Makan 2

I didn't eat or drink most of these, but I wanted to share them with you anyway.

My tablemates' food, L'Elephant, Luang Prabang, Laos:

Beer and breakfast at midnight, Paradiso Lounge, Publika, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia:

Finally, what I actually ate. Golden Soft-shell Crab Pasta, Plan B, 1Utama, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia:

Claypot Chicken Rice from roadside stall, Jln Tun Sambanthan 4, Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia:

Conveyor belt sushi, Sushi King, Berjaya Times Square, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia:

In which I discover that dory does not a good cod substitute make. Fish & Chips, Manhattan Fish Market, Ampang Park Shopping Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia:

Makan 1

Food from the past three weeks.


Little Penang Cafe, Suria KLCC


Chicken Briyani at the team's favourite banana leaf place, Nirwana Maju in Bangsar


More store-bought Japanese. Not so good, but looks interesting. Carrefour The Sphere.


Cilantro Pesto Primavera (or something like that), cooked by me


Pao Xiang Bak Kut Teh, Pavilion KL


Umai-Ya, Suria KLCC

A very special dinner

"Is it your first time here?" asked the host who greeted us at reception.

"Yes."

"There is a pond in the middle of the restaurant. Do not step into it."

I burst out laughing.

So began an incredible birthday dinner at one of Kuala Lumpur's best French restaurants, Frangipani on Changkat Bukit Bintang.

There were two kinds of bread with a creamy herbed butter that was almost like cheese. Then...I'll let the photos do most of the talking.

A thumb-sized canape to start off a three-course meal (well, four with dessert).

A complimentary appetizer. A crunchy cracker with two kinds of dip. So simple but the contrast of textures makes you excited for the first dish.

First course: Fresh tiger prawn ceviche with avocado cream, dried tomato reduction and
chillies

In a word: frrresh.

First course: vegetable terrine

Very pretty. But I actually liked the salad more than the terrine itself. Reminded me of Viv's salad in Belper five years ago, only in miniature.

Second course: prawn risotto

Sorry, but it couldn't hold up against...

Second course: Warm tea smoked salmon with confit potatoes crème fraîche and salmon roe

I had a smoked salmon sandwich for lunch that day but I wanted more. This is the most unbelievable salmon ever. An out-of-body experience, to be perfectly polite about it.

Interlude: sorbet as palate cleanser.

Cool and refreshing. Would have also made a nice dessert. Or drink.

Mains: Three kinds of ravioli.

The cheese one is a dream.

Mains: Grilled Wagyu beef cheek with braised red cabbage, mole sauce and pumpkin dauphines

Super soft, as expected, but not so flavourful. Would have been tastier with gravy instead of mole sauce, but then that would have been very American. Tender and fat nonetheless. I mistook the cabbage for beet and the pumpkin for potatoes. No wonder they were sweet.

Dessert: Flourless chocolate mousse cake with vanilla sauce and chopped nuts.

My birthday (slice of) cake, the third one for the day. So rich that a few bites are enough. (And in case you're curious, a lot has happened since I was 20. Let's not go back there. Hahaha!)

Dessert: Crème brûlée, glacée, flambée

Light and sweet. Better if the flame had lasted a little bit longer to get rid of the alcohol...and give me a chance to snap a photo.

I have no words left. Time for dinner!

Japanese Sunday nights

Start at the basement food court of Pavilion, Kuala Lumpur's mall of malls in Bukit Bintang. Seated on a stool centered around cooks in hakata, watch while your rice meals are cooked before your eyes. The diners don't look Malay, only luck will get you a seat, the price is about the same as any regular meal, but the live performance is an entertaining bonus. The vegetable side dish is good; the meat could use a bit more flavour. A good dinner nonetheless.

On the top floor of the mall is Tokyo Street, rows of Japanese style stores presented as the real thing—light wood interiors, Japanese merchandise, and of course, my favourite Daiso, where everything is RM5 (~P70 at P14=RM1). Kawaii items, mochi and other Japanese staples can be found here.

A few steps away from Pavilion is Uniqlo's flagship store at Fahrenheit 88, possibly the main reason to visit the mall.

If it's late and you're craving for cheap Japanese food, come over to the sushi section at Cold Storage, Suria KLCC, where the day's preparations are discounted at RM2 off. This set of rolls, a meal on its own, comes to little over RM3.

Itadakimasu!

Seeing similarities

Do you see what I see? There's something very similar about these orchids at Sofitel Philippine Plaza (left) and this Malaysian dessert (right).

1521

Filipino food with a twist. Team lunch at 1521, Burgos Circle, Forbes Town Center, Taguig City.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Lactobacilli Shirota Strain

When the power went out early this morning, I became concerned with the state of my Yakult in the refrigerator. The world needs good bacteria.

Flavored Yakult from Singapore, in bottles 20ml larger than those in the Philippines. (Also twice as expensive.)

Lessons from a 12-hour blackout:

1. A day without email is a day of peace.

2. Without electricity, there is time to read.

3. You can lose the capacity to read properly. See me skim.

4. No amount of napping will get back all the sleep you lost.

Food adventure

One week, three cities.

Celebrating my dad's birthday with Chinese food at H.K. Choi, SM Megamall, Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila.

The following night at Royal Bali Beach Club, Jimbaran, Bali, Indonesia.

The next day, we saw snakefruit at Kintamani.

Two days later, the local version of chicharon and lechon at an eatery. No tourists here.

Banana leaf-wrapped dinner at RBBC

Not salabat. From the airport in Bali.

Laksa at the Esplanade, Singapore