bride in the future – and to be a patient, loving and kind husband.

Peeling the grapes with concentration

While peeling the grapes, the groom was asked to give “20 reasons why I love Angie” and he had to say it loud enough that the bride could hear it from the room. When she was finally satisfied, the door was unlocked.

“I love Angie because…”

Let’s go in!

Mission accomplished!

Kiss the bride

The newly-weds

with the bridesmaids and groomsmen

After fetching the bride from the room, they now had to go through the Chinese Tea Ceremony, where they would serve tea to their parents as a sign of getting their blessing.

Tea ceremony

In return, the parents would usually give something to the newly-weds, usually in the form of jewelry.

Gold ring for the groom

Bracelet for the bride

Tea would also be served to other elder relatives of the bride, with the sequence following their seniority in the family. For relatives younger than the bride, tea would not be served, instead it was a shake of hands or a hug.

Hugs for younger relatives of the family

When the tea ceremony was completed, it was time to go back to the groom’s house, where the groom’s family would be waiting to welcome the new bride home.

Father of the bride holds an umbrella as a sign of protecting the bride

To the groom’s house

In the bridal suite

Over at the groom’s family, the same prayers and rituals were repeated. It was then followed by another Tea Ceremony, for the groom’s family and relatives.

Tea with red dates for a sweet marriage

Tea for the groom’s parents

Look at how happy they were – bottoms up!

Jewelry for the newly-weds

After the tea ceremony was completed, relatives and friends were treated to a light lunch before they left to get ready for the banquet dinner at night. The whole morning was filled with activities that everything seemed to happen so quickly. My brother is now officially married, and I hereby welcome Angie to the family as my new sister-in-law.

Congratulations to my brother and his wife, Angie!

Garden Wedding at Passion Road

iamthewitch — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 02:00:49 +0000

One thing that we can never run away from as we grow older is – wedding invitations. It’s true. Once we are past early 20′s, wedding invites start to flow in, and we find ourselves having several invitations every year without fail. I’m not complaining though. I love attending wedding dinners – the ambience is so romantic, the decoration, the songs, the love in the air and the contented smile from the couple. All these happy vibes are bound to make one smile! Last week, I was invited to my friend, Kai’s wedding held at Passion Road, KL.

Red carpet entrance

Kai’s wife is a Canadian, so they’re looking at having a garden or outdoor type of wedding dinner instead of the traditional Chinese dinner in the restaurant. Having a garden wedding is definitely romantic but when you have it in Malaysia, the biggest concern everyone has is the weather, or more specifically the heat. Malaysia being a country with hot and humid weather all year long, having an entirely outdoor wedding dinner would not be possible, or at least, comfortable. Therefore, not many restaurants organize such a type of weddings, except for Passion Road, which has persevered and is going strong with their forte in providing a romantic outdoor wedding venue for newly-weds.

Romantic flower arrangement

Dinner was supposed to start at 7pm, but being Malaysians, the place was barely half-full at that time. The thoughtful Kai provided a cocktail area for guests to mingle around with free flow of drinks while waiting for the rest to arrive.

Free flow of cocktails and beer

It was my second time attending a wedding dinner at Passion Road, and the experience just got better. During my first visit there, our major complaint was that the venue was warm and stuffy, even though there were ceiling fans provided. This time around, they added more fans on the pillars, as well as several units of giant coolers surrounding the area. It was a very pleasant environment with plenty of air flow.

The wedding cup cakes

Champagne glass tower

As with most weddings, the theme was largely white, with a tinge of red. Very romantic.

Table settings #1

Table settings #2

I always loved the lighting and decoration at Passion Road – the chandeliers and warm orange lights set the right atmosphere and mood for not only the couple but the guests. <3

Warm lighting sets the environment

One of the many hanging lamps

Before long, we were seated at our respective tables, only to find a little surprise! Each of us had a little jar of candy! This Sticky Candy was customized with the bride and groom’s names, complete with a nice ribbon packaging. Love the wedding favour!

Sticky Candy as wedding favour

Kaisin & Hannah

Soon, the host informed us that the bride and groom were ready to march in, and all of us were asked to stand. Look at the radiant Hannah! It’s true that a girl is most beautiful on her wedding day!

Hannah

Back view

One thing different this time compared to my previous dinner was the buffet-style food. If you ask me, buffet style dinners work best for a group of 100 or so guests, so that the queue for the buffet would never be too long. Plus, it’s perfect to give guests flexibility and saves time too. The good thing about buffet spread is that food is always warm, compared to sit-down dinner, where the food served would usually be cold. Also, who can forget the joy of having unlimited food? We certainly enjoyed ourselves that time, talking, drinking and eating to our heart’s content.

Some of the food from the buffet spread

The very delicious and thick mushroom soup

Throughout the dinner, we were entertained by a 3-piece band, who were really talented and could belt out Chinese and English songs.

3-piece band

Then, it was the customary toasting from the bride and groom with their family. Imagine the surprised look on Hannah’s family when we started screaming ‘Yam Seng!’.

A toast to the bride and groom

Bride and groom giving their gratitude speeches

To add to the excitement of the night, Hannah and her sporting family gave us an impromptu performance on stage.

Surprise performance by the bride’s family

Before we left, we had to have a customary picture with the bride and groom. What a lovely couple they are. Here’s wishing them an eternity of happiness and joy.

Us with the love birds

This is for you, Kai and Hannah! Congratulations!

Passion Road
No.16, Lorong Yap Kwan Seng,
50450 Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia.
Tel: +603-2166 7111
Fax: +603-2166 0711
email: passion.rd@gmail.com / passionroad@passionroad.com.my

Free Coway Water Softener at Sunway Lagoon

iamthewitch — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 02:06:31 +0000

The last time I had fun in the water at Sunway Lagoon must have been more than 10 years ago, when the theme park was new and incomplete. Last week, I was lucky to be invited to the launch of Coway Spa Water Softener that took place in Sunway Lagoon itself. Coway, the leading home-wellness appliances manufacturer from Korea has installed 48 units of Spa Water Softener at the water theme park to enable Malaysians to experience the wonders of soft water for free.

Welcome to Sunway Lagoon

The Coway booth

Coway Spa Water Softener

What are the benefits of soft water?

Increases skin moisture level by as much as 69%
Reduces dead skin cells
Decreases skin friction by 20%
Soften hair and scalp
Reduces dandruff
Higher soapiness

Compare the difference between tap water and soft water

The Coway Spa Water Softener claims to transform the tap water to soft water, making it a healthier option for the body while ensuring smoother, softer skin within 2 weeks. The water softener is equipped with a composite filter within to remove chlorine, germs and floating substances from tap water while its Ion Exchange Resin reduces the hardness of tap water.

Coway Spa Water Softener

The 48 preview units were installed in some of the shower rooms in Sunway Lagoon and will be available for a period of 3 months. I tried showering with the soft water and indeed, the chlorine level is much lower than regular tap water.

Some other Coway products – air purifier

The Coway Spa Water Softener retails at RM1,900 or is available for rental at RM70 per month, including a bi-monthly product maintenance service. If you would like to try it before purchasing, you can sign up for Coway’s exclusive 14-day trial period for free.

Best-selling Coway Bidet seat

Some local celebrities were invited to the launching event, including Ning Baizura and 988 DJ Sam.

Ning Baizura speaking of her experience with Coway Spa Water Softener

Reflexology for booth visitors

Sand art

After the launch, the few of us spent the afternoon at Sunway Lagoon, starting with a hand at Archery.

Eric and Saucer trying out at Archery

Spot my spray-on tattoo!

Then, we made our way to the World’s Longest Pedestrian Suspension Bridge in the world, crossing from one end to the other – 428m! This was where Caroline had to face her fear of height while I took the opportunity to snap some gorgeous pictures from above.

World’s Longest Suspension Bridge

Hanging on to dear ~~life~~ Eric

To be honest, some of the parts of the bridge were pretty scary because the metal bars on the floor gave me the feeling of insecurity. But of course, it’s all an illusion. We managed to cross it in the end, all of us.

The see-through floor

View from the bridge #1

View from the bridge #2

View from the bridge #3

witch on the bridge

We then moved on to Wagon on Wheels, which is a small-scale Ferris Wheel. Over here, you’d see Caroline feeling more relieved and happy.

Caroline & Eric

Before we moved on to the water theme park, the guys went on the scary Pirates Revenge – Malaysia’s first 360-degree Rotating Pirate Ship! Needless to say, timid people like me wouldn’t be up there. Spot the guys in one of the rows!

Screaming in the ship

360-degree overturned pirate ship

It was overall a fun and eventful day, not to mention the water slides that we played after. No pictures of the water park since all our cameras were kept inside the locker by then. The fun in the sun was all thanks to Coway! For more information on Coway, visit www.coway.com.my or contact 1-800-888-111 or www.facebook.com/CowayMalaysia.

Roast Chicken in Lotus Leaf

iamthewitch — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 01:20:24 +0000

Chef Michael Elfwing, the Chef de Cuisine of the award-winning Senses restaurant in Hilton Kuala Lumpur is no stranger in the culinary scene. He became more inspiring with the recent launch of his book, “Cooking with Michael Elfwing”, which he deemed to hide no secrets unlike most other recipe books in the market. Just to prove that his recipes are really as good as he claimed to be, I decided to try out one of the dishes listed in the book, the “Roast Chicken in Lotus Leaf“.

Roast Chicken in Lotus Leaf

The recipe was simple, with only 1 page of instructions and ingredients. My only problem with the ingredients was the sourcing of lotus leaf and bay leaves. Not many Chinese grocers stock up on lotus leaf it seems, and after searching high and low, I managed to find one from Puteri Mart, Puchong. As for the bay leaves, I tried looking in major supermarkets to no avail, so I had to do without.

Recipe of Roast Chicken in Lotus Leaf

The first thing I did was to soak the lotus leaves in water because they were very dry and brittle when I bought them.

Soaking the Lotus leaf in water

Following the recipe, I cleaned and dried a whole chicken first, and separated the skin from the breast. This was quite challenging to do but since I was determined to get it right, I followed all the instructions carefully. For me, the separation of the skin from the meat was easier with the help of a small knife, cutting through the in-between area delicately.

Clean and dry whole chicken

After that, it was seasoning the chicken with lots of salt and pepper, under and on the skin.

Season with salt and pepper

Then, I chopped the fresh thyme and mixed it with butter. If your butter is sitting in the fridge, I’d recommend you to leave it in room temperature perhaps half an hour beforehand so that it would be softer and easier to mix.

Bunch of fresh thyme

Mixing butter and thyme

The next step was to peel off the lemon zest and crush the whole head of garlic, then fill the cavity with these. The aforementioned butter and thyme mixture was then rubbed under and on the chicken skin, as well as inside the chicken cavity thoroughly. Make sure every nook and corner is filled with this mixture because it makes the chicken that much juicier.

Butter and thyme on the chicken

Before it went into the oven, I wrapped the chicken with lotus leaf and tied it together at the legs.

Chicken wrapped in lotus leaf

The instructions were to roast it at 160C for 45 minutes, and to turn it up to 190C for another 10-15 minutes.

Roast it at 160 for 45 minutes

After the said time, I let the chicken rest to get more colour on the skin. I have to say though, the smell of lotus leaf and thyme was invigorating! The lotus leaf really did wonders to the chicken.

The final product – Roast Chicken in Lotus Leaf

The lucky me even managed to get the nod of approval from the Chef himself!

Roast Chicken with Chef Michael Elfwing

In the spirit of cooking, a group of us went all out to prepare a complete meal using recipes from Chef Michael Elfwing’s cook book only, and shared them during a pot luck dinner. The outcome? It’s either we had a group of talented chefs in the making, or that Chef Michael’s cookbook really bared all secrets because all the food cooked that night turned out to be of top-class quality. And most of us were doing it for the first time! Very, very delicious, I kid you not.

If you don’t believe me, watch this video below to admire all the dishes prepared using the “Cooking with Michael Elfwing” cookbook and see how pot luck should really be done.

IMASTRAVEL Bloggers Party with Mastraveller.com

iamthewitch — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 02:03:14 +0000

Mastraveller.com has just launched a massive Travel Contest known as IMASTRAVEL that awards not ONE but TWO All-Expense Trips to the winner! Open to all bloggers, this contest is really simple to join. One just needs to follow the steps below:

Register

Submit a blog post (can even be an old post, as long as it’s your best travel post)

Upload a video on why you deserve the prize

Get as many ‘Likes’ as you can

That’s it! 30% of the marks would come from the ‘Likes’ while the rest comes from the evaluation of a panel of judges. But the best part is the prizes to be won – 3 prizes with 2 trips each plus an own page on Yahoo Travel! They’re just amazing.

Prizes of IMASTRAVEL contest

The launch of the IMASTRAVEL contest happened just yesterday night at Neo Tamarind Lounge, with many bloggers and celebrity (Jojo Struys, Yuna, etc) showing up. I shall let the photos do the speaking

Neo Tamarind Lounge

There were many beautiful backdrops around the place featuring various countries of the world such as Italy and South Africa.

Picture at Colosseum, not!

IMASTRAVEL backdrop of South Africa

Some of the pictures with fellow bloggers:

Eric, witch and Jfook chilling at the couch

Timothy, Audrey, witch and Saucer meeting for the first time

Souvenirs for the attendees

Live photos printed on the spot

with my photo nicely framed up!

Lovely food blogger Tammy

with the gorgeous emcee of the night Jojo Struys

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Of Good Food, Great Coffee and Awesome Company

iamthewitch — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 01:30:21 +0000

With just the blink of an eye, FRIDAY is back to welcome us again! I am sure many of you, like me, love Fridays! It’s the day where lunch can be a little longer, work can be a little slower and time runs just a little faster! Since it’s Friday and I’m in a good mood, let me just share something for light reading. It was last weekend when I suggested to Ciki to try out the famous Puchong Yong Tau Fu for lunch. This place is by far my favourite to get my YTF fix!

Assorted Yong Tau Fu in delicious soup

What I love so much about this place is how they prepare YTF on the spot and how everything is so fresh and piping hot! The soup was sweet and tasty but with no hints of MSG. Also, the abundance of sweet potato leaves made the whole combination all the more healthier and green. You could choose to eat these on their own or with a bowl of rice, like Saucer and I did.

Assorted Deep-Fried YTF

I prefer to eat the fried versions for that extra crunch and bite, but Ciki loved to dunk it into the soup to soften the edges. Oh, I almost forgot, Ciki brought along her Monkey brother as well!

Hi there!

Say cheese!

After the fulfilling YTF, we continued to look for coffee, and where else but the comfortable Pacific Coffee Company! My previous experience with ice-blended drinks was not that satisfactory, so this time I opted for hot coffee instead!

Toffee Nut Cappucino

My Hazelnut Latte came in such a huge mug! But it was so GOOD! Most of my friends who know me well would know that I’m not a coffee person, which explains why I chose latte which is more heavy on milk. But this was way better than what I expected. It was smooth, creamy and fragrant with hazelnut such that right about now, I’m craving for it. Really.

Even Monkey is very happy with his drink

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Our Secret Santa Xmas at Betty’s!

iamthewitch — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 03:55:08 +0000

I’ve always heard of people doing Secret Santa gift exchanges during Christmas, but I’ve never had the chance to do it myself! I thought it’s a really fun idea, to buy something nice for a friend without his knowledge! So, I took the chance this year to organize one with my fellow tweeples. It started with a FB message to everyone in the gang, just to test water, but it turned out that everyone was game!

Picture of piggies at Betty’s Midwest Kitchen

It was quite simple: I just had to enter everyone’s email address in SecretSanta.com, and an invitation would be sent out. The attendees had to RSVP and after that, I just needed to click a button to ask SecretSanta.com to match the Secret Santas to the recipients randomly. It will automatically send an email to all the attendees, informing them who their Secret recipient is. This way, no one, including myself, would know who is buying for who! Plus, we all could write down our wish list, in the hopes that our Secret Santa would be generous enough to grant us our wish! *LOL*

Welcome to Betty’s Midwest Kitchen

On that day, we all gathered at Betty’s Midwest Kitchen for our early Christmas lunch and Secret Santa exchange event! All our gifts were placed under the Christmas tree.

Our gifts under the tree

Before we did the gift exchange, we had a hearty lunch! Most of us ordered the Lemonade for our drinks. It was slightly sour and refreshing, nice on a hot afternoon.

Homemade Lemonade (RM2.50)

While everyone was looking at the menu and deciding what to eat, look at what Ethan was doing! Digging his nose while playing with Iphone! That’s what I call multitasking! *LOL*

Multitasking

Saucer and Foong ordered the same dish of Classic Meatloaf, which I thought was juicy and tender. Loved the sweet taste of carrots bits which was infused within the meatloaf!

Classic Meatloaf (RM16.50)

William ordered the Beer Batter Fish. I didn’t get to try this, I wonder if there was really beer inside. *LOL*

Beer Batter Fish (RM22)

Pork Chop with Apples (RM23) ordered by Erika

The star dish though, was the Pork Belly ordered by Grey! Just look at it! Crispy, slightly charred edges and golden brown skin! It had the right balance of fatty and lean meat, and it was so good! I only had the lean meat which would usually be a dry but this wasn’t at all. It was tender, moist and flavourful! I wish I had ordered this for myself.

Pork Belly (RM27.50)

Ethan and Merryn had the Bacon Tomato Spaghetti which was not bad. These days, I seldom find tomato spaghetti that impresses me because I’ve cooked and eaten too much of it at home! *LOL* OK, I’m not bragging here but when you cook and experiment too many times, you generally set a much higher standard for that particular dish.

Bacon Tomato Spaghetti (RM15.00)

As for me, I ordered the Pork Chop with Country Gravy, which was quite disappointing. For starters, the pork chop was tough, dry and perhaps overcooked. It was also bland if not for the gravy on top. The only saving grace for this dish was really the gravy. It was a little buttery, creamy and was pretty delicious.

Pork Chop with Country Gravy (RM23)

Pulled Pork Burger (RM12)

Last but not least, I ordered a plate of ‘Dog Food‘ to be shared. It was a glorious plate of fries, drenched with gravy and cheese, baked in oven. Just look at the amount of cheese and gravy on top! It was really cheesy and delicious. I wish I had ordered this earlier because by the time they arrived, I was already full from my meal. Still, it was such a delight to eat these with friends.

Dog Food (RM9)

Now, after pictures of food, it’s time for some pictures of the gang! Look, Ethan is picking his nose here AGAIN.

Merryn, William and Ethan

Witch and Saucer

Adrian and witch

Couldn’t stop laughing at Foong’s shirt, which said “I’m with Stupid” with a finger pointing to his left. So lucky that I didn’t sit beside him!

Foong’s T-shirt

Guess who was the ‘stupid’ one? Served Quachee right for he was the latest to arrive! Almost 2 hours late ok! So he had to be the one sitting next to Foong.

Quachee acting ‘stupid’

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Birthday Celebration at Pasta Zanmai

iamthewitch — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 02:00:05 +0000

Early this month, it was Panda Foong‘s birthday and being the nice tweeples that we are, we organized a birthday dinner for him. What was originally a party of 9 persons soon turned into 6 when several of us couldn’t make it at the last minute. We reached Pasta Zanmai just before 8pm on a Tuesday, only to find the restaurant full! Served us right for not making a reservation in advance. So we waited and waited and we got our table about 15-20 minutes later.

Chopsticks for us

It was my first time at Pasta Zanmai Mid Valley and I found the environment pretty clean, bright and fuss-free. Chopsticks were placed altogether in a basket instead of individually arranged. Our green tea was to be ordered in pots instead of cups, but each pot could be shared by up to 3 persons. I wonder why such a policy?

Dining environment of Pasta Zanmai Mid Valley

I saw many items that I wanted to try that night, most of all the pasta! But Saucer had his eye on the Unagi Kabayaki set as well as the Grilled Chicken set, so being the nice person that I am *cough* I ordered the Unagi so that he could have a bit of it. The Unagi set came with quite a sizable amount of unagi, thickly sliced with sweet teriyaki sauce, a bowl of miso soup, rice and salad. The salad was nothing to shout about, just some slices of lettuce and cabbage topped with some salad dressing.

Unagi Kabayaki Set (RM20)

The unagi slices were firm and fresh, instead of mashy. It was pretty tasty except that I would have preferred more sauce. Eating only this with white rice could prove to be rather dry.

Unagi with teriyaki sauce

Ready to feast?

We ordered 2 other dishes to be share, one of which was the Assorted Mini Canapes, which were small pieces of crackers with various fillings in between them. One of them had a slice of salmon in between, another had tuna, while the one I had was soft shell crab. Even though they looked cute, they were really quite ordinary. Definitely not something that I would order again.

Assorted Mini Canapes

The Turkey Ham and Japanese Mushroom Pizza was one of December Specials that was recommended by the waitress. Unfortunately, I didn’t quite find anything special about it. Perhaps it had something to do with the cheese used? I found that it wasn’t fragrant or cheesy enough, if you would. It was merely a piece of savoury pastry topped with ham slices to me.

Turkey Ham and Japanese Mushroom Pizza

One of the nicer dishes that night was actually Saucer’s Sizzling Grilled Spring Chicken with Mushroom Sauce. It definitely arrived with much fanfare, as with most sizzling dishes, and definitely became the attention of the night when mushroom sauce was poured over the chicken in front of watching patrons.

Sizzling Grilled Spring Chicken with Mushroom Sauce

I’m happy to say that the chicken was not only gorgeous in looks and smell, it actually was tasty! Considering a spring chicken was used, it was actually quite huge. Half of it! The meat was well-marinated, the skin was lightly crispy and the the mushroom sauce was oh-so-heavenly! The meat was fall-of-the-bone tender! I almost regretted I didn’t choose this dish over the unagi. :/

Tender and smooth chicken meat with delicious mushroom sauce