Japanese food... why??

each time, when I meet up with friends who just came back from japan, I'll ask them if the food is so good so good... ^_^, and each time, when I asked them, they'll give me that “super yummy”, type of look, when talking about japanese food...

same food, simple, for eg. Just a simple shoyu udon, it just taste so good...

so, I talked about this with him the other day, why??? why is it that good, whenever we're there, the food,

just a simple gyu-don, for example,

well, maybe it's due to the weather, but then, not so, if it's the same cold weather, in UK, or in Australia, it will not give us the same “umph”...

why??

he then told me one very important clue, I guess,

the clue!!

it's the portion,

japanese food, served in japan, not too big, not too small, just right!!!

I don't know how to really put it in reality, maybe just a little bit more, it'll spoil the so-called “portion”, the size...

we all know that, generally, the portion's smaller than the rest of the world,

when we get a drink, for eg. A starbucks coffee, over here, it's medium, over there, it's large,

same as their cake, the portion is always 1 size smaller...

so, his point is,

the portion is not obviously too small, but after you have it, you feel that, you just want more, cos, it's just right, it's just good, but then, you won't take another one, you know why?? it's not cheap, wahahahahahaha!!!

so, it's the price vs. portion thing...

which, I think, it's been overlooked in other parts of the world...

where you know... if it's in UK, or it's in Australia, the portion, will always be HUGE!!

which, will defeat the purpose,

and when it's in the country where I'm residing, the price... will be just enough, for us to get a second helping...

but that's not the case in japan...

so, whatever you put in your mouth, the portion is just right, and you'll just have to feel super grateful with whatever you're eating, cos, you're not going to get a second helping...

and of course, the weather kinda help...

I've not been to japan when it's summer,

I'm not sure if... in a hot weather, their food will taste particularly good or not... but then, japanese has their own summer food, that's one of the key thing... they've seasonal food,

so, in summer, you may have the cold soba, running down in a bamboo tube, cold water...

one thing, they don't mind eating their food cold!!!

which, I came across an article, about carbo... (just let me side-track a little bit!)

apparently, the best carbo's still rice, or potato...

but, you've to eat it cold...

and, THAT's how japanese have been eating their food, ie. COLD!!!

which, again, other parts of the country will not do that...

(or probably only scandinavian!)

until, in the near past, the taiwanese introduced hot food to them, ie. Microwave your rice, microwave your whatever... then only they started to eat it hot, then, only they hm... started to overuse the microwave... then... hm... there seemed to be an increase of health problem nationally??

Comfort food...

I know those expertise will give a long list of comfort food,

However, I guess, not all comfort food works for all type of people…

As for me,

At this stage,

Really, there're 3 types of food/dishes, when I eat, I feel good…

Happy, good, "shiawase"…

First, my lately new found super comfort food, ie. oat with honey, using water of room temperature, (as opposed to the conventional way of hot-cooked, or, boiling water used…)

Damn good, damn happy drinking it… my breakfast, my supper, and for my son too…

Second,

Damn! I damn love my own stir-fried  bittergourd with egg… yes, "ichiban"!

Third,

Again, my own cooking, cabbage with anchovies, soupy… I add a little bit of oyster sauce sometimes, but I guess, it's good without the oyster sauce…

I love the cabbage, I don't really finish all the anchovies, but then, I love the soup… comforting…

My comfort food list, at the moment…

Tomato

Tomato, yes tomato…

Pasta - tomato based, marinara, bolognese, tomato based…

Twisties - tomato flavoured, yew… I can't take the other flavours, regardless how nice it is that you tell me…

Fries - must eat with ketchup, no ketchup, nah… fries won't taste nice, don't give me other sauces… no matter how much you like those sauces…

Sames goes with potato chips - yes, I can take sour cream and onion, but I'll love it very much, if you give me tomato flavour…

Other than that??

Well… funny thing is, I love all tomato flavoured food, but not the tomato itself, especially when it's badly prepared… ie. sour, sour and sour only…

Ok, I like cherry tomato…

But then, baked tomato? Not really… stir-fried tomato…

Hm… maybe I shall try a better type of tomato...

finally… I'd my banana leaf rice… lick...

Ya haha!!! After watching (he's the one who watched!) that episode, I think it's the first episode,

This was what we do last weekend…

Result? Not bad, satisfied, at least, we found it, saw it, ate it… ^_^V yatta~

Verdict?? Ok ok… I mean the food,

Price??? Wow wow!! Cheap~~~~ I mean, it's definitely half of what we can get, in town… ah haha… ok…  klang's not like not in town, but you get what I mean, right???

He told me, it's better to get up earlier, and get there before 11.30am, else, the place will be very crowded… so, we did…

Got there, found the place, found that famouse "seng huat" BKT too… but my point was, to have banana leaf rice, which I was craving, since before deepavali…

But while we're crusing around that area, looking for this "yap kee" (yes, that banana leaf rice shop!)

We found "chong kok", that klang famous kopitiam… ^_^,

I meant to look for it looooooooooong time ago, but we ended up somewhere near that ING building, had some BKT… (that place is full of BKT outlets anyway!)

We rounded that place, twice, failed to find "yap kee", he told me, that axian mentioned in his show, this place does not have proper sign board, ie. you can't really get it by crusing around and look for it from afar…

In the end, we asked a passerby, and he told us, "it's just down this road, 6-7 shops away!!"

Huh?? O.o really??? We drove past this row of shop twice, couldn't see a thing..

Ok… I was expecting to see an outstanding shop, with an outstanding crowd…

Nope!! Not in sights…

Arggh… I've to say, I'm lazy to write tonight…

Let the pictures do the job…

Oh, about the fried chicken… ah ha… if you ask me,

Of curry and fried chicken, I will say, the SJ's famous nasi lemak (chinese) fried chicken and even their chicken curry, IS THE BEST!! ^_^

(hehe… 2 of us, had 4 big chicken legs the other night, and it's still not enough… wa hahahahahaha!!! Chicken legs eh! Ie. the drumstick and the thigh together…, even better than KFC…)

Ok ok… 2 of these places, cost us around RM30, and we're FULL!!!

Good or not?

There's axian's video (not the full version…)~

the shopping therapy...

This afternoon, I was kinda "blank" for a while,

Couldn't think of what I wanna eat for lunch,

It's not just a "couldn't think of", it's rather… there's nothing I wanna eat, for lunch…

It took me a while, to really "brainstorm"…

Then, I told him…

I stressed on the fact that, I'm not, but I just told him that,

It's not that I'm in depression, but somehow, I've lost interest, in wanting to eat anything… (I'm a greedy pig, I love to eat, and I enjoy food…)

I went on and explained to him that,

In fact, after becoming a mom, not that I'm complaining,

But I kinda "lost" the joy that I used to like, and enjoyed…

For eg. I like to shop for bags, and shoes… (not those expensive branded one, just one of those from vincci, or padini…)

I still have a lot of them, in the storeroom, I mean, the bags, and the shoes…

But now, I find wearing a pair of heels, sucks, it makes my feet pain… gives me blister…

Fine!

Next, we've been carrying baby diaper bag, though we didn't use that so-called diaper bag, I picked a petshop bag, as her diaper bag…

And since I've to carry baby most of the time, and leaving him to carry the bag,

Ie. there's no handbag for me,

I know if I really need, I, and we, still can manage,

Just last night, I actually took out a bag.. (sigh, again, petshop bag) and put my stuff in, but then, for practicality reason, I actually put baby's stuff in it too, thinking that, we'll still survive in ONE bag…

He commented, "it still look the same, the bag's mainly for baby…"

Later at night, I resume everything…

This morning, I told him, "practicality won!"

As for shoes,

Yep, since heels hurt,

Guess what I put on my feet?

Easy answer, pairs of crocs…

Of course, if you ask me, I don't mind having all those nice nice cute cute pairs of crocs, the problem is, they're not cheap, each pair, easily comes up to 200 bucks, that's not what I want to spend,

Compared to how I bought my shoes previously, a few pairs in one go, or, frequent purchase…

I can't afford that type of "lifestyle"…

I told him, it's not that, we really can't afford financially, it's just that, I don't have the mentality, to spend 200 bucks on a pair of shoes on a frequent basis…

I just can't..

Cos, I'm not born rich, I didn't grown up in a rich family,

I was trained to be careful and be "wise" on how and what we spend…

Not that, I'm a very thrifty person, I still spend, but then, I'm absolutely conscious about spending…

THEN…

I conclude to him that,

My "joy" is gone now… that type of shopping joy, buying lots of bags, and lots of shoes…

It's good "change" for me, indeed… however, it's just something missing…

There, I told him, that's why, now, I only spend on gadgets, yet, still cautiously, and will always ask for his opinion and "approval"…

Well… it's good that I don't really get into this sort of "mood" often,

It's really very "once in a blue moon" thing…

Immediately, I thought of something to eat…

In fact, I guess, I probably miss melbourne, miss having all sorts of nice café, with good coffee… just anywhere along the street…

Miss not having to think of what to have for food, cos, it's only "limited" choice, ie. café… and that's it…

The only difference is, within these cafes, what sort of hot food they serve, and that makes it very interesting, cos, most of the time, we'll find good "gem" (interesting and yummy food) in these just-like-any-other cafes…

I guess, that's actually what I miss…

While back here, yes, we're spoilt with choice, but then, life becomes "complicated" and not so simple, with these choices…

Food, what sort? Chinese, indian, thai, malay, local?

And how? Café, restaurant, hawker?

Price range? Very very wide scale…

Aircon/non-aircon??

See!!!!

We're spoilt with choice, but then, life becomes kinda headache because of these choices…

Maybe that's why, I'm suddenly in this "blank" mode…

But of course since I love to eat, immediately I "bounced back" to my usual self, but missing the beef rendang in chilli padi in melbourne, I suddenly thought of madam kwan,

Frankly being in my own country, I actually can't think of where to get a decent beef rendang… but only madam kwan…

So, we had our lunch @ madam kwan, yes, luckily, it's satisfying, and it quenches my thirst about beef rendang, about chilli padi, and about melbourne…

Wel… that's life,

And life… needs different sort of THERAPIES!

Me and hawker… food...

See… (if you've not already known, my friends) I'm not really a hawker food person…

From where I came from, or rather… in my growing up years, I never thought of those food in those kopitiam, as hawker food…

Anyway, those food was mainly just 2 things, "kampua", and "laksa", that's all…

In those days, there wasn't much other variety like fried "kuey teow", oh, ya, there's one, I still remember, we used to go to this see-hua daily news café, to order the fried "kuey teow"… and I'll have my peanut soup, again, ti's nothing near to the version here, people here, like to have the thick peanut soup, but there, it's white in colour, you still can see peanut, and you use some condense milk in it…

Anyway, I'm not a hawker food person, and therefore, when I was in london, while everybody misses hawker food, I didn't really… I know, everybody elses made a big deal of it, but then to me, it's just some food, that I simply don't miss…

Lately I've been thinking about my "feeling" towards hawker food…

Again, I'm really not a hawker food fans… if I do eat, it's actually those hawker food, with "kam cheng", ie. sentimental feeling…

So, you don't have to bother to tell me, where I can get superb penang style fried "kueh teow", or superb "wanton mee", or superb whatever XXXXXXX…

I don't bother,

Mostly… I'll only eat those that I've been eating, and that's all, or, those that I somehow "picked up", just happened that I was there, and I'll just eat them, forever… unless those hawkers plan to close their stall…

Back home, sarawakian laksa, I only eat the one in the so-called MAS corner, ok, I eat others too, but then, the only thing that I want to eat, is the one in the so-called MAS corner,

And oh ya, the chicken rice, only THIS stall, next to the post office, ONLY their chicken rice is THAT special that, I must eat, whenever I go back to my hometown, ONLY them, can't find it in other places…

Penang fried "kueh teow"?? ONLY the stall outside the housing area back in his hometown, on and off, I'll be told that, "oh this stall's kueh-teow's not that nice anymore, must try the other one!", bla bla bla… but then, I don't really care, I must have that fried "kueh teow", as simple as that… but I've not been having lately…

And…

Fried "hor fun" (another noodle version, similar to "kueh teow", which… frankly, I still cannot differentiate which is which, and to me, they all taste the same), somewhere in chai-leng park, corner stall, at present, they're still selling for RM3 per portion, I simply think that, there're some element of charity, oh!! Come on, there're some vege, some pork, some little shrimp in there, though portion is pretty small, but it's just a little bit too cheap for me, however, this, remind me of the fried "kueh teow" back in see-hua office's café during my childhood time, and DAMN GOOD!! Lately, we went back to his hometown, we takeaway… ahem… 7 portion for 4 adults, kekekeke… no need to say LA, both of us finished 2.5 each… kakakakaka!!! One word, SYOK!!!

I know most of the people when they hear about penang food, sure go crazy, but then, to me, it's probably something like these 2, the rest, I'm not so into it, overall, regardless penang version, or what other version…

Generally, I'm just not a hawker food person,

In short, if I were to have something to eat, and to long for, it's basically those that have some sentimental value to me...

kaki's patah again!

I just got a new pair of specs today – ya, in conjunction to that,
wallop TGIF’s mudpie again… getting to like IOI’s TGIF more and more… it’s quite a good place to hang out with friends, or just with him (and baby)
and scoop on the yummy mudpie!!

take a look at it, it’s actually not so a cake (absolutely not a cake) but chocolate sauce on top (dripping down) on big chunk of mocha icecream (yummy!!)
like what I’ve just told him, this thing serves my craving 2-in-1, ie. chocky and icecream!! gosh!!

back to the topic,
it’s one of the ‘kaki’ of my specs (don’t know what to call it) was broken the other day…
for nearly a week I thing, and for nearly a week, I was surviving with a pair of bandaged specs

it’s not at the hinge, but where the ‘kaki’ slot into this little tiny pin, to be connected to the frame of the glasses,
immediately what I could think of when it happened, is to grab the handy toothpick next to our workstation (che!) and bandage it,
bandage it heavily and I’ve been wearing it out, don’t think people notice (caljes, you notice or not?)

at the same time, as usual chinese’s practice, we keep the older pair as SPARE (don’t know whose idea was it actually)
so, I happily go dig out the OLDER pair

oops, didn’t realise, the older pair, also kinda spoilt on the same side of the kaki…
and then…
I had a short section of “self-reflection”…
hm!! both pairs also ‘injured’ on the same side, then, it must be the way I wear specs…
yes, the way I wear, I tend to hold the ‘kaki’ near the hinge (where it’s spoilt) and press it downward on the ear, but also, make sure the front is ‘jerked’ up!
and that’s on the left side of mine..

there you go, that’s the result of such small act..
I suppose, this new pair will not be able to escape the same destiny..
cos, I’m doing this, right now!

Brunetti's Sweets

After Lemon Grass in Lygon, we're trying to find a place to sit down for a coffee and cakes...
since it's Melbourne Cup day, and since everybody was in this festive and pig-out mood... ^_^
We walked up and down Lygon Street twice... couldn't really find a place that we could decide on... we wanted to go to Koko Black, as I wanted to have more sinful chocolate drinks before we go home..., but at early hour like 21:00, Koko Black was closed... (cheh!!)
He suddenly thought about Brunetti, which we used to like... (before we found out that there's one Brunetti on Swanston, we came to this place twice... as there's no tram line along Lygon, that's the reason we actually seldom came around Lygon)

So, we went to Brunetti, in one of the small road crosses Lygon Street... (can't remember the name now, but I believe, I have mentioned about it, in another entry of my blog... m-.-m) it was near the quieter end of Lygon...
As this end was the quieter end of Lygon, we didn't expect to see a huge crowd there... however, there're still quite a number of people in this cafe... and most of the nice cakes and other desserts were sold-out... >_< I went to order coffees... and he stood at the sweets counter to decide what to take... at first, we both saw a tiramisu and a scone-looking, or puff-looking thing with some interesting topping and before I went to order our coffee... we decided on these two... However... later when we met up at the table... there's only one tiramisu in his hand.. >_< he said, when he turned around.. that cute puff-looking thing was gone!!!! (ahhh!!!! Da-me! Da-me!! だめだめ！！） Since I had longed for a chocky drink... I got myself a hot italian dark chocolate... mm... it's definitely a totally different version from either Max Brenner or Koko Black... (as Max Brenner's chocolate, actually has slightly less chocolate, that's why, lately I fell in love with Max Brenner's Mocha instead.. cos, MB's mocha, as compared to the rest of the cafes' it's more chocolate but not compromising the coffee taste... and for Koko Black's chocolate drinks... mm... it's actually richer, but we both felt that, it's a little bit too rich, that it's heaty... after we had our share of cocoa one time... we both told each other, for the next 2 months, we're not going to touch any cocoa thing!!) this Brunetti's Italian Hot Choc... mm... was one real hot choc... I guess... besides hot melted choc, there's nothing much left inside... not even much milk!!(I saw how the MB's barrister made the drink before... for normal hot choc, it's chocolate+full cream milk, if you order the thick choc, then, they use some full thick cream+choc... rather than add in extra dosage of chocky!!) I guess... it's really full cup of melted chocolate... ^o^ hurray!!! not very sweet.. but very chocky!!! good one!! and the tiramisu that we took... also, was not too sweet afterall.. but just nice, the err... liqeuer that they used with the sponge cake at the base, was also just nice, not too bitter, not too strong the liquor taste and smell... :-d