Happy New 2010 - Farewell 2009!

It has been quite a year, not only on the homefront (and the world!) but also on a personal level too for me. Now, it's time to usher in 2010 - I can't believe that it's been 10 years since the big hoo ha over 2000's millenium bug! Do you all remember what were you doing 10 years ago on New Year's Eve back in 2000? :o)

Let's look forward to an even bigger, brighter and better year ahead. Thanks for dropping by, see you next year!

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Wishing All A Happy 2010!
WMW

Klondike Bar

Merry Christmas everyone!....I guess some of us are nursing a hangover, having already celebrated and/or still celebrating the holidays till 2009 is over. I have been busy myself and finally got a chance to sit down long enough to blog.

While I haven't been drinking at the bar during this festive season, I love recalling my indulgence in this particular 'bar". This time, on one of my fave dessert when I was in San Francisco - THE Klondike Bar. This simple square vanilla ice cream coated with a lovely thick chocolate flavoured coating (now even with a thicker chocolatey shell is simply divine.

With nice, smooth and creamy vanilla ice-cream, biting into one of these Klondike Bar is a heavenly mouthful. There are several varieties like Heath, Krunch, Oreo, Reese's, Neapolitan to name a few, my favourite is still the Original Klondike Bar. At around USD2.50-4 (depending on which retail outlet and promotion) for a pack of 6, there's no reason not to pick up a pack (or two) whenever I'm visiting USA :o)





As their famous tagline goes -What would you do for a Klondike Bar??? :o)


HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!

Mr Chiam's Goodies Stall, Brickfields

Having being reminded by Masak-Masak about this 27 year old stall, we made a trip to this place (it has been awhile since I last visited Brickfields). We didn't come here for the curry puffs nor the kuih bakul or the banana fritters but specifically for the sesame seed balls - calling and ordering ahead. Of course, we picked up the some of the other goodies while we were there in the end.

We had arrived to picked up our order which was already packed and was about to go off when Mr Chiam mentioned that he was going to fry another batch of sesame seed balls. So I stuck around a while longer and took some pics.

What a handful! Grabbing four sesame seed balls at one time, Mr Chiam drops it onto the wire ladle dipped into the hot boiling oil one at a time in quick succession....

Remembering Ah Gong ... Lim Lian Geok

On Dec 13, last early Sunday morning, I went to pay my respect to Ah Gong - together with hundreds of others. Ah Gong - Lim Lian Geok, let your story be told for generations to come....

Lim Lian Geok Memorial (located next to Alice Smith School)


The mural


Reached there at around 7.30am, people were streaming in before it got to ...


This &


This...and

Restaurant Pau Kee, Jalan Utara Kuala Lumpur

When I got back from the States recently, I had several emails from readers informing me that Pau Kee, my favourite noodles stall from Ching Hai (click on the link for more pics) had shifted to Imbi, Kuala Lumpur. It was until only recently that I got a chance to drop by the new location.

They now operate from their own rented shoplot, proudly displaying their very own signage...


Still serving up tasty noodles like the Ipoh Kuey Teow (flat noodles)....


Delicious Fresh Prawn dumplings (Sui Gow)....apart from other fare like Fresh Prawn Wanton, Curry Chicken Noodles, Steamed Chicken etc. etc.

Click HERE to read about my previous review on Pau Kee.

Restaurant Pau Kee
No 10, Jalan Utara (the building next to Honda showroom)
off Jalan Imbi
55100 Kuala Lumpur

Tel : 016-375 1360

(Operating Hours : 7am - 5pm)
Close on alternate Tuesdays

Things & Places Seen In San Francisco - Part 9B

Continuing with more photos I took at Marin Headlands, San Francisco. We made our way towards Point Bonita Lighthouse ...

As we made our way towards the lighthouse, I realised everything in the area is very well maintained and kept clean.


Finally, we caught sight of the lighthouse ahead

Things & Places Seen In San Francisco - Part 9A

One sunny day, we decided to head on out to Marin Headlands to do some serious walking and enjoy the sights at the same time. The place was beautiful, coupled with the great weather, I had a great time - getting a workout from all that walking and taking photos at the same time.

Enjoy the pics!

Before we reached Marin Headlands, we made pit stops along the way for me to take some photos ...

Light At The End Of The Tunnel


Pulled over by the side to enjoy the view


Arriving at Marin Headlands


Life is Good!

Friday Quick Bites @ Room Eighteen, Tropicana City Mall Petaling Jaya

Here's another quick post. part of my Friday Quick Bites series :o)

Met up with Karen and little Bryan over an early lunch at Room 18 a couple of months back. It was then that I first tried their congee. I have tried some other items on the menu before but I would say I enjoy their seafood congee with duck meat the best.

At RM11.80, this smooth and big bowl of congee comes with generous toppings as you can see.
I will probably only order this to eat when I drop by this place.

Room Eighteen
Lot G-35, Ground Floor
Tropicana City Mall
No. 3 Jalan SS20/27
47400 Petaling Jaya

Tel : 03-7728 8128

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

Typica Cafe, Shaw Parade Kuala Lumpur

OL, Soo and I went on a food journey not too long ago and Typica Cafe was our last stop for the day. However, this little and simple looking cafe won my heart over with its coffee and dessert. OL drove into the heart of town one weekday and we stopped here for a tea(coffee)time treat. We knew exactly what to order for dessert but we had to deliberate over the selection of coffee. However, once we told the staff what we wanted for dessert, the staff gave us some recommendations as to which coffee would pair well with it.

We followed her recommendations and I ended up with the Guatemala Ice Drip Coffee. A frozen coffee ice cube is served in an empty glass. The staff then pours the coffee from a mixer into the glass before you.

The Guatemala Ice Drip Coffee (RM16) - Drank black, the aroma and flavour of the roasted beans were wonderful. It was full bodied and had a pleasant aftertaste with a bitterness that was just spot on without being too overwhelming. While I'm not a coffee aficionado or one who can analyse in detail, I do know that this was indeed a great glass of coffee.

And exactly what dessert did we order (this came highly recommended by OL who had tried it earlier and loved it!)?

Things & Places Seen In San Francisco - Transport Part 8

When I took the photos, I didn't realise that there were all these different shots of transport - the usual and the unusual ones in San Francisco. Just like I did a post of transportation in Egypt, here's my compilation of transportation seen around San Francisco.

Ferry passing Alcatraz


Flipped Bus?

Tummy Warmer - Ketam Village Steamboat, Ikano Power Centre

With the "end of the world" weather that us Malaysians have been experiencing of late, I'm sure there were a few hopefuls out there who waited for the "winter storm" to happen on 20 November. Some hopeful to catch their first glimpse of snowflakes and some just because ... I know one who had hope for some sort of miracle and had sadly put away the winter clothes when it didn't happen. Awww....cheer up!

The rest of us went about our business as usual though we definitely realised that the temperature has been low of late and coupled with the daily rainfall, we have been feeling cold like we never felt before all these while in the humid Malaysian weather. I did a search and found out that the lowest temperature recorded in Malaysia was 7.8 ^oC on February 1, 1978 in Cameron Highlands. I was around but can't remember such a rare event. Of late, I have been warming up my tummy with hot soupy meals often - which brings me to today's post on Ketam Village Steamboat in Ikano. This is one of my favourite place and I'm quite a regular here, introducing Eat First Think Later and Precious Pea to this place plus lots of other friends too. However, I never got around to blogging about this place till now! I've been coming to this place about once a week since the cold weather to warm myself up.

Here, each of us gets an individual pot. While some may say "...but the fun is in sharing the pot..", some may rejoice "....finally...clean uncontaminated food (read - no saliva) all to myself!" Well...to each its own (precisely!) :o)

My friends' order of the combo set for 2 pax. Something I don't touch as I don't quite fancy seafood. I mean, I would eat seafood but not if I had a choice.

Why do I like coming here for steamboat? I'm not that particular about sharing food or saliva, it's just that ...

Ghirardelli Premium Chocolate, San Francisco

We have Domingo Ghirardelli to thank for bringing us Ghirardelli Premium Chocolates. Leaving Italy and migrating to United States, he created the Ghirardelli Chocolate Company. In the early 1900's, Ghirardelli Chocolate then made its home in Ghirardelli Square, San Francisco (fortunately for me!). I always dropped by Ghirardelli Square for my usual treat whenever I'm in San Francisco.

This time round, my visit to Ghirardelli Square was even better as I met up with Kopi Soh, a former blogger turned avid Facebooker. Only a handful has seen her as she blogs anonymously and photos of her on the blog or Facebook usually shows her hand or her leg or her shoulder...you get what I mean. So, it was quite an exciting thought to be finally seeing her face-to-face and with us meeting up in San Francisco!

Kopi Soh and her cherry blossom tattoo!

With Mr Kopi Soh in tow, we decided to head straight for our sundae treats at Ghirardelli Soda Fountain & Chocolate Shop in Ghirardelli Square. We joined the queue, ordered and managed to find an empty table though the place was crowded. While Mr Kopi Soh waited for our order to arrive, Kopi Soh and I promptly went around the place and took photos. In this shop, one can actually see how Ghirardelli processes the cocoa beans into their premium chocolate.

Here are the steps and the explanation (taken off each display board at the shop).

In Step 1 - Cocoa Roasters, the outer shell of the bean is removed, leaving behind the kernel (also called "nibs"). These nibs are then roasted thus developing their unique flavor.

Step 2 Chocolate Mills

In three tiered mills, a combination of grinding and frictional heat melt the cocoa nibs into a liquid called chocolate liquor or unsweeted chocolate as we know it today.

O'Briens Delivery Service - Officially Launched!

I was invited to attend the official launch of O'Briens Delivery Service a couple of weeks back at The Curve outlet where I also met up with several other bloggers. I had called Simon along as he was one of the few (or the only one!) I know who is free on certain weekdays. We were the first few to arrive and later met up with TheNomadGourmand, Coco and Wilson and we sat together with the media folks.

Can you spot Simon?

From Top Left : Mr Hugh Hoyes-Cock, CEO of O'Briens Sandwich Cafe - Asia Pacific, Mr Eoin Duggan; First Secretary of the Irish Embassy and Mr Brian Pua, Master Franchise of O'Briens Malaysia and also the Operations & Business Development Director. All 3 addressed the invited guests with a short and simple speech before the ribbon cutting ceremony...

It's Official!

Latest addition to O'Briens Happy Family - spanking new O'Briens delivery motorbikes

It's that time again...

Yay! The weekend's here again....We are all another week older :o). Going to have another busy weekend...what will you be doing?

Party!!!!!!
Glow sticks at a concert venue

Have a great weekend!

Supper @ The Lodge Paradize Hotel, Kuala Lumpur

After leaving Luna Bar, some of us wanted to have supper and Czar suggested we go for Teochew Porridge at The Lodge Paradize Hotel. It has been awhile since I last went to this place which has been around for decades! We headed straight to Paradize Poolside Coffee House and promptly put in our orders.

Most of us had either ordered the Fried Beef Noodles in egg gravy (RM13.50) or the Teochew Porridge set (RM15), for two to share. I opted for the porridge and shared it with Cookie :o)

The Beef Noodles (Kway Teow "Flat Noodles") came flooded with egg swirled gravy that was delicious and the usual ginger slices and spring onions. I tasted some of it and it was quite good.

Here's the Teochew Porridge set, a large bowl of plain porridge served with 6 side dishes.

Chill Out @ Luna Bar, Pacific Regency Hotel, KL

How has your weekend been so far? It's already Sunday ... and the weekend has come and it's going :o). Take time off to chill ... Here are some pics I took of Luna Bar @ Pacific Regency Hotel when I did some chilling there recently. It's a nice place to hangout, soaking up the fun (not sun ...since at night, hahaha) with the usual suspects ... love the surroundings! Have your dinner there and party the night away at the pool area or just chill indoor. Click HERE for the floor plan of Luna Bar to have a better idea of the layout, it's a great place to throw a party.

View from the upper deck


Bright lights


Bar near the pool area

Things & Places Seen In San Francisco - Part 5

Today, I shall take you all on a tour when I walked around the pier area along Fisherman's Wharf. The weather was lovely with blue sky and great sights around. Most of these pics were taken at Hyde Street Pier where one can see some historical ships anchored here (read more about them by clicking on its highlighted name). This pier is part of San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park. Enjoy!

See what I mean by lovely weather (minus the two spots there on the upper left of my camera lens!)


Pier 43 Ferry Arch


Pier 43 1/2 home of the Red & White Fleet, one of the many ferry tour operators in the area.


Docked boats

Tea For Two @ Kokopelli Travellers Bistro

Got back not too long ago and decided to do a quick post as I'm sleepy. I had a lovely time over this weekend as it was a time of catching up with friends (with food ever present, of course) as we celebrated Halloween Day aka my birthday ;o). On Saturday, I celebrated with Jason and friends over dinner in Chynna, KL Hilton. I didn't bring my camera that night, hence no pics from me but check out Jason's blog soon as he did :o). Once again, Happy Birthday Jason (well, it's belated by now...). Yesterday, there was another group gathering at Kokopelli where I celebrated together with another friend whose birthday was just 2 days before mine.

Tea For Two Menu

New Hollywood Bakery & Restaurant, San Francisco

If it was not for the blog title I'm sure that New Hollywood Bakery could have passed off as one of the eateries in Klang Valley from the photo below, right?

Lots of old timers gather at this place which is quite pack throughout the day

Well, it isn't. It's in San Francisco, looking as Chinese as it could be in Chinatown. And just like my fave item from You's Dim Sum was the lo mai bao (aka glutinous rice pau), I have my fave item from this bakery too.

Presenting to you, the absolutely fantabulous lip smacking Green Onion Bun - a longish and braided bread.

Since coming back here, I'm missing these yummy Green Onion Bun (spring onion). At USD0.60 each, it's such a steal for something so delicious.

Eaten warm, the bread is soft and is just bursting with flavours of spring onions & salted butter. It's rich but yet not overwhelming. This is a must try (and try to eat one fresh from the oven, it's heavenly!) if you're ever in this area and is a fan of spring onions!

Now, I only wished that I had bought a dozen, froze them and brought them back! Sigh... If you find a favourite food of yours or fallen in love with a new food item while you were overseas, would you buy them in bulk (freeze them if you have to!) and bring them back?

Enjoy your Friday folks, the weekend's here again :o)

New Hollywood Bakery & Restaurant
652 Pacific Ave (Between Beckette St & Columbus Ave)
San Francisco, CA 94133
Tel : (415) 397-9919