first week in Melbourne - food section.

and off i flew to Melbourne to visit my friends who're studying there and get a little taste of the Melbourne experience that they've been talking bout all the time they come back to Malaysia. i arrived on the night of 25th of July. had to go through the whole customs thing cos of the medication i brought from home. horrible process. bah.

first place they brought me to was Supper Inn. it's this place in China Town which has the best "Pei Tan Sau Yuk Chuk" i've ever eaten in my life. for those of you who don't know what that is, it's actually Century Egg with Pork in Porridge. awesome stuff i say. the "Yao Char Koay" was pretty good as well but of course not as good as the ones they have in Malaysia.

funny fact: "Yao Char Koay" is called Chinese Doughnuts here in Australia. do they look anything like doughnuts?!

Li-Zhen, Wen and Jay Son were kind enough to let me sleep at their place for a night and brought me sight-seeing the next day. what was supposed to be breakfast turned out to be lunch for obvious reasons. walking out in the winter breeze wasn't exactly as cold as i thought it would be. so we walked to Degraves Street where we had really nice Italian food. for a very reasonable price as well.

i wish streets in Malaysia were like this.
thanks to our lousy weather, we can't have things like this.

thought this was a fascinating sign.
you don't see things like this back at home.

i ordered hot chocolate with marshmallows and believe it or not, i've never had it before. yes yes, laugh it up people. through out my twenty years, i've never got to live my childhood dream of drinking hot chocolate with marshmallows. and might i say, it was soooooo good. i had Americana Pizza which i obviously couldn't finish. the serving size was actually enough for one person but there was just too much bread in it.

my hot chocolate with marshmallows in the top left and the Americana Pizza.

we then walked around the street and found ourselves going into a lovely shop called Little Cupcakes. obviously, it was a shop selling cupcakes.

the variety of cupcakes they had in the menu were pretty vast and they looked really really tasty. i should bring home some but i don't think anyone at home will eat it. they'll probably say it's too sweet.

of course i bought a box of cupcakes for myself to indulge in them. got the 4-mini-cupcakes box.

sadly, when i was walking back to Li-Zhen's house, one of my cupcakes toppled onto the others and this is how it turned out when i opened it.

yes i know, heart-breaking. it all tasted really good nonetheless. the flavours from the top left going clockwise are Carrot, Cookies & Cream, Mocha Coffee and Red Velvet. personally, i preferred the Red Velvet amongst the four. i think i'll buy all the mini cupcakes back to Malaysia for Amanda & Amelia to try. i know they'd be pretty happy.

i got myself Krispy Kreme as well. it's much better over here than back at home.

Li-Zhen taught me a new way of eating the doughnut. heat it up in the microwave oven for 8 seconds. according to her, the sugar will melt just nice and the dough will be soft enough for my jaws to sink in it.

so i tried it.

before.

after.

that was my failed attempt to make a before-and-after ad. you might think that just because it didn't change in appearance, whatever Li-Zhen taught was nonsense. but no, it made a world of difference. it tasted soooo good. i really did regret not getting another. perhaps i should before i leave.

two days after that, Li En took me to this Indonesian restaurant to have Nasi Uduk. according to her, it was super awesome. we were joined by Boon, Su Lynn and Panda.

left to right: Boon, Su Lynn trying to butt into the photo.

left to right: Su Lynn, Li En busy texting Zi Yond who's back in KL.

with Panda.

Nasi Uduk. YUM.

basically, Nasi Uduk is Fried Rice with Omelette and Fried Chicken on it. the chicken was HUGE and the sambal that came with it was delicious.

two nights later, we went to Max Brenner to treat ourselves to some really awesome desserts. i heard the waffles were the best in town and i wanted to see it for myself. i'm sure from the picture below, anyone can tell that they're really really yummy.

i highly recommend going to Max Brenner to satisfy your sweet cravings.

i got myself a mug of Hot Chocolate. the mug that they served it in was a pretty unique mug. it was what they call a "Hug Mug".

Hot Milk Chocolate. YUM.

served in their very own Hug Mug.

oh.. so this is why they call it a Hug Mug.

Panda and I posing with our Hug Mugs. Jay Son, wtcrap.

we had Shogun for dinner the day after. it wasn't very nice and i was very disappointed. i'll never go back there again if i was asked to.

Aruba: Rice with Salmon Roe and some other fishes as well.

we got tickets to watch Bruno after dinner. awesome show but tickets were so expensive. 17 dollars! wtcrap! no matter how you look at it, whether you convert it back to Malaysian Ringgit or not, it's still super expensive! not gonna go to the cinemas here anymore.

and the night after that, we went to Ying Thai with the gang to have delicious Thai food.

Pad Thai

Pandan Chicken

some omelette.

Green Curry with Duck.

Minced Pork with chilli.

i didn't get to take a picture of the coconut rice that they serve in Ying Thai but oh my, it was really really nice. it was actually sweet rice. i don't usually like to eat sweet things during my meals but this was an exception. very satisfying meal.

Panda's birthday was this weekend and we decided to have a dinner party at Squires Loft.

really great ambience and environment. i was really feeling it you know. obviously everyone else was late except the usual punctual ones. Boon was having a fashion crisis. wtcrap Boon. so we ordered first.

Shen Jin's Wagyu Beef Burger.

my Lamb Chops with Fries. YUM.

so juicy. omg.

many of them ordered the Rack of Pork Ribs.

it was really delicious but apparently not as good as the one in Sydney.
i'll probably be heading there next week or something to give it a shot.

the dinner party was also to celebrate Shen Jin's birthday which was ages ago. Jia-Li got them both cakes which were topped with excessive chocolate syrup and vanilla ice cream.

VERY VERY DELICIOUS.

only just this afternoon, Shen Jin and Panda took me to the very famous Rice Bar. it has the worst tagline in the world.

Rice Bar: not only rice.
wtcrap.

and their menu had the worst equation i've ever seen in my entire life.

my Mathematics teacher would've hung herself if she saw this.

even so, the food served there was really nice actually. Shen Jin had the Mushroom Chicken Rice, Panda had Curry Laksa but i think my dish was the best. Beef Briskets with Wanton Noodles. best Beef Noodles i've ever tried since the one near my house.

super yummy!

this post was all very food-like. i'll blog bout my proper Melbourne experience in the next post. till then, you can drool all you want from seeing these pictures =).

guiche.

two days before i left to Melbourne, my parents decided to have a dinner thing for me and i had the privilege of bringing Amanda along. for the first time in a super super long time, i got to eat in Victoria Station once more. it used to be an annual affair on my birthday to pay a visit to VS but it somehow died. i think this was my first time in almost four years or so.

steaks here are awesome.

mr. pepper, mrs. salt and their baby, sugar. wtcrap.

we started with the traditional bread and butter to open our appetites. the butter was delicious and the bread, oh so soft and warm.

we usually order a dozen Escargots before we start our meals, along with soup of course.

Escargot filled with garlic sauce. OMG.

spicy Oxtail Soup. YUM.

my grandparents had the traditional fish & chips. though it was simple, it was actually very tasty.but Manhattan Fish Market's and Fish & Co's is still much better.

my brother had this very nice looking garlic chicken chop thing. i looooove garlic.

my sister ordered Cheese Beaf Steak, which she never finished by the way. i kinda guessed it even before the dish came. it looks super super nice though.

my father and i had the Rib-eye Steak. simply delicious. shall go back for some another day.

yum :).

Amanda ordered my all-time favourite, Lamb Cutlets, with mint sauce.

super tender :D.

it was a really satisfying meal. thank you mum and dad =).

and my next post will be the long awaited post on Melbourne. woh!

glory glory.

i had the privilege of going to a Manchester United match on the 18th of july. it was my first ever visit to a football match.

it was also my first time wearing the Ronaldo 7 jersey i got from the UK. yes i know, a bit outdated since he's in Real Madrid already. but oh well. we had a free VIP pass to park in the stadium. so we drove there instead of having to take the horrible LRT.

met up with Han Hung once we got there and looked around at the few events they had there. it was pretty happening. of course, i took some pictures.

with Amanda.

Manchester United till i die.

lthe Bukit Jalil stadium. i was pretty amazed at how well maintained it was.

our national team warming up.

and on the other side of the field, Manchester United.

both the teams coming out of the tunnel greeted with a standing ovation.

the teams lining up for some camera shots and all.

all my other pictures of the players were very blur. so i'm not posting them up. i think its bout time i get a DSLR though so i can take better photos. my camera phone isn't enough. bleah.

Wayne Rooney and Nani scored at first before Amri Yahyah scored a brilliant goal to bring it to 2-1 just before the break. he then scored again after taking advantage of a goalkeeping error by Ben Foster. the stadium erupted with cheers when Owen, the new no. 7, was introduced. and he scored the winning goal. i think i'm gonna buy his jersey next :).

it was a really really great experience to be able to attend a match like this. next time, i'm gonna migrate to UK to watch them play week in week out. woh.

road trip!

so its been a while since i last updated. been pretty busy with work and going out. finally found some time off to look at my blog once more and update. it was only last week when we went on our awesome Penang road trip. of course, the purpose of the trip was to EAT.

we went in three cars, two of which were filled with couples. i was with the singles. well, i'm not single but Amanda wasn't there =(.

Single no.1: Nicholas Wong, the driver.

Single no.2: Lee Yun-Ni, the girl who doesn't know how to spell my name properly after a million years being friends.

it was a long trip there, bout three plus hours. i slept through out most of the journey. i'm still pretty amazed at how Nut can stay up and drive for that long. as soon as we reached the Penang Bridge, i woke up and started snapping photos.

but i failed.

this is the best shot i have of the Penang Bridge.

sobs.

and then it was time for CHAR KOAY TEOW. Penang is where the mother of all Char Koay Teows are. so we made our way to Lorong Selamat and while waiting for the food to arrive, i snapped photos again.

the singles: Nut & Yun.

couple no.1: Li-Zhen & Jay Son.

couple no.2: Shen "Face Problem" Jin & Jia-Li.

couple no.3: Zi "Not Awesome" Yond & Li En

and the Char Koay Teow arrived!

OMG RIGHT! it was spicy and full of prawns which were the size of my palm and the "Zhu Yao Char" (Deep Fried Pork Oil) was simply delicious. though it was super expensive, it really was worth every bit we spent.

oh, and the Ice Kacang was AWESOME.

Yum =)!

after our lunch, we adjourned to Shen Jin's apartment, which, i must say, the best apartment i've ever seen .

the living room

kitchen/bar area.

part of the master bedroom. (what the crap, Nut)

and just above that section of the master bedroom were STARS.
romantic much?

we pretty much spent the whole day bumming and watching movies. and the next day, we had Mee Goreng for lunch at Lorong Bangkok. i swear, their street names are horrible.

this was the best plate of Mee Goreng i've ever eaten in my life.

when we came back, we continued our mahjong session. i lost so much =(.

and when it was dinner time, we went to this restaurant near Batu Ferringhi. the food was pretty good.

some Popiah-like dish.

Assam Fish. AWESOME.

"Choy Tam". lol. what's it called in English?

crispy, delicious Fried Chicken. we had TWO plates of this.

Butter Prawns. we had two plates of this as well. lol.

i swear, they pump steroids into the prawns there in Penang.
all their prawns are HUGE.

came back after dinner and watched the Michael Jackson Memorial live. it was really moving. oh, and i've bought all his albums by the way =). been listening to them ever since.

our last day was spent in Lorong Selamat, eating the Char Koay Teow again. i really have to go there once more before the end of the year. i'm really craving for it now.

we then took off to KL but half way there, Yun, Nut and i decided to stop by Ipoh for some "Hor Fun". we actually got lost for bout half an hour before we bumped into my uncle! Ipoh is so huge and we just somehow bumped into him. lol. so he showed us the way to the "Hor Fun" place and we had the best "Hor Fun" in the world.

fattest and juiciest Beansprouts in the world.

super awesome Steamed Chicken.

BEST "HOR FUN" IN THE WORLD.

i must say, this was the best road trip i've ever been on. we should do this again some other time. perhaps to Singapore this time? lol.

rawr rawr rawr.

people say when you're in love with someone you'd do anything for them. from flying all the way to the country they live in just to see them for a short while to jumping down a ship when it's about to sink (recall Titanic the movie: "You jump, I'll jump.").

the things i do for my girlfriend aren't as expensive as flying to another country and aren't of epic proportions such as Jack and Rose. i just do small little things for her.

like go to McDonald's to Skype with her at one in the morning because my dumb internet connection is super slow. i even ordered french fries and Coke to keep me company.

yummmaaay

so people, even if it's a small thing you're doing for them, your partners will really appreciate it. you don't always have to do something huge for them you know.

my girlfriend understands me best and she too does the little little things to make me happy.

i ♥ you.

wooot!

in the midst of the celebration of Michael Jackson's life and the mourning of his death, there are still some happy things happening.

FIRST CLASS BABY!

and second in class mind you =).

hitting the big TWO ZERO.

it was my birthday last Friday. like all my other birthdays, it was a quiet affair. i usually prefer it that way. spent the afternoon with Amanda in Waffle World before the big birthday dinner. i ate in the very famous...

RAKUZEN!

food was lovely and so was the company. first time i had my grandparents over for my birthday.

as you can tell, i was pretty happy. obviously. lol.

the green tea wasn't that bad either. it was only my second time eating there and i think it has already become my favourite japanese restaurant.

Edamame.

Amanda's main dish; Roasted Unagi.


yummmaay!

my grandmother and mum had the same thing, Nabayaki Udon...

...with sushi.


my grandfather's mini set which had udon, rice and...


...super delicious Soft Shelled Crabs!

my brother had a mini set as well...

...but instead, he had Chicken Katsu.
(they don't look mini to me.)

my father's usual; Garlic Rice.

his japanese meals are usually accompanied with a fish. it was always Saba Fish but he decided to take the Salmon Fish Head instead.

doesn't look too friendly hmm.

and my dish, the Chicken Katsujuyu Zen.

i'm hungry for it again.

then came the cake cutting thingy thingy.

Tiramisu Chocolate Cake from La Manila.

never had a cake from La Manila before. i think i'm gonna start eating their cakes. tasty tasty =).

i don't usually get presents on my birthday. so if i get one, it's quite a big deal.

this was a birthday card beautifully made by Amanda. i never realised how creative she could be. and she put plenty of effort in making this card. it was my favourite present =).

she actually wrapped the card nicely in a small orange box. i thought that was it. no more presents cos she didn't give me anymore.

but when i came home, my mum passed me this envelope:

and i was thinking to myself, "Wow. Someone actually went through the trouble of sending me a card from overseas."

i thought wrong.

it was actually from Amanda.

that girl POSTED me a birthday card. she could've just given it to me but she just had to POST it. such a silly girl. haha. i must say, it was a really really really nice card. i've never seen anything like it before. it had black velvet all over the front cover. sexy stuff. haha.

on the way back to her place, she asked me to pull over somewhere. she then took out a silver bag which had the words "Braun Buffel" on it. and i was like, "Baby, you really shouldn't have!"

but obviously, she did.

a wallet from Braun Buffel. omg. loves it.

i didn't expect anymore presents after the beautiful hand-made card. so it was very happifying =).


i had a great birthday this year. best one yet. thank you to all of you who wished me through sms-es, facebook and calls. i really really really do appreciate all of them.

thank you all, for making it so so special for me.