Year End Lunch with Colleagues

While many took leave on 31st Dec, yours truly is working on the very final day of 2015. Nope, I ain't workaholic but being around in the office with colleagues on new year's eve is kinda enjoyable after all!

To 'celebrate' our last working day of the year, we went out for lunch at Hong Kong Sheng Kee Dessert place @ IOI City. All other eateries were sort of crowded today, nevertheless we managed to get a table with ample seats and settled ourselves comfortably. This place is famous for its 'tong sui' (desserts/sweet soup), but of course they also served some mains apart from those 'tong sui'.

Here's what I ordered, the dry wonton noodles which came with five pieces of big & succulent wontons...yumzzz!

 another colleague ordered a similar version but with the char siu (bbq pork)...

Another popular item in the menu is the 'mui choy' pork braised rice. Looks good but too much fatty layers.

 I have been craving for the mango pomelo sago dessert, and here's is it!

Pretty good too...

 back in the office, each of us got a X'mas cum New Year gift from one of our dealers...

choc chip cookies and some-sort of sweets from Isle of Man ;-)

Well, I dun have sweet tooth, but I m happy receiving gifts from afar...

This would be my last post in 2015, till then Happy New Year 2016!

Tony Roma's @ IOI City Mall

We had our quarterly team dinner at Tony Roma's sometime during October.

The team ordered a few starters to be shared - the so-called Tony's 'onion loaf' (onion rings), buffalo chicken wing, flat bread & Tony Roma's 'kickin shrimp'.

and we did not realize that they also served free flow of Baguette...hence the starter plus the Baguette itself were already filling, even when we only took abit of everything!

another colleague ordered Scissor Caesar Salad to be shared among us too...

As for the main, I have always wanted to try their beef ribs, but this time I dun feel like taking beef, so this was what I've ordered, the Mojo Chicken served with fries.
Here's a description extracted from their website - Seasoned, grilled chicken breasts basted with Tony’s citrus and brown mustard mojo sauce.
But basically, it was jst a big slab of chicken breast with all those pineapples, capsicum, etc.
My Verdict: The chicken breast was slightly dry, hence it took me some time to chew and swallow that piece of 'dried meat'.

Their beef steak looks good too, although i did not try.

Huge food portion & a few of us have to 'tapau' our unfinished leftover to bring home.
Pricewise reasonable, ambience-wise - not bad, the place was crowded as usual.

Bon Appetit!

X'mas Decoration

Nope, this year I did not go malls-hopping to catch on the X'mas decorations...They are all pretty much the same with white/green/gold X'mas trees + blings blings...

Here's one I took on my way back from lunch...

kinda disappointing huh?

Well, the X'mas trees seem 'small' and does not fill up the space at all. I would like to see a gigantic tall tree with lotsa 'blings blings' glittering and perhaps some booth selling candies, toys, X'mas decors around...The entire place does not have that kinda 'magical touch'!

The economy is so bad that many malls keep minimal effort and budget in their X'mas décor.

Come on, this is a huge mall and it is only a year old...with so many international franchise and big name outlets, why can't they put in more effort in getting the mall more attractive for the festive season? Not to mention it is nearby 5-star hotels and offices...sigh....

Fish Paste Noodle

Some time ago I joined my colleague for lunch...It was a Friday and we went abit further for our fav Fish Head noodle at Serdang. Ever since 'Woo Pin' increased their price, I seldom hav Fish Head noodle...and this was my rare occasion of having one, despite a different stall. I ordered the fish paste noodles coz I lazy to chew fish bones.

It used to be RM7 for a bowl (some years ago), now it costs RM9....Nevertheless it satisfied my cravings.

Lunchies @ Vistana Hotel

My two days of training ended up with full knowledge stomach. We were fed to the brim with 3 meals a day - breakfast, lunch and teatime!

Breakfast & teatime were usually fried rice/noodles and simple kuihs, meanwhile our lunch was at the hotel cafeteria, and yea...buffet style.

This were what I had during my first day...Abit of everything...

Started up with a broccoli soup

Then, my main meal consists of curry fish, dark soy sauce chicken, black pepper beef, bolognaise spaghetti, some rice, and veggies...I basically have no preferences and ended up with 'everything'!

The beef were hard...I can only chewed on it like some sort of chewing gum!

The below is my second helping...more greens and desserts...

Food was so-so, nothing 'fabulous', choices were limited and dun expect of having various 'counters' like in those 5-star hotel. They dun even have ice-cream or ice kacang...

Second day was slightly better, in terms of food choices...despite that the beef still sucks.

Tom yam noodle. Sourish but not spicy at all. There is no seafood in there, just fish balls and a few greens.

again, abit of everything...Tastewise...ok-lah

and second helping of carrot cake, cheese cake, malay kuihs, coleslaw and potato salad...

So, there goes my 2-days of overeating feasting.

Year-end Training @ Vistana Hotel

Today might not be a good day for those who take public transport in their daily commuting (for areas in Klang Valley). The fares rises drastically and it really hit hard on some of my colleagues & frens who depends on the public transport to work. Komuter, LRTs, Monorail and even ERL has its' fare gone up severely. Meanwhile those who are taking public buses would have confusion over the new route number and ended up missing their buses or took the wrong ones. 

Thankfully I drive to work and petrol prices gone down by 10 cent/litre...Well, I wonder what the 'gahvermen' is up to these days?! encouraging more people to drive??? Year-end is 'ON' but instead of joyous mood, we were thrown with such 'surprise gift'...

Whatever it is, I'm quite surprise that my company still manages to send me (and my colleagues) for a short course...And yea, I took LRT to the training venue....*luckily I chosen to join the November session, otherwise I would have to fork out more in paying the LRT fares!

The venue (as u can see it from the title) is located next to the Titiwangsa LRT station. There were participants from various companies and I was basically alone as my other colleagues will be in different session.

The hotel is kinda new but moderate in design, not sophisticated but still better than some run-down 5-star hotel in the city.

Clean and wide lobby

and my fav spot is this very glittering lift lobby

despite a few days' course, somehow I bumped into an ex-colleague who i have not met for 8 years.

Nope, not in my class, but next door...

Seems like this hotel is popular among training providers coz all seminar rooms seem to have occupied for trainings.

Nasi Kerabu

This blue-looking rice isn't tainted with some coloring, but instead it is my fav 'Nasi Kerabu'...

I took this for lunch yesterday as my colleague 'ta-pau' from the UPM campus canteen. I requested to add a side dish - fried calamari rings! And it became 'Nasi Kerabu Sotong Goreng'! The usual 'Nasi Kerabu' comes with salted egg, but is missing from my packet of rice...despite that it was still delicious.

this huge packet of nasi kerabu costs only RM5!

and the plain version (without any side dish) is only RM3. Such a great deal!

I should buy from this stall often....

Goku Raku Ramen @ Paradigm Mall

Some time ago, I passed by Paradigm Mall to my office in Kelana Jaya daily. Despite working nearby Paradigm mall, I hardly drop by for a stroll or shopping. By the time I finished work, the mall has already closed for business and I could only see the glimmering lights from the small bulbs hung at the mall's entrance, and I thought 'I must visit there one day'...Well, months passed and soon I no longer work there...

Not that I never been to this mall, but being so near, I thought I should have drop by at least once while working there. Now that i no longer being that 'near' i made a trip there after awhile. Spent a few hours shopping and had my fav ramen at Goku Raku ramen.

it was still early for dinner, hence the place is kinda quiet

as usual, i ordered the Tonkotsu Ramen.

The noodles were springy, the broth was flavorful and the pork 'charshiu' were tender, soft and juicy. Just the perfect bowl of ramen that i wanted to have.

to digest off the meal, took a short stroll to enjoy the lights...Not sure about u, but these tiny light bulbs reminds me of Christmas!

Bon Appetit!

Yoshinoya @ Mid Valley

It has been awhile since Yoshinoya withdrawn from Malaysian market, and now they are back!

 Ever since they are back, i have yet to drop by its outlet in Mid Valley until recently.

...i'm not goin to do so before it is gone another time!

This time i ordered the Yakiniku beef bowl coz all the while i hav been having the original.

Tender, juicy and well marinated beef, perfectly suits my palate. If you prefer a more flavorful rice bowl, this would be the perfect choice :-)

Bon Appetit!

LRT Extension @ Puchong

During the Deepavali day, i took the opportunity to try out the new AMY train cum joy ride across the new stations (dun ask me what AMY acronym stands for! I m clueless...). It is a free one-month ride at these four newly operated stations until end of Nov - Awan Besar, Muhibbah, Alam Sutera and Kinrara BK5.

I embarked at Awan Besar station. It was spacious and clean. I hope that the authorities (as well as the public) could maintain the facilities for years, rather than having 'first class infrastructure but third class mentality' so that our money will be well spent in improving on other areas than wasted in repairing things.

This ride at Awan Besar LRT station reminds me of the nostalgic trial LRT & KLIA Express rides that i took back in the late 90's...yea, it was then a 'hoo-ha' as the first electric rail in Malaysia.

Eating 25 Big Macs in One Sitting - Not me!

Not in the mood for work...Blame it on the post-Deepavali syndrome...When i dun feel like working, I thought of.....F.O.O.D. Am thinking of big mac...Not really a fan of big mac, but with the wide publicity of 'MegaMac' these days, I tink I gonna have a big mac soon. But before that, let me feast ur eye with this Big Mac video...

I kinda salute this guy for beating the world record, with his Asian size, he managed to gulp down 25 big macs at one go!

Teatime - Nasi Lemak

Sometime ago, I worked at a company that provided us tea-time, and b'coz of that I would sometimes skipped lunch coz I got to enjoy this in the evening :-)

yumzzz...nothing is greater than a warm plate of nasi lemak with ayam goreng berempah!
BON APPETIT!

Korean Dinner and Sangkaya

Few weeks back, we had Korean barbequed with hot bean-paste soup for dinner...After all the hot and spicy food, we went to have something chill for dessert...

where else if not to the newly opened Sangkaya...It is jst a few rows away from our dining place. And as usual, it was darn crowded!

Despite that we managed to get a seat and enjoyed the flavorful coconut ice cream....

We ordered their famous item on the menu which priced at RM9.90. The were four types of free-flow condiments available at the counter - kidney beans, corns, peanuts, cornflakes. The combination was superb! Seems like such coconut ice-cream desserts business are now 'mushrooming' like those 'Chatime' outlets those days...

Anyhow, this is definitely worth trying for a first timer ;-)

BON APPETIT!

Kuey Teow Th'ng @ Papparich

On some days, I would prefer clear soup noodles for dinner, here it goes the kuey teow th'ng at Papparich...with steamed chicken.

and u know that when I dined at Papparich, it means 'late dinner' coz all other shops were closed and I dun have much option.

BON APPETIT

Mid-Autumn Lanterns

*this is an outdated post

Mid Autumn nite is the day where we showcased our 'antique' lanterns.

These conventional paper type lanterns have been kept for years....while the older ones got burned.

Sis has the practice of keeping this 'tradition' alive...despite in her 30's

she is now a 'pro' in litting the paper lanterns without accidently burning them...

for the past years we had one or two lanterns damaged each year...but lately we managed to keep them in good shape.

see how colourful they are!

these are the 'survivors' from our 'treasures'!

Bali Escapade

Few weeks back I blogged about my late nite shopping for a sandal. Yea, I dun usually do late shopping unless is REALLY necessary. And I was desperately needing to get a beach sandal coz I dun have a pair since it has been ages since I last went to the beach!

Anyhow, as the title shows...I actually went to Bali during the long weekend when BERSIH 4.0 was held. Here are some of the snippets (of photos that I took).

Sunset at Jimbaran, this was taken on the first day where we dine by the seaside 'purposely' to watch the sunset...The view wasn't that spectacular as it was cloudy.

Flight meal - The veggie was overcooked and tasted like overnite leftover food.This was probably the worst flight meal that I took on MAS flight...after all it was the first day that MAB took over. Despite being hungry, I did not manage to finish the food.

 Grilled seafood served during the beach dining. Looks good but tasted awful...The fish and skewer were OK, but for the rest - eat at your own risk, coz they were not cleaned thoroughly.

Dinner at an Indonesian restaurant...food was so-so, but the fish dishes were excellent. Yea, I had a few types of fishes (steamed with different gravy and the crispy fried one)

and lastly the remembrance company photo...

yea, it was a sponsored company trip ;-)

Beef Bulgogi @ MiNaRae

MiNaRae was the first Korean restaurant that i tried way before Seoul Garden or Dao Rae.

It was less crowded back then...

But now, this place has gotten popular in the neighbourhood and is usually very crowded during the peak lunch and dinner hours.

I tink they did the right thing in keeping the crowds coming...yea, their banchans are superb.

 it is not like those crappy cucumbers and beansprout that i got in those bigger Korean chain restaurant. Here in MiNaRae it has a variety and 'balanced' banchans consists of beans, potato salad, fishcakes, anchovies and nuts, kimchi, pancake and even cauliflower! 

All together a total of 10 banchans!

 and out of them, 2 are the kimchi stuffs...

 and nope i did not order some barbeque items but instead i was jst having a beef bulgolgi soup.

It was generous with ingredients and the soup was flavorful.

this meal costs only RM19.90, and after GST it is somewhere RM21.10

It sure was a hearty meal and value for money indeed.

BoN ApPetiT!