Tuesday - Fried Chicken

Chicken has become so prevalent in our society that it has become generic. I don't think where chicken come from. I just know where to get them. And it's probably without a doubt that KFC, or Kentucky Fried Chicken for you older folks, makes the best tasting fried chicken.

However, going to KFC is not a simple affair. Nor is it cheap. That leads me to the point of this post. Every Tuesday, a van rolls up beside the road at the Sungai Nibong residential area and 2 men gets out and start preparing their chicken. One would do the frying, and the other would tend to the customers. And what customers. People would stand in line, sometimes up to the middle of the road, obstructing traffic and endangering themselves, all for the sake of fried chicken.

I've joined in the experience, and came away reasonably happy. The chicken is not as tasty as KFC's, but they're not too bad. They're not too greasy, pretty crispy on the outside, and juicy on the inside. But perhaps they could do better on the marinade because the chicken tastes like chicken - a little bland.

Don't go away thinking I dislike the chicken. No. For the price, I'm pretty happy with it. And every other Tuesday, I'd be among the crowd, risking my neck, for my piece of the chicken.

Harry Potter - So The Drama

Yes, the next and final installment of the Harry Potter series is about to be unveiled tomorrow. And already, the drama has started.

According to The Star, several bookstores - MPH, Popular, Harris (never heard of them...) and Times - will NOT be selling Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows tomorrow. Wow.

Here's an excerpt from the article:

MPH, Popular, Harris and Times at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur at 4pm announced that they would not sell Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in protest against Carrefour and Tesco selling the book at a hefty discount.

The recommended retail price of RM109.90 is being violated by hypermarkets advertising and selling it at RM69.90, the bookstores said.

Since Amazon is already selling the book at 50% discount, I'm going about to see if I can get a colleague who's over in US to get me a copy, and bring it back for me when he returns.

I've got the earlier 6 books the same way. Although books 1-5 were gotten in a not so ethical manner. It was like this. I ordered the set from Barnes & Nobles online. I was told it would take 2 weeks to deliver. 2 weeks came and passed, and naturally I was concerned. I emailed their customer support person and told them my predicament. To my relief, I was told they'd refund my money and that I could make another order. Guess what happened the next day? I received the package, and I got the refund!

In my defense, I did inform the customer support person that I've received the package and told them to take back my refund. Instead, I got a nice "Thank You" email from them, with hopes that I'd continue to purchase books from them.

There's no rush for me to get the 7th book. I've still got to refresh my memory, so I've started reading the 6th book since a few days ago.

Transformers, fun. Bakerzin, wanting.

Two and a half hours later, I was dusting popcorn crumbs off my shirt, SP was chatting with her colleague, and we were walking out of the cinema, after having watched Transformers. The caramel popcorn at GSC Queensbay is quite the treat. Sugary, crunchy and not a single unpopped corn to be found.

The movie was fun. And like the popcorn, the movie was meant to be enjoyed without being too critical. Big explosions, check. Big guns, check. Cheesy lines, check. Comedic relief, check. Eye candy, check. Good triumph over evil, check.

After the movie, the three of us decided to have dinner at Bakerzin. The place is sadly ostracized by Penangites. I wanted to try the Linguine Vongole that SP had during our first visit to Bakerzin. SP and her friend decided to try Bakerzin's new set menu. 2 side orders, 1 main dish, a dessert, a soup and a drink for $20. We thought it was quite a good deal, until we saw the portions. But wait. Before we go on a tirade about Bakerzin, think about it. You get to try so many flavours for only $20. It's not the best deal, but at least Bakerzin is trying.

I had the Linguine Vongole, so my portion was the largest. As much as I'd like to rave about Bakerzin, I'm afraid they let me down that night. Some of the clams had sand in them and the sauce was a little too plain for me. The Linguine Vongole was only average that night. The chef is not too consistent because the dish was very good on our first visit.

I wanted to order the Iced Chocolate Mint but was surprisingly persuaded NOT to order it. Very strange. So I ended up with the Iced Lychee Mint. It was refreshing, but seemed out of place with my Linguine Vongole.

Although it seemed we didn't enjoy our experience at Bakerzin that night, we did enjoy each other's company. In fact, we stayed and chatted until it was closing time. However the way we were asked to leave was a little crude. The waiter simply handed us the bill and mumbled something about closing time. Bakerzin could have handled it in a much more pleasant manner. Perhaps ask us if we wanted to order anything else since they were going to close the kitchen soon. That would be hint enough for us to know that they're going to close the restaurant.


However I had another opportunity to visit Bakerzin again, and this time I accompanied my sister. She's never tried Bakerzin so I suggested she try the Linguine Vongole. Wary of my last experience at Bakerzin, I asked the waitress to inform the chef about my preference for the sauce and I'm glad to say that I got the quality I had expected from Bakerzin. And my sister enjoyed the dish.

I also managed to order the Iced Chocolate Mint, and I did enjoy it. Chocolatey and minty, with some ice cubes to temper the sweetness of the chocolate.

I'm not sure if we'll ever visit Bakerzin again. Perhaps for their dessert and cakes. I'm just discouraged by the inconsistencies of their dishes.

The wine for our wedding

A few months before our wedding, I chanced upon a Rose wine from Chile - Miguel Torres San Medin Cabernet Sauvignon Rose. We discovered that we enjoyed this particular wine and naturally we decided it would be the wine we'd serve at our wedding dinner reception.

SP made some calls to find out the distributor for the Torres wine, and discovered it was in KL. We left several messages, found ourselves being pushed from one person to another, and finally we found out we could easily get the wine from Penang. No need for transporting boxes from wine from KL, all the way to Penang.

And where in Penang did we get these wines? Sunshine Square. And we even got some discount and a free wine glass for every bottle we bought. It was quite an experience for us, carting the boxes of wine in our shopping trolley.

As soon as we got home, we were so concerned about the proper way to store the wine. The sommelier suggested a dark, cool place would be the best conditions for the wine. And so the wine went into our second room. The place is normally cool, and it's quite dark once the curtains are drawn.




We brought the wine to Lone Pine the day before our wedding so that the people at Lone Pine could keep the wine chilled until they were served. The wine was quite popular at our wedding dinner reception. All the bottles were finished, and everyone had their fill.

So right now we more wine glasses than we need at home, and they're still in their boxes. Maybe they'll come in handy when we have company... and then there's that bottle of Sparkling Rose in the fridge...