Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Tien Chuan, Chi Liung Klang - No yam rice ... Just noodles!

Add: Taman Chi Liung, Klang
Located: An old area with few rows of shops, and a morning market right behind a row of shops.
Thanks: Recommendation by Motormouth from Ipoh


The yam rice was well recommended but by noon, it had sold out. Guess its a breakfast thing, gotta try it next time!


RM$4 ... Good value Sing Chao Chau Mai, Singapore fried mee-hoon. Haven't had this in eons, and it was rather good!


Decent Wantan Mee ... I really liked the char-siew and noodles, but the sauce is beaten by Indiana (Port Klang), Wah Chai (Bukit Tinggi, Klang) and of course Tanjung Malim's.

What happens when a Proton wants to be a Bufori?

Remember my visit to the Bufori Motor Car Company?


Take a closer look...

Mi Bakso, Es Teler 77 - Samratulangi Airport, Manado

My last Manado post ... this is the outside of Samratulangi Manado airport :-)


As we travelled to Bitung ... we stopped at this local store to get some Mi Sedap.



At the end of our Sulawesi adventure, this was ALL the money the six of us had left... we wanted to spend all our remaining rupiah on ... food!


First stop at Samratulangi Manado Airport ... Es Teler 77. Average-tasting Mi Baso!
After checking in at the airport ...
Our last rupiahs were spent on Sup Buntut, decent! And ... nasi kuning.


Farewell .. Manado! See you in 2011?

Mi Bakso - Pork balls in Indonesia

Mi Bakso stall spotted everywhere .. including this one at the Port of Bitung. I didn't dare savour this particular's vendor's pork balls though, that was left to be savoured at the airport before we left :-)

planetmole.org/indonesian-news
One of the foods with Chinese culinary overtones is bakso, which literally means pork ball in some Chinese dialects. Originating from northern China the pork meatball came rolling down into Southeast Asia and set foot in Indonesia some 20 years ago.

It was the younger set, like teenagers coming out of school and waiting for a bus who would stop at the mi bakso (noodles and bakso) vendor who would park his cart strategically near the school entrance. Being hungry they seldom ate only one bowl but a second bowl followed whilst chatting with their friends. And from that teenager habit came a new socially accepted term nge-bakso meaning chatting or dating whilst savoring bakso.

When bakso first appeared here, it was considered a food for those who could not afford to spend much money, but bakso slowly stepped up the culinary and social ladder because its aficionados were not only schoolchildren, but their parents too. Some of them even set up bakso factories and produce bakso in great quantities. And even on the wedding buffets of the upper social class in larger cities, bakso is a popular dish.

But the best propaganda for bakso was when during the election some years ago, the President served his guests mi bakso, saying that it is one of his favorite foods.

Sunset over Manado, Sulawesi - Indonesia

Nikon D80 set at ISO400 ... Shots from the poolside of our resort at Bastianos, Manado in Sulawesi.

ps - One more shot ... this one was taken early one morning :-)

Don Diego - 4 Perlas Cigars

Good value at under RM$20 per cigar. An easy puff :-)


Cigar.com - Don Diego cigars have been around for over a generation and today are rolled in the Dominican Republic. It is made by Altadis USA, makers of such brands as Montecristo, Romeo y Julieta, and Trinidad.
Don Diego’s central component is its Connecticut shade grown wrapper that is silky and smooth making the cigar very mild with virtually no finish.
The Don Diego is the perfect cigar for those enthusiasts who don’t want a lot of body or an overbearing flavor. By all measures it is exactly what one would expect from a smooth Dominican cigar and it is fairly strait forward on the palate.
The brand has a lot of history and is considered a classic. Taste the lighter side of the Dominican Republic with a Don Diego.

Grasshopper of Manado - Nikon D80 and Kit Lens

I was quite impressed with what could be achieved with a little imagination and my Nikon D80 / 18-55mm kit lens :-)

Just before he sprung off!

Hae Sien Tien - Seafood and Chinese food at Bitung, Sulawesi

On our last Saturday at Manado, we got Bastianos to ferry us across to Bitung to have a "seafood" lunch... this is Hae Sien Tien, recommended by our divemaster.


Hey... these items are NOT FOR SALE! :-) Heh heh...
"Pakai sendiri" translates to "Used by this restaurant"


The famed ... Loh See Pan. Delicious steamed in soya sauce. This would have cost many hundreds of ringgit in KL!


Air jeruk - Sort of like a kalamansi drink or "thai oranges"... Refreshing!
The crackers were TERRIBLE though, under- or over-cooked... Take your pick!


Excellent simple fried rice!
Strange fried rice with cheese over the top...


Japanese tofu on sizzling plate ... Pretty good, but was that because we were starving from the slow service?


Kung Poh Chicken ... eeeep. Terrible sauce, and so much batter (This would be a recurring theme!)


Deep fried sweet-sour garoupa ... TERRIBLE! So much batter, and tasted terrible.
What a waste of reasonably fresh sea-food, sigh ... and no lobsters available too. Would never recommend this restaurant ever again! Can't quite remember, but I think the meal came up to about RM$140 for all of us (6 pax).
ps - They charged us extra for "deep frying" the garoupa, but did not tell us up-front when we ordered... tsk tsk. Bad service! Bet they didn't figure I would publicise this on my "little" blog.