Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Planet TT


Maybe I'm heaping too many praises to Telok Tempoyak, but it was the only panorama image I had that could be used to create... Planet TT!

Make your own pano world from this link. And check out the impressive examples there. This may be a new twist to panorama photographs.

Monday, August 28, 2006

Here's lookin' at you, kid


Partings are such sweet sorrow. I got to experience what my dad feels when he's cruising around in his Coupe, even if it was only for two weeks.

Thursday, August 24, 2006

TT:2

shutterjam came to my cube around 6pm. Zin was preoccupied with work in the opposite cube. We didn't have much to say. It was another quiet evening in the office, the day slowly dwindling down, the prospect of ending another day just like any other day.

I don't remember who broke the silence first, but it didn't matter. We rounded up cmos and the four of us were heading to Telok Tempoyak for the second time - TT:2.

The place is looking good. The tide was low, the seas were calm. Click the image below for a larger version.


Our Independence Day is just around the corner and the "scenic bridge" at Telok Tempoyak is adorned with the Malaysian flag.

shutterjam had the honour of selecting our meal for the evening. He chose a large siakap, 8 large prawns, a plate of fried squid and a crab for himself. The last time we were there, we complained that the sambal wasn't enough. This time, they gave us a bowl of sambal. Spicy and yummy!

Can you guess which plate is whose? I asked SP if she could guess which plate was mine. To my surprise, she guessed the right one!

Hint: it's the plate that's the odd one out.

Monday, August 21, 2006

Little Shanghai


My parents dropped by during the weekend and we had a great time! On their last night in Penang, we visited a steamboat restaurant in a area called Little Shanghai. We arrived early so the crowd was still thin.

It was a buffet BBQ steamboat affair, although I felt more food was meant for BBQ. Normally SP would use very little oil or butter when cooking, so I watched with amusement as SP and my parents apply gobs after gobs of butter for the BBQ. It was delicious.

Typical of alfresco streamboat dinners, expect to sweat... a lot. We were fortunate to sit at a corner, next to a large fan so we were outside the main crowd where it's the hottest.

The area is a fine example of how to refresh colonial shoplots into trendy and modern establishments without losing their historical heritage. This is a good start and if the momentum continues, I look forward to the future in the heart of Georgetown.

More butter!

Saturday, August 19, 2006

Balloon doggy

I saw some great videos of doc demonstrating how he makes balloon animals. So I decided give it a try.

I got the balloons from Tesco, and when I got back, I realised that it is humanly impossible to blow up the balloon without a pump. Then I remembered I have a bicycle pump!

It took both of us, SP and myself, to tie the end of the balloon. Then it took me two more tries before I got the balloon doggy below. Success!

Eighteen

We're fortunate to live near several trendy restaurants. One particular restaurant is Eighteen. If I may take a moment to digress - what's Penang's obsession of naming restaurants with numbers? There's 68, 32 and now 18?

Anyways, Eighteen has been around for a few years now, and everytime we passed the place we'd tell ourselves we'd try the place. We finally got our chance today! It was another long day at work and I was too tired to bother driving to a food court. So we decided to walk to Eighteen.

We were the last customer there. The place was cozy with 80's music playing not so softly. It wasn't deafening, but it certainly wasn't mood music. SP brought my attention to their kitchen - Eighteen had an open kitchen concept where diners can see the chefs prepare their food. It's a good concept because no chance of hanky panky happening behind closed doors.


SP ordered the Lamb Leg in Mint Sauce while I ordered the Grilled John Dory in Lemon Garlic Sauce. The Lamb Leg was a nice change from similar dishes at other restaurants. Eighteen's lamb dish was much more tender and the best parts were the slices where there were thin streaks of fat. I could still enjoy the delicate flavours of the mint sauce together with the robust flavour of lamb and the juicy bits of fat. The lamb cuts were placed on top of slices of potatoes, carrots, asparagus and a generous sprinkle of deep fried strips of potato skin.

My grilled John Dory was prepared in a similar manner. 2 grilled pieces of dory on top of a platform made from potatoes, carrots, asparagus with a generous sprinkle of deep fried strips of potato skin. The lemon garlic sauce melded perfectly with the fish. I was pleased to see that the chef did not drown the fish in the sauce. Instead, the sauce complemented the fish very well. It's been a long time since I've enjoyed such a dish.


Eighteen also has a large selection of pasta dishes that looked very interesting. We are definitely be going back to try them out.

Thursday, August 17, 2006

Pre-futsal dinner at the Junction

SP and I hardly ever go to town (read - Komtar area) on weekdays, but yesterday was an exception. We were heading to Kick Cafe where our colleagues were having a futsal competition. But first, we had to have dinner.

We decided on Junction Cafe, a quaint restaurant in a modernised colonial building. More establishments should utilise these colonial buildings instead of tearing these historical buildings down and replacing them with dull drab "modern" buildings.

The menu was quite sparse, but the selection consists of popular dishes. I had the Pineapple Fried Rice, SP had Nyonya Fried Rice and shutterjam had "mee suah tow".

The fried rice dishes were simple. Nothing to see here, move along. But shutterjam's "mee suah tow" looked mighty appetizing.

I liked my Ais Kacang dessert although I didn't fancy the nutmeg. Some people like nutmeg. I'm not one of them. Nutmeg discrimination aside, the Ais Kacang was rather nice. Not too sweet yet still tasty and refreshing.


Junction Cafe was filled with Chinese paintings, sculptures, Chinese calligraphy, all for sale if something catches your eye.


shutterjam and his "mee suah tow" - savouring every mouthful.

Thursday, August 10, 2006

Buayas


SP and I were shopping at a popular hypermarket when I saw some familiar looking shoes. I thought they were crocs. Then I saw the price - RM18.

Wha... *rubs eyes*

Turns out, they weren't original crocs. I don't know what they're called, but I'll call them buayas.

The buayas were just as light as the real deal, although the feel of the material may be a little different - a little softer. It even had the heel strap! I'm not sure if these buayas have non-slip soles, so better be careful.

I tried a few but they were a size or two too small for me. Too bad. They do seem comfortable...

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Taste of Japan

It was a spur of the moment decision as we headed towards the Aji Nippon Restaurant located at Ideal Avenue. Our original plan was to have dinner at Indiraas, a popular banana leaf rice restaurant. Then SP remembered she had a mild cough so curry was out of the question. So while waiting for the traffic lights to turn at the Bayan Lepas roundabout, we decided to have Japanese.

This was SP's second time at Aji Nippon. She's told me about her previous dining experience and how much she liked the place. I didn't have much expectation when I first saw the place. The exterior decor was very plain compared to the neighbouring restaurant that also served Japanese food.

But I learnt not to judge a book by its cover because the interior was very nice. There is a Japanese theme, but they didn't go overboard. Some Japanese art on the wall, modern Japanese pop music from a small portable radio, a few Japanese inspired wall lamps and dark wood tables and chairs completed the theme.

It was a weekday so there wasn't a crowd. Good for us because we had the first dibs on the private booth. This private booth had a low table with the floor recessed under the table so we don't have to fold our legs when we eat. You know what was the best part? The waitresses had to kneel when they served us. WOW! Talk about being pampered. Aji Nippon's waitresses were very attentive. Our cups of green tea were never empty. They kept coming in, kneeling beside us and filling up our cups.


SP ordered the Wakayama Ramen. It was a huge bowl! I liked the soup and goes well with the thick noodles and several generous slices of pork. The soup spoon was quite unique. It looked more like a ladle, but works surprisingly well.


SP suggested I get the Aji Nippon Special Set. First the raw stuff - thick slices of salmon, tuna and another fish that I couldn't identify, slices of octopus tentacles and a baby octopus. I thought that was it, but then....


the second part of the set - tempura, chawan mushi, miso soup, grilled salmon, rice and some watermelon dessert. WOW!


I was beaming throughout the meal. The meal was very satisfying and very substantial. I'm definitely going back to Aji Nippon. If you decide to try, don't judge the place by its exterior decor. Check out the place and taste their food. I think you'll enjoy it. We certainly did.

A quick google and I found out that the literal translation of the Japanese word Aji is taste. So Aji Nippon would be?

Saturday, August 05, 2006

Splish! Splash! I'm takin' a bath!


Aaaah... finally the truck's clean! I've only got myself to blame. I'm just too lazy to do it myself. So after many months of neglect, I decided to send the truck for a wash.

The place is called "SS Car Wash", located on the same row as the "Golden eBay Restaurant". It's quite an efficient establishment. Workers were always busy and cars kept coming in.

I had to wait about 30 minutes before it was my turn, but I was pleased by their attention to detail. Even when I was about to drive off, one guy took a moment to wipe a spot he missed. It was a good experience, and the car wash only costs me RM8.

Friday, August 04, 2006

Argentinean cattle


I've been clicking the Fedex tracker website, every half hour for the past three days. Looks like it's not going to arrive until next week. Sometimes the ability to access too much information can be tiring.

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Ikan Bakar at Teluk Tempoyak


When it comes to matters of food, my friends and I are pretty spontaneous. Memories of our last seafood excursion still fresh in our minds, we found ourselves heading to Teluk Tempoyak for a Malay-styled seafood dinner. This transpired after 15 minutes of Zin telling us about the place and us deciding to have seafood dinner there.

The seafood restaurant is in a village, Kampung Teluk Tempoyak, right beside the sea. Upon entering the restaurant, I knew the owner was not pretentious about what he offered - a seafood gastronomic experience. The tables and chairs were sticky, quite possibly from the remnants of many past feasts. I was a little uncomfortable, but at least the floor was clean. And in retrospect, not a fly in sight.

shutterjam and Zin had the honours of picking our dinner. The day's catch was so fresh that some were still alive! Zin chose 9 large prawns, their sizes perhaps only a close second to those my father normally get from the jetty in Kuantan. shutterjam followed closely with a large siakap and 3 crabs.

While waiting for our food to be prepared, we ordered our drinks - a large jug of iced coconut water. It was a refreshing treat after spending a day at work. Then we noticed our neighbouring diner having a strange creamy white drink with a generous ice cream topping. Even before our food arrived, we had already ordered another jug of drink - coconut shake. The drink had coconut milk, shredded coconut flesh, several large scoops of ice cream and maybe coconut water. It was a hearty drink. It reminded me of "ais krim potong". I prefered the fresh coconut water.

My favourite dish had to be the "ikan bakar". The sambal was exquisite, but the portion was much too small. We'll have to remember to ask for extra sambal the next time. The fish was expertly baked with the outer skin charred, but the flesh still moist and tasty. There was no denying the freshness of the fish from the texture of the flesh.

The prawns were splendidly baked over the barbeque pit, the shells slightly charred and their flesh still succulent. The accompanying sauce was tangy and I thought matched very well with the prawns.

I didn't really enjoy the baked crabs. However shutterjam and Zin were almost giggling with glee because the crabs were packed with crab eggs. So much so that there was hardly any meat. I prefer my crabs cooked in a sauce.

The place is run by a En Adnan Bin Hassan. They're closed on Mondays, and only opens for dinner from 5.30pm to 10.30pm. We arrived around 6.30pm and that's probably the best time because not long later, the crowd started pouring in.

According to Zin, there's another village on the opposite road. He said the place is a little pricier and he felt the food wasn't as good. But anyways, perhaps we'll try that restaurant next month.