To Ipoh We Go - A Tale of 5ive Floggers & 1 City (Part One)

Before Precious Pea left Malaysia to build a new life over in Melbourne, the few of us practically "swore" to make a trip to Ipoh together but it didn't materialise.  Well, not until Precious Pea left and returned for two months, to grace our shores again during Chinese New Year did we seriously plan for it ...

And so, we did it....making a one day trip to Ipoh finally when the five of us (Jackson, Jason, Andrine, Precious Pea and myself) set off towards our destination one early Saturday morning.  We had made a trip to Ipoh (sans Jason) previously during The Star's Drive For Food Contest back in 2007 and we looked forward to the trip this time round as a complete unit :o)

Our memorable trip back in 2007

Arriving around 9am, our first stop was Simee market for the delicious egg tarts (see my previous blog post on Choy Kee's stall).  I took it easy here while the rest of them went through the usual photo session of the place.

Ipoh folks enjoying their Saturday morning

Can you spot the floggers? ;o)

LEED, A Work Of Art - 555 Mission Street, San Francisco USA

555 Mission Street, an all glass 33 storey tower is one of San Francisco's signature tower as it's the first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) development in the city. According to 555 Mission Street website, Tishman Speyer (the developer) is taking the following measures:-

• Refrigerants in all building heating and cooling systems that emit compounds that contribute to ozone depletion and global warming have been eliminated.
  
• The building has been designed so that the energy systems and building envelope exceed California's energy code performance by 5%. Exceeding the energy code means the building uses less energy than a typical office tower, saving fossil fuels.
  
• The architectural curtain wall was designed to enable direct views of the outdoor environment for 90% of the building's occupants.
  
• At least 10% of the materials used in the construction of the building are from recycled sources. The vast majority of the recycled content is from the building structural steel and in the aluminum curtain wall, not recycled materials used inside the building.
  
• The building mechanical design will bring in 30% more fresh air to all occupied spaces than required by code.
  
• An alarmed air quality monitoring system ensures that ventilation systems maintain design minimum ventilation requirements.
  
• All adhesives and sealants, paints and coatings, and carpet systems used in building meet or exceed the low VOC (volatile organic compounds) requirements of the South Coast Air Quality Mgmt District, Rule 1168, providing better indoor air quality to people with respiratory sensitivities.
  
• Total water usage the building is reduced by at least 30% through careful selection of water efficient fittings and fixtures.
  
• The roof will be a highly reflective, lightly colored 'cool roof' system that will reduce the affect of urban heat islands.
  
• The development will include designated parking spaces for low emission and fuel efficient vehicles.

Cool, eh? Check out the photos I took ... By the way, pardon my ignorance but does anyone know if we have any such LEED development in Malaysia?

555 Mission Street, San Francisco

There are art pieces around the area. This is Human Structures by Jonathan Borofsky.

A closer look at the structure

Moonrise by Ugo Rondinone

555 Mission Street building and Human Structures against the sky... towering art of beauty.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVEYRONE!

Duduk Cafe, e@Curve Mutiara Damansara

(HALAL)

After a weekday seminar which ended at noon time, Glorious Jade and I decided to catch a movie at e@Curve (formerly Cineleisure) to clear our mind from all the info overload. Having had a quick lunch earlier (to be in time for the movie), we decided to look for some light grub after the show. As we headed towards the escalator to go down after the movie ended, I saw the bunting that was put up by Duduk Cafe - a cafe I have not heard of. Glorious Jade and I then decided to check it out and found it at a rather obscure place away from the already quiet main area (this was at 3 plus in the afternoon). Duduk Cafe is owned by Deligateux, who are makers of frozen and non-frozen cakes and pastries - Deligateux ? I have heard of :o)

There weren't any other customers there and we were deciding whether we should give the place a try ... and you know what? I'm glad we did! Duduk Cafe itself is a cosy inviting place, occupying a small area that faces Watson and 7-Eleven on the 1st floor. Aptly name, Duduk means "Sit" in Bahasa ...

Duduk Cafe has an adequate menu for simple meals that ranges from pasta, lasagnas, pies, hotdogs, nasi lemak and even porridge. Vetting through the simple two page menu, it also lists hot and cold drinks (Mocktails & Frapps too!). Oh, do take note that Duduk Cafe accepts cash only.

The prices of the mains are relatively cheap when compared with the rest of the restaurants located at e@Curve and The Street e.g. set meals which consists of a main dish, drink and a slice of cake ranges from RM8.90 to RM10.90! So Glorious Jade and I figured that the serving should be rather small, good enough for light meals. We went ahead to order the Bolognaise pasta. When it was served, we were surprised ...

El Tonayense Taco Truck, San Francisco

After listening to Holymookie's constant raving about her fave street taco, she finally did good and brought me to one. Not being familiar with the streets of San Francisco, I had no idea where she was taking me as she drove me around for a good while before we finally saw the truck. Sorry for the bluish pics, as I was so excited that I didn't realise the white balance was in the wrong setting and hadn't bothered to check.

Yay! Found the El Tonayense Taco Truck

Well, why I go so excited initially was that I was totally looking forward to having tripitas tacos (tripe) .... quite a number of varieties.

Brekkie @ Raju's, Off Jalan Gasing Petaling Jaya

Raju Restaurant has always been one of my favourite places to go to for breakfast and even the occasional tea time break. I guess I'm just taken in by the fact that I get to eat out in the open and under the big trees, love the ambiance here (folks from Ipoh might be able to relate better to the feel as to one having Yong Liew under the Big Tree Foot (Dai Shu Geok). Well, there are other worthy reasons too .... (even if the food are priced higher than others).

Great Scott! It's a giant Thosai!!!! Wait a minute....it's a smiling giant Thosai. It's a friendly giant Thosai and it's welcoming us to eat its friends (with the welcome sign strategically placed.... Hahaha). Actually, I always had this funny thought. I never fully comprehend why certain establishments/eateries would want to choose such things as their mascots e.g. Remember KFC had Superchook? Superchook sold out on its own kind and encourage humans to eat chicken! Hahaha....Hmmm....what other famous mascots sold out its own kind? At least A&W has a cute jolly bear and McDonald's has Ronald.

Raju's also a great place to bring your friends who are visiting from out of town/country! The staff here is really quite use to having their photos taken and some would even volunteer to pose for you and are ever ready to show off their skills in front of the camera.

See the big smile? I wondered what I had said to him. Looks like he was trying to "give me five" while making this roti bawang. Just love the imprint of his hand on the dough in this shot!

Friday Quick Bites - Kueh Teow Soup @ Soon Lee Coffeshop, PJ Old Town

Looking forward to the weekend, it's been a fast paced week - hence I'm putting up another one of my "Friday Quick Bites" post just before I turn in for the night! The food featured in this category is always a favourite of mine - great tasting food that I don't mind having time and time again.

This time round the spotlight is on a simple bowl of noodles....Kueh Teow Soup!

With shredded chicken, pork balls (which I requested for instead of fish balls) and the ever crucial chee yau char (crispy pork lard), this bowl of Kueh Teow Soup (Flat Noodle Soup) is simply delicious. Smooth kueh teow and flavourful soup that I just love slurping all up (not sure about the MSG part as I'm MSG tolerant! Hahaha....), I believe there's Fish Sauce it the stock though. Funny, for someone who doesn't like fish (Tigerfish, do note that I like you!), I absolutely fancy food that has fish sauce it it!. I'm sure there are quite a number of you who would agree that it's great as lots of customers throng this stall especially during peak hours. For those who are still unfamiliar with this, do make it a point to try it out. Yikes! I think I'm craving for a bowl of this Kueh Teow Soup now ....

Soon Lee Coffeeshop (around the corner after Public Bank)
Jalan 1/10
46000 Petaling Jaya
Selangor

Read The Star article on this stall HERE (GPS coordinates included - 03 05 136 N, 101 38 803 E)

P.S. Check out the Char Kuey Teow stall which is popular here too, I've tried it and it's good.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND FOLKS!

A Day Out @ The Metreon & Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco

It has been a fun filled weekend and it's time for me to head off to bed for a much needed full 8 hour sleep, hahaha...Anyway, continuing on my San Francisco trip, here are some photos taken when I went on a walkabout with Zahara around Metreon for a short while (just before I caught a movie at Loews Theater). Enjoy the pics! ...and have a great week ahead everyone :o)

Caught this interesting looking statue along Market Street while making my way to the Metreon

Beefing Up Downtown in Chinatown Kuala Lumpur

Since I'm not a "fish" fan, my usual meat options are chicken, beef (with the occasional pork and mutton).  So, I never say no when it comes to beef noodles (dry/soup/fried) as it is on my fave list - read up on some of these beefy posts from the past ...

Ngau Kee in Tong Shin, KL
Julian in Sec 17 Petaling Jaya
Kean Fatt in SS3 Petaling Jaya
Joy Cafe in Happy Garden KL
Quinn, Jalan Toman, Seremban
Ang Kim Chwee, Johor Bahru
3U, Taynton View, Cheras

I decided to add two more to the list when I had the opportunity to go downtown on several occasions and ate at Soong Kee and Lai Foong.  Well, I've been to these two places way before my blogging days (hence, no photos till now!) since these are the pioneers in dishing out delicious beef noodles for the longest time but I had not been back till of late.  I was told that where as Ngau Kee's is inconsistent, Soong Kee still "has it".  So that's why I decided to venture back into this part of town to check it out ...

Soong Kee has been around since 1945 and had renovated their place in 2001.  Eating here now is definitely more comfortable as compared the earlier days...

Bounce baby out the door....and straight into my mouth! Hahaha...The beef balls were delightfully fresh and bouncy. Large order for RM8, small for RM6