Cupcake mild fever

I must admit, I got hit by the cupcake fever a bit late. It suddenly came about a month ago, and 48 cupcakes later, I've recovered. All the frosting and decorating and witnessing the oohs and aahs emitted from guests were quite fun though, while it lasted.

Now that the mild fever has gone... what am I to do with the 2 boxes of muffin ready-mix I didn't really get to use?

tang yuen

Today is the first day of winter, according to the Chinese custom. It certainly felt like winter long ago. It doesn't make me gawp anymore watching my neighbours scrape ice off their windshields while I walk to the tube station in the mornings. I'm learning to not just look at the temperature but also wind chill factor. My ears feel like they're on fire every time I expose them outdoors. Walking itself is a chore, hobbling and slipping like a stunted penguin along ice-covered walkways. Painful lungs and steam rising from my nose/mouth with each laboured, icy breath.

Don't get me wrong, the general coldness is crisp and refreshing, as long as there's no wind. And no, I have yet to see snow.

Thank God for some familiarity on chilly days of dry flaky skin. Kong Kia is my very own Santa came early. I love you long time! I love tang-yuen with black sesame filling! (I cooked these, by the way. Me me me!)

electropop

There you go: chips with curry sauce. I know a lot of you have been asking me what's this funny-name concoction, so here it is in full pictorial glory. British chips aren't American chips (sliced potato crisps like Pringles), but they're not fries or wedges either. Usually eaten with curry/barbeque/sweet and sour/satay sauce, or sore finger.

Note: Anyone who can decipher what's sore finger will get him/herself a pint of Ben & Jerry's of his/her choice. Hint: Put yourself in shoes and think with the English of a Chinese Chinese takeaway person. Took me days to figure it out. (yeah well selling flied lice ain't my lifelong ambition okay)

Anyway I'm officially addicted to the annoying British chips with curry sauce, eating a box of them every shift (thank God I work 2 nights a week) and turning a deaf ear to chef's warning of expanding buttocks and combusting weighing scales. I blame the curry sauce. A bastardisation of the authentic curry, but imagine a rich, thick yellow gravy brewed to smooth perfection using apples, oranges (beats me, too) and other weird secret ingredients... it's the yummm-ness.

And since we're on the topic of being British-ified, I have to raise my hand and admit another addiction... something I've scoffed at prior to getting ready for London life - electropop. Having sworn off music with synthesizers since I came off the NKOTB and Guys Next Door fever 15 years ago... I'm getting sucked right into the belly of the techno trippy boppy whale again. Alongside plankton and dead fish hurled my direction from my R&B-only clubbing gang.

I introduced Dragonette to Boo before I fled the country and she liked their music too. Yeah that's right, throw the squids and crustaceans at her! She's in KL, nearer! I mean, what's there not to like? Bright and loaded with the happiest catchy beats, very very danceable-to. And diabetes-inducing honey gravy vocals from Martina Sorbara - I can imagine myself plotting her mysterious disappearance and taking over. Not sure if anyone'd wanna Youtube the MV of the songs then, though. Favourite track from the album Galore: I Get Around.

Before my brains recover from reeling with happy boppiness and decaying seafood, they discovered Faithless. Of all the 4 names I'm discussing today, I must say Faithless has the most diverse sounds within an album. From subdued techno-beats to ambient lounge-beats and even pop, everyone can find his/her own favourite song from To All New Arrivals. Get ready for one helluva psychedelic technicolour ride. Favourite track: Bombs. Interesting find: The female vocals in Last This Day sounded too similar to Dido for comfort so I Wikipediaed and by golly, she's the sister of Faithless's headman and one song from each of their albums featured her. Now that's what I call family.

Si introduced me to Fischerspooner and The Faint. Heard the former in his car heading towards Ikea and let me tell you, Odyssey is meant for just that. Lazy Sunday afternoon drives with no particular destination. The hypnotic, soothing, almost-conversational vocals will make skies bluer, clouds puffier and minds emptier. (still aware of traffic, of course) Their music reminds me of my ex-happysong, Tracking Treasure Down by Gabriel & Dresden. I like songs I can clap along to! Favourite track: hmmmmm this is a tough one. What can I say, this is my favourite album of all.

The Faint has a rock edge to their music. Must be because they're from the States. Whoever heard of American electropop, eh? Very generous use of the synths in Danse Macabre (didn't Stephen King have a book with this title?), catchy tunes and beats but you probably wouldn't wanna listen to them after midnight when your next-door neighbour is a cranky 75-year-old Greek lady. I'd feature The Faint in a futuristic battle-of-the-robots kinda movie. Battle-of-the-futuristic-humans must feature Prodigy. Hehehe.

Okay enough of music talk. In a gist, electropop can be cool. Pathfinders, you guys better experiment more on Fruityloops and send me some happiness, dammit.

decadence

Decadence (n) : unrestrained or excessive self-indulgence.

When ice-cream costs less than any McDonald's McSavers meal, it's not excessive. It's simply, the smarter choice. (no no I've cancelled my Digi number)

birthday week

And so it is... (*swoon* Damien Rice)

My 28th birthday week came and went. A whole week of unadulterated pleasure and fulfilling of desires without inhibition. After a month of eating at the right time/amount, exercising at the right frequency, getting stuck with needles at the right places... I let everything go and just ate. And ate. And scoffed at exercise. Or being extra-conscious about health. (just heard from a friend I can pay for preventive jabs that last up to a year for flu and other common ailments)

Had dimsum with mum, brother and his girlfriend when mum came up for a visit. Food kinda sucked but it's been a long time since we've sat down to eat together, so it was good.

Had my favourite kimchi hotpot with rice with my favourite college friends, and although that was the third time in a row the same week I've been having that, it was good.

Thank you, my beautiful colleagues. For insisting to have Korean barbeque with me on my real birthday, even though we're all tired and worked late and only had an hour to gobble down food. You guys are the best colleagues one can ask for, seriously. You guys are the only thing I will miss when I leave the company. Our friendship will be the only thing I have from here, because I don't even have a namecard after one whole year of service and nobody's gonna believe I was an employee here before. I hope you do, in your memory.

Had our favourite bottomless drinks at Chilli's with the bandboys. Although there were hiccups over transport arrangements and timing, it's been a while since I last saw you guys and it'll be a while before we see each other again after I'm gone (if I don't get deported before setting foot into London, that is... *shudder*) but before I say my proper mushy tearful goodbyes and all...

... Estranged is playing at Laundry tomorrow night! Let's GO wei!

cafe cafe

Whirlwind Eryn came... and went. Highlight of her trip besides her loot of 10 new clothing items (thank God I have to work) must be our dinner at Cafe Cafe.

"Jess, aren't you excited I'm coming over? Where're you bringing me to eat?"
"Uhh, I don't know... Chilli's?"
"YOU BRING ME TO CHILLI'S EVERYTIME I COME KL! I WANT SOMETHING SPECIAL!"

Cafe Cafe is a quaint little restaurant that's easily missed, even though it's facing the busiest cross-junction in KL. I think it's because the exterior (including windows) is painted in black. Once you enter, though, it's a new world oozing decadence and gothic glam. I think the owner is gay. He must be. Hahahaha.

The ambience is hush-hush romantic. Tea candle, flower arrangement, ancient piano at one corner, bookshelf at another. Normal dinner conversations are conducted in whispers. I sat straighter and pursed my lips Datin-like as we perused the leather-bound menus.

Suddenly a wisp of smoke rose from Eryn's fingers. "Shit! I opened the menu too close to the candle... the edge melted!" We collapsed back onto our chairs in laughter. Plan to project graceful, Datin-like image: Fail. Nevermind she's in an ill-fitting camisole that showed too much bra and me in singlet and sports jacket.

We had crispy brie for starters. It tasted like... coconut-flavoured hairwax that grandfathers like to wear. We grimaced after the first bite, but were determined to finish the slice because it's RM23 for a small slice of fried cheese. Laughing did make the feat easier, though. We then sampled the tomato-based soup (picture not shown because it just look like normal tomato soup, if you still need picture then go Jusco and check out the lable on Campbell's canned soup) which strangely, tasted like dhaal mixed with fish curry. Your normal roti canai gravy. We couldn't stop laughing as our tastebuds exchanged these insightful opinions.

Eryn had spaghetti with king prawns, scallop, squid and some other random seafood bits. It was quite yum until she generously sprinkled tabasco and stirred everything around. I rolled my eyes. Then...

Eryn: Waiter, can I have some cheese powder?
Jess: (omigawd did she say CHEESE POWDER instead of parmesan? this is so not Pizza Hut!)
Waiter: *gestures towards slices of cheese on top of spaghetti* THOSE are cheese already, ma'am."
Eryn: Oh? Okay, hahaha. *turns towards Jess and whispers* Oi the waiter damn cute!
Jess: (eyeballs rolled further and got stuck at back of cranium)

I had braised lamb shank with sun-dried tomatoes. We didn't like it (I love the two small baby potatoes though). So we launched into another discussion about WHERE they sun dry the tomatoes and laughed like hyenas. And food miraculously disappeared.

Eryn has horrendous photography skills. This is the best picture of me during dinner. My camera is too light and it's difficult keeping it still? Yeah right. Only if it's coming from someone who uses a 10kg digital camera. And yes, I'm in the midst of scolding the photographer to hold still when this was taken.

On the other hand, my angled artsy-fartsy candid shots are godlike! Doesn't Eryn look absofuckinglutely gorgeous and dreamy with a tinge of melancholy here? If you disagree then go away and play with your Barbie Doll.

Eryn, I hope you get your Working Holiday Maker visa too. Then it's me and you conquering the world, baby. (shuddup UK is big and foreign enough to be a whole new world for us)

starbucks

After experiencing orgasmic pure coffee in its freshly-ground euphoria from Boo's Mobile French Press, I swore to pile my 3-in-1s into a pyramid and torch them while chanting cleanse me from inferior coffee that taste like gnat's pee.

My usual Grande Latte. Boo's bag of Sumatran extra bold coffee beans (instrumental to the most beautiful song of the day "feel free to make some for yourself whenever you want"). Boss's reinforced rule for everyone to come in at 9 instantly become less-picketwieldingworthy.

But I'm still not letting the horrendous morning incident go. Lately there seems to be a bevy of annoying drivers on the road who passed their exam to create a deluge of accidents (or near ones) via a never-ending string of insanely stupid decisions. The human race would be extinct several centuries ago if the Earth was populated with 30% more of such drivers. Yes, I'm talking about you, Uncle, in your posh Porsche Carerra (Carrera? whatever) going at 40km/h on the fast lane. You want safety and drive slow-slow go get the typical uncle-ified Volvo, dagnabbit. Don't effing block my way just because my Lisa is small and unwashed. Especially not when I have bleeding vagina and is late for work.

churrasco

Last night I brought the band (plus one significant other) out for some Brazilian barbeque at SDCC. I will definitely saw off my left foot with a rusty bread knife than to go again. I've been there 3 times in a month, and seriously, enough is enough. The food isn't that bad (love the fish and lamb) but the thought of shoving another piece of capsicum into my mouth gives me the dry heaves. Let's play pictionary since Multiply is still kickass slow.

The drummer loves corn. Not Korn but corn. Geez what a corny joke. No wonder his face like that.

Behold the magic fingers. Although not as nimble in scooping ice-cream compared to stroking guitar strings. Significant other blatantly refused to be featured.

Doesn't this being look like he's stepped straight out of a dreamy Japanese manga? He's an angel in real life too. Dependable. Mature. What are you girls waiting for? (aunties disallowed)

We got shooed from the restaurant right after 10. With still so much of the night left, everyone switched base camp to my house. Ok, room. And started reviewing recordings of our practice sessions. And this time, significant other was caught in the picture while trying to keep herself busy. I think she read all synopsis (10 times over?) on my Lost DVDs.

Then the "real" fun started. I learned how to play Uno (yayaya, laugh all you want) and the boys were rewarded with Vodka and Malibu cocktails (you think they'd come to my place for just a simple, innocent visit?) and they helped themselves with seconds and thirds until all my liquor gone. Gaaaaaaar. How am I supposed to practise now?!

And this is the consequence of greedy people who drink too much too fast. Muahahaha. I already got my sleeping bag out and ready, just in case. Luckily they could still drive home after resting for a bit.

lazy sunday

Lazy weekends are the best. Of course mine would be better if I wasn't sporting a skull-cracking eyeball-popping headache, but hey... beggars can't be choosers. I'm a tad worried about my horrible headache. Could it be from my mini-fridge in the room? My computer that's never turned off no matter what? Some microscopic fungus releasing pores from the ceiling (hey I had that in my old house)? Or just some plain old virus combined with the crappy weather?

I must be watching too much CSI.

Anyway, highlight of the weekend is my lazy Sunday lunch at Zipangu. Does appetite diminishes with age? Or am I finally graduating from the school of urbanite? Nowadays I can't seem to eat as much as I could at buffets. Daaaamn. My inner small-town Chinese self is groaning at the wastefulness. I only had ONE helping of everything! How can!

More yummylicious pictures here.

jogoya

The reason for an identical facial expression in photographs 20 minutes apart is either (a) the food was so good throughout that I stoned in a dreamy, gluttony trance for 3 hours, or (b) the food sucked balls so consistently hard that I had to force myself to consistently smile the fake, enjoying-it smile.

In Jogoya's case, sadly, it was the latter.

They should place more literate, English-proficient staff before the entrance. This dude didn't even smile while shoo-ing me to queue at the registration counter (I made the grave mistake of walking straight up to the payment counter before registering but how would I know). I asked what I'm supposed to do first. He pointed again to the little queue-less counter at the side. I stood there totally lost until a Chinese guy in a better suit came and explained.

They should place more literate, English-proficient staff at the entrance. Not someone who shrieks "See receipt! Show me receipt!" while flagging customers two-steps onto the red carpet leading to the 30,000 square feet (so I was told) interior. If this is a semi-fastfood franchise, I'd understand and smile apologetically and speedily dig out the receipt from my already-cluttered handbag. But I just paid RM101.20 for dinner and my mood sank lower at the cheapness everything was oozing before I even set foot inside.

If this is your first time at Jogoya, I guarantee you'll be awestruck by the spaciousness of the set-up and the layout of the food. I got lost trying to find my way back to the table a coupla times. Ya I know I have no bloody cow sense of direction to start off with, but this place is huge.

Check out the dry ice for the smoky effect. Woo! Alas, the 2 workers featured here got into a scuffle. With real punches being thrown and shoving until another burlier worker had to stand in the middle and pry them apart. All these unfolded right in front of maybe 5 guests queuing for dimsum. Does wonder to one's appetite, this.

Bamboo clams, herbed snails, custard paos and ginseng soup. Only the custard pao tasted nice. But their raw food section was good! Oysters were the biggest I've ever sampled, and the salmon freshest. Other than that... errr...

Do not, I repeat, do not go for their king crab whatever extravaganza. There's this little special placard that says VIP members are entitled to king crab rolls, grilled king crab, curry king crab etc, and small fry customers like yours truly got all excited when I saw that I could actually order a soupy king crab do in some special fireproof, waterproof paper... and did. Oh my gee that was the foulest crab ever, royal descendent or not. Tasted like yesterday's VIP's leftovers now passed on to small fry customers to clean up.

Proceeded to sample desserts very quickly (what to do, main courses didn't excite me). The cakes and pastries were nothing to shout about, but

the lime & lemon sorbet and mango & passionfruit sorbet were heavenly with a capital H. I think they're from Movenpick. Said so on the container-lah. Yummylicious! The mushrooms were okay too (no, these are not dessert, it just arrived... very late). And the coconuts, oh the coconuts (mouth waters). I set myself a goal of emptying 20 coconuts (to make up for the RM50 I didn't/couldn't consume on food) but I could manage a meager 5 before giving up. The remorse shall follow me to my grave.

What's a Taiwanese franchise without Taiwan's very own mwah-chee? I fell in love with this sticky pepejal ever since my first Taiwan trip 4 years ago. Rock hard and whitish uncooked, jelly-ish and semi-transparent cooked, it's a larger version of our local Chinese tong-yuen (little glutinous rice balls one eats a month before Lunar New Year) without the sesame/peanut stuffing. A bit too sweet, this, but fine nevertheless.

Jasiminne the Penguin has much better pictures (and more positive comments) about Jogoya than I do. Go go.

rice burgers

Land of McD's rice burgers, here I come again!

That's right bitches. Tomorrow I shall be going to Singapore, where good Sistahs bake and bad Sistahs shake (you no bad, Eryn. Val bad). And I promise to happily lick the last bit of my home-baked too-sour lemon cheesecake this time, Nene. It'll be a bitchin' weekend.

I should've just shuddup yesterday. Why post about good things to come and the crap. My equally-insecure-as-the-owner handphone got upset and took "more good things to come" personally and my memory card went kaput.

Corrupted memory card.
Precious pictures, ringtones, video clips of my deceased gramma and the band...
All gone.

FUCK!

melaka - food

What is a Melaka trip without savouring its mouthwatering chow? I made a point to shoot my food prior to digging in, but at times it proved too trying. Asking me to look at steaming hot food but not touching is torture. Even if it's 30 seconds to snap a shot. I'm all for instant gratification.

Trying to follow the makan trail left by the people behind Foodsters Guide, my first stop was chicken rice ball in Chung Wah. I'm not proud to announce that although I've been to Melaka many times, I've never tried their chicken rice ball. The secret of the rice ball is not important to me. I don't care how they roll the rice into balls and why they don't come apart. Their. Chicken. Very. Very. VERY. Heavenly. My mouth still waters whenever I think of the tender, succulent chicken. *swoon*

Went for a stroll along Jonker Walk after lunch craving for something cold to offset the humidity - and I found this place with a decent throng of customers. 88 Jonker Dessert. Their cendol is quite different, with thick gula melaka sticking to the spoon, bowl and my teeth. Didn't quite like how the sugar sticks to the bottom of the bowl, making the final few mouthfuls too sweet for my liking.

My first time eating satay celup. Chose to patron Capitol because it's the oldest place with more variety (said a Jonker Walk shopkeeper). Coupled with the praises sung by my guidebook, what could go wrong? What could go wrong indeed. I didn't like the experience one bit. Gravy to dip my satay tasted like... nothing. Just some thick goo with no taste. I expected slightly peanut-ish flavour, but alas, even the diced cucumber tasted like classroom blackboard. The yummiest item in the shop was the Coke I ordered.

Since I had only about 6 sticks of satay celup earlier, it's time for some real food. And we headed towards Jalan Bunga Raya for the recommended-by-guidebook "oh-jien" (oyster fried egg). It was a long wait, but I was glad to have at least half an hour for my protesting stomache to calm down. This is probably the best oyster fried egg I've eaten for a looooong time. I was told that this place sells the best char-siew (roast marinated pork) in town during the day. I'm jotting this down as a must-try for my next trip, together with the Sun May Hiong pork satay. Have to bring a pork-lover along as well because the boyfriend doesn't fancy pork. Interested parties please leave me a message.

Hotel breakfast was just enough for a 5-year old (which is a good thing actually) so I went for more food right after. My guidebook says the best cendol in Melaka is here in Min Chong. Like the good girl I am, I ordered exactly what the book advised. The veggie rojak was delectable, just the right portion of everything with just the right level of spiciness. Same goes for the cendol. The gula melaka wasn't as thick as the one in Jonker Walk with generous dollops of coconut milk. Yummylicious to the last drop. This shop is a tad "historical" (translation: run-down) and easy to miss if you're concentrating on the traffic instead of names of shops. I think it fits only about 10 people at one go so make sure to time your visit correctly or you'll be standing under the sun!

The second last meal before I left Melaka! I was forced by Eryn to try the pizza in Coconut House. "It's right opposite your hotel so you must go!" Although the food's a bit pricey, they have the best freshly-squeezed pineapple juice on the planet! The pizza was alright, cooked using authentic woodfire and bla bla. I think we can find the same quality here in KL anyways. Because of the irritating mosquitoes (and the price of food), I rushed through a small pizza and then headed straight to Chung Wah for chicken rice balls again.

I'm not stepping on the weighing scale until next month (and few sessions of morning jogs).

metal eggs

Behold. Metal eggs. Flavorful.