When taste speaks

It takes a huge effort to serve a good plate of food for customers. And it takes a tremendous amount of energy spent on training to deliver a good cooking technique. That's what I always expect from and should be equipped on a cook.
Bucida Court is a new name for me. May not be to many but it is new to me. Recommended by a reader a few months ago, I was reluctant to try since the address was not something appealing to me. Located on Jalan Bukit Lanjan, this food court were in the same row as BMW, Honda and Porsche. Facing the Menara UAC and Lebuhraya Damansara-Puchong, it offers quite a nice night view. Nice by means of concrete jungle yes and traffic flows on the highway. ;)
                  Cut the chase, I visited this place twice just to get my taste bud to review their offers. I thought of doing it all at one shot but the scare of being let down should the food is not up to my expectation motivates me to limit the order.
The first time, I went to try Uncle Ron's Cafe. They serve western food such as grilled chicken chop, steaks, mushroom soup, garlic bread and burgers. Their burgers were huge and look delicious too!

We chose a an empty table right in front of the counter. Reason being, I wanted to see their food preparation. My first impression was, Uncle Ron’s a clean counter. Everything were arranged nicely, from the cash machine, to their kitchen layout and their plates and cutleries. The female staff at the counter was busy and yet she was generous with her smile. That caught my attention and simply making me want to order everything. Everything were running smoothly, from taking orders, to lining up their end product to be delivered to tables. No hick-ups. Clean on the go. I like it.

Their menu were simple. I can easily choose without having much headache. I didn’t even ask for their special but straight up for the most simple dish, Sizzling Grilled Chicken.


    As we sat there, my sparring partner & I, a waitress came to take drink orders. We went for hot drink since it was raining. At Bucida Court, it is self-service. Except for drinks, somebody will come to your table to take order. As for food, you can browse around all the stalls there. There are about 5 stalls operating that night we were there. Tables were quite fully occupied.

My order came after about 10 minutes. That is my maximum waiting time. I was quite hungry so waiting wasn’t my priority. It was never in my ‘want list’ every time we dine out.

It was boiling hot when my Sizzling Grilled Chicken arrived on the table. I was very happy with the smell.

The female staff served me well, give me clean cutleries. See the above picture, it was nicely tucked in a black wire basket. Our drink came on time too. My verdict – the chicken were tender, grilled to perfection. It was well seasoned and I requested mushroom sauce, I expected to have lots of mushroom in the sauce but I was hampered. The vegetables accompany my chicken were crown of broccoli, cauliflower and carrot. They did justice to these vegetables. It’s either they blanched it nicely or they used a really good fresh quality vegetable. The vegetable were sweet and I like the hardness that I can hear they crunches inside my mouth when bite into.

  I also like the fact that the mashed potato served was poured with black pepper sauce. The mashed potato were a hit, well seasoned, nicely spiced with black pepper to harmonize the mushroom sauce and the size is a justice to the chicken portion.
  Overall, I like the food & the service was quick and warmth. I definitely will come again to Uncle Ron’s and personally recommend this western food jazz.

I have a little comment on our drinks. My tea were quite too sweet for me. But I think others will just go with it. Price-wise, my Sizzling Grilled Chicken were priced at RM15.00 , the price were fair for me. Just a comment that they can improve their mushroom sauce by be creative & bold to use fresh mushroom. Food is about creative anyway…Drinks were amount to RM3.50 for both. Justice though…
Readers can also visit their facebook at Bucida Court facebook
They have all their marketing flare there. I will return soon before New Year for another review of another stall at Bucida…wait for the entry. Until then, have a nice weekend.

Death of a Mujahid

It's been 3 weeks since the final resting of Ahmad Ammar Ahmad Azam in Istanbul, Turkey. And yet, thousands of people still digging the story behind this young man. Dubbed as 'Delayed Martyr' by his friends, this young lad travelled from Malaysia to Istanbul in his hope and effort to delve deeper, finding the ultimate knowledge about Islam historic events to bring back the glory of Islam. 

I was torn apart and sobbing deeply after watching the video which was made in tribute to him by Grup Penjejak Tamadun Dunia (GPTD) about a week ago. I pondered to what has been made to my life as a Muslim. What are my contribution to Islam? Is there any? At least any contribution to my family, my friends, my colleagues? Is there any? Null. Nill. Zero and blank. I am 14 years older than him. And he, he walked so farther away, achieved so many things and contributed so many, so much to the community and the people around him. And yet in death, his good-doings still muttered by the living, his spirit seems to be everywhere right now. I found this particular blog, www.wasukalu.com , granting a permission for translation of his memior for Ahmad Ammar. With this, with my humble English, I would like to translate his memoir for this great young man, in the hope that it can be read and understand by those people who might stumble on my blog and English is their primary language. 

Start of the Memoir by www.wasukalu.com :

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Ammar - a Malaysian Islamic fighter, a popular in Turkey dubbed as the 'Delayed Martyr'

This is the story of Ahmad Ammar bin Ahmad Azam.

Ahmad Ammar - dubbed by his close friends as the "Delayed Martyr”. 

Ahmad Ammar Ahmad Azam laid to his rest at the age of 20. He died due to an accident in Istanbul Turkey. His passing was mourned by friends and families, also thousands of Muslims, but remember, he was just went to see his God, Allah Al Khaliq, Al Baadii. He was a second year History major in Marmara University, Goztepe campus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marmara_University). He was sponsored by the Turkey State Scholarship programme. His passion to explore and delve deeper into the history of Ottoman and pursue his dream to upholding Islam and serve the Ummah were also the dreams of his parents. 

Ahmad Ammar was born in the family of conscious knowledge, worship, preaching and appreciate sacrifice. His father is a pious man, Tuan Haji Ahmad Azam Abdul Rahman, former ABIM president is not a stranger to the missionaries and the Islamic movement in Malaysia. He was the fourth in the family and the only son to Tuan Haji Ahmad Azam Abdul Rahman and his wife, Puan Nur Azlina Aziz.

For teenagers as young as Ammar, listening to Quran as ear candy might be the last thing to do. But not for this young mujahid, he is rumored to leave the house only after spending quite some time reading the holy Quran. 

At that tender age, he has been involved in various humanitarian missions in several countries in the world. His mission to Syria was the most heartbreaking and touching experience told by his close friends. He made it known that his heart left in Syria. Despite the explosion after explosion erupted at the surrounding area of the hospital where he spent his nights in Syria, he was never deterred, only to find he was even determined than ever to continue to help Syria. An event as told by his friend was so moving about Ammar having a wash very early in the morning and icy cold weather, when asked why, he says, he dreamt he met his angels as a gift from Allah. MashaAllah, Allah the AlMighty, the Great. And since that day, his close companions dubbed him as the "Delayed Martyr". But no, Allah did not take him there. Allah still need him for Ummah, he made a safe return to Istanbul after the mission. Subhan'Allah, Glory be to Allah, should Ammar died as syahid in Syria, most probably, no one will know him as he will be buried is Syria, in chaos and all. Allah knows better to whom this young lad should be surrounded with...

His Untimely Death

Allahu Akbar! How lucky is the parent, to get to see, the son they intended for Ummah, the last journey of their boy with a good ending. 

Crowds of people thronged the Abu Ayyub al-Ansari Mosque in Istanbul for his funeral. Ammar was buried near the great companions of the Prophet (pbuh), Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, who fought to liberate Constantinople before. His friend wrote, 'Ammar is a "Muhajir" (people who migrate) and a guest to Sayyidina Abu Ayyub al-Ansari.

Subhan'Allah, Glory be to Allah, this is not a coincidence. Look at how beautiful the way Allah blessed his “tawafuk” upon Ammar. Looking back at the history of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) migration from Makkah to Madinah, the Prophet (pbuh) is a guest in the house of Sayyidina Abu Ayyub al-Ansari. 

It is not a coincidence that the camel ridden by the Prophet (pbuh) chosen the house of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari. It is by the guidence from Allah. And this is a symbolic to Ahmad Ammar that he immigrated to find knowledge from Malaysia to Istanbul.It is fated and arranged by Allah that Sayyidina Abu Ayyub al-Ansari was selected to honor the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) into his home, and so too with Amad Ammar to be the guest of Sayyidina Abu Ayyub al-Ansari in Eyup interment, Istanbul. This is Ahmad Ammar's gift from Allah the Al-Mighty,  and this fate has certainly made his grieving parents the most grateful parents.

The promise of Allah is very clear, as in Sura al-Nisa', verse 100 :

Sahih International

And whoever emigrates for the cause of Allah will find on the earth many [alternative] locations and abundance. And whoever leaves his home as an emigrant to Allah and His Messenger and then death overtakes him - his reward has already become incumbent upon Allah . And Allah is ever Forgiving and Merciful.

Subhan'Allah, praise be to Allah. On the morning of the incident, Ammar went out to visit new students from the South East Asia with his passion for sharing knowledge and discussion on Rasail Nur by Imam Bediuzzaman Said Nursi. 

According to Ammar's father, his last entry which was found in his back pack read as ""There should be the pleasure of Allah in your practise. Had Allah pleased when the whole world turns away from you, then it does not matter. If He had received the vain and all the creatures refuse then it does not give any effect already ... Because it was supposed to just pleased Allah alone and be the main purpose in this missionary service. ", and as noted by his father, Ammar managed to cross the road but lost his balance and fell on the road and got hit by an ambulance. 

He passed away and went to be with Allah at the tender age of 20. He was a second year History major in Marmara University, Istanbul. He longed for martyrdom. Apparently, Ahmad Ammar may already met his angels until he no longer want to turn aside and went straight in pursuit of his dreams of upholding Islam and educate and care for the well-being of Ummah. 

He continues to serve tirelessly to preach and work diligently until the date of his demise and that is when his assignments in this mortal world end. Alhamdulillah, praise be to Allah because with His love and guidance that Islam continues to shine with the presence of youth like Ammar. Tabarakallah, al-Fatihah. 

Video Kisah Kehidupan Ahmad Ammar Ahmad Azam

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Also, readers who would like to know more about this great young man might be interested to poke their facebook at Şehıdımız Ahmad Ammar.

As for me, there are questions, good ones that has been playing in my mind since the day Ahmad Ammar becomes a legend. Specifically Turkey. Why he chose Turkey, a secular country to study History? Ahmad Ammar, you make me wonder, how thick a book have I covered to make such judgement. Judgement is only for Allah to make and not His servant. Ahmad Ammar, you make me want to strive more in life. Not every child is born to be a hero, a fighter like you. Not every child is given the strength to fight like you. Not every child is lucky to be chosen by Allah to be a Mujahid like you. And not every parent is lucky to be bless a son like you, not every one can be lucky to have a brother, a great friend like you. And nobody can be you, there will not be the same Ahmad Ammar BUT we can follow your good deeds, we can try and improve ourselves to be as good as you or even better. Lets just hope that your phenomena will last until The Day of Judgement for the Ummah. Lets just hope that Malaysia will continue whatever they wrote, how they felt, how they has been inspired by you and make worth of their tears pouring down while reading your story and turn in as jihad for Islam. And be happy that Allah prolonged your life for you to make it back to Istanbul and not as Syahid in Syria. Because of Istanbul, you were known to the world and because of that, I know you. Thank you Allah. 

Meeting Glenmarie

I always find these criteria a must whenever I need to dine outside; good food & good service, comfy tables and chairs, child friendly and not too crowded.

When my sister asked me for a lunch date at Restoran Hidangan Glenmarie, I was a bit sceptical. The name itself popped up as a hustle & bustle of an industrial area. I texted her asking, "do you really have a good restaurant there? Or shall we have lunch somewhere else?". She insisted that she will bring me to a good restaurant...

The restaurant - quite cosy although flocked by hungry customers

It was lunchtime as we arrived around 1.30pm and as usually scenario in restaurants, people flocked the place to eat. Tables was occupied and waitresses swing here and there with food trays and drinks to be delivered to customer's table. It was not hard to for us to spot a nice table and soon found ourselves being served. Service was fast and immediate amidst the busy lunchtime. We find no waiting. Order and walla, the food was served hot on the table. I decided to try a simple menu, kuey teow kungfu which I thought can be the most simple dish to test the chef. 

My sister ordered Nasi Kari Ayam ...this dish were served hot, white rice were fluffy and the chicken curry is just the right balance between hot and milky of the coconut cream.

Nasi Kari Ayam (hot plain rice, 1pc chicken curry, 1pc fried egg couple with tomato & cucumber slice) @ RM5.00

 My verdict for kuey teow is, they produced it light and most importantly, served hot. Packed with seafood and vegetable, the only thing missed out is I really would like my keuy teow to be a little more crispy because 'Kung Fu' style should have the kuey teow pre-fried.

Kuey Teow Kungfu - lots of seafood prawns & squids, lots of flower mustard, carrots slice and cabbage @ RM5.00

We also tried their nasi campur. 

Plain rice with Chicken Rendang and sayur bayam tumis (sauteed spinach) @ RM 4.80

and another menu, which is an all-time easy to prepare, ...Nasi Goreng Cina style

Nasi Goreng Cina style, we add on fried egg @ RM5.80

We enjoyed our food and we enjoyed our time there. I had a nice time chit chatting with my sister and the environment is quite comfortable. They put on ceiling fans enough to keep the customers away from the tormenting heat outside and they put on bamboo blind by the side entry of the restaurant that shield customers from direct sunlight. The bamboo helps in giving moisture and cool air inside the restaurant. 

Line for local side dishes if you opt for 'nasi campur', they have about 10 types of side dishes ranging from fish curry, chicken rendang, soy sauce beef, soups, sauteed vegetables and 'ulam-ulaman'

counter for other specialties of this restaurant

This restaurant open for breakfast until supper time. They also have all sorts of local breakfast choices like 'roti jala & kuah kari', 'pulut kuning', 'tapai', kuih muih & many types of sweets like 'bubur jagung'. My sister told me that their roti jala and pulut kuning are best-seller. They also have pau (steam buns), roti bakar and many more. For me, the prices are competitive and still affordable by many. Location wise - in the mid of factory buildings medium density area. It's quite congested during afternoon if you are coming from Lebuhraya Persekutuan or nearby Shah Alam town. Best to be here early because parking are quite scarce nearby but you can park a bit far and walk to the restaurant.

Add caption

clean glass for our drinks, nice 'sirap bandung' @ RM1.60, hot tea 'O' @ RM1.20

Iced lychee @ RM2.50 , same goes to other fruit juices.Comfortable and spacious table for patrons. Comfy chairs too. Clean cutleries.

My sister recommended Nasi Kari Ayam

have a try should you be in the area, it would not be like experiencing dining in at a hotel or luxury restaurant but worth a try! ;)

Wrecking Ball

..it has nothing to do with naked lady here, but I love the statement made by Miley Cyrus in her 'Wrecking Ball'. But in a totally different context. In cooking and trying new recipes.

Hazmadi's plate full of tantalizing durian

I have been trying to get myself to buy durian. Yes, that thorny green smelly king of fruit. And I got that opportunity last fortnight. And within that two weeks period, I have been buying durian every other day. And for the first time, I managed to make my own 'pengat durian'. Of course, it wasn't my recipe in the first place, based on several food bloggers, I came up with my own version of 'pengat durian'. 

Pengat durian still in the pot, weeeeeee....;) awesome!

and since then, I have been wrecking my brain on what to do, how to diversify this magic fruit into edible version that will print a long lasting impression. Not for boasting, but, you know how it feels when you see happy faces of overwhelming feeling after session of food tasting, especially when it's you who cook! And that faces that I'm looking for. So far I haven't met one, hahaha, laugh to me..laugh at me..

So my journey to find a good, great, edible and reliable recipe begin. For quite sometime, I have been  admiring a few food bloggers. Names such as Cik Epal, Azlita Aziz, Mat Gebu, Suzie Saufi & and her rendition,  Rosmarlina dan Fazlinil Irma came probing into my head. But I had to dissipate  Fazlinil Irma from the list since she won't be taking orders anymore, she left for London. Nope, she didn't tell me personally , I got to know from her blog of course, she doesn't even know me and know that I exist  :P..

But the task now is not to order or outsource the delicacy from others to satisfy my cruel intention. This is a challenge for me. My whole life, I have only experienced eating the durian raw, and on few occasions as flavor in ice confection and a few times as 'pengat durian' or as partial flavor in 'bubur kacang hijau'. I have never tasted or buy or even come near any durian crepe! Believe me, I'm great at eating durian but the word 'durian crepe' creeps me. But this desire has been contained long enough that I felt like I'm about to explode. I have to get myself a durian crepe!

A friend, Suhayati-
 bought this, but it was frustrating..the taste I mean.@ Food Court Cheras Downtown @ RM10/4pcs.

To my relieve, actually the crepe was just a basic recipe of 'lempeng'. Most of the bloggers uploaded the simple version of 'lempeng' that use basic ingredients such as milk @ santan, flour (of course), and salt. But I was not satisfied with how the crepe looks like. It's not the recipe, it's me, just me. I'm not good at cooking or baking or anything that has to do with food as end yield. :D

I tried Cik Epal's recipe and end up frustrated with my crepe. It's not her recipe's fault, again, it's just me. And so I went to try kak Ita (Azlita Aziz) recipe and find it quite amusing. I like the texture of the crepe and I like the creamy texture, it's sweet solid and tangy at the same time when bite with durian filling. This is for crepe, I will definitely vote for Azlita Aziz although the ingredients were quite a number compared to Cik Epal's. Duly I should refine Cik Epal's according to my skill, play a lilttle bit with the amount of coconut milk, and the flour. But I guess, I  just don't have the intuition as a good cook. I just dump the recipe aside and try another. But this is a personal view, I didn't say her recipe blogged isn't good, it's just me. She's a popular blogger anyway. I have give you the link to the recipe both from Cik Epal's & Azlita Aziz at the 4th paragraph.

That is the creepy crepe story. As for 'pengat durian', I finally decided that, I will just make a basic one. What I did was, after thorough browsing over the internet and to the extent of asking around, I came up with  a simple solution. What I did was-I freeze my durian soon as I finish peeling it from the thorny skin. About an hour. Then, I put a clean pot on heat and waited until it becomesreally hot. And, into the hot pot I pour in about 400ml instant coconut milk and stir it gently with heat off using a wooden spoon. I had initially smashed two pieces of palm sugar using pestle and this crushed sugar were diluted into the coconut milk immediately soon as the coconut milk were stirred in. When the sugar has been fully dissolved, I put on the heat on low and continue stirring until bubbles can be obviously seen and that's when I pour in the frozen durian flesh into the coconut mixture. Continue stirring and into it goes 2 spoonfuls of vanilla essence. On low heat, with lid on, I let it cook for another 30 minutes. To those sensitive with salt, you can just consume this dish without addition of any salt at all. But to those who favors a salty slight taste, you can add in about a pinch of rock salt to the dish and this will enhance the creamy taste of the coconut milk. You can either enjoy it cold or simply hot. I like it both. I like it to go with crepe or just slice of bread. But overall, I like the recipe from Mat Gebu for his 'serawa durian'. I've tried and it was wonderful. Considering this is my first time preparing the dish, Mat Gebu did a good job with his recipe, it's easy to follow and it yield remarkably great taste dish.

The fate of the 'pengat durian' I brought to office

And finally, my last review for this entry is the Apam inti serunding durian. I just simple babble out the name because it was totally something different. I took this from Azlita Aziz eBook. And I'm loving it! Needless to say much, the recipe itself is easy and for beginners like me, just follow exactly on the measurement quantity of the ingredients and you'll get what you want. It's a very reliable blog. Thumbs up! It's my first time too....

So, readers. There are so many blogs out there for you to read. And you can't, just can't go through each of them. There are hundreds of them, or even thousands of good blogs over the internet about food and these blogs listed here in my review were among a few selected for this specifically durian entry. I love recipes from bloggers but modification were made, of course, to make it my own and not every blog were truly sincere in sharing tips and knowledge. Sometimes, their recipes look good and the images uploaded were damn tantalizing but when tried, we were frustrated. Most of the time, I blame myself when this happen but I learn through time course that, everybody have their own secret or at least in cooking, the way they stir the ingredients, the way they put on the heat and the way they dance their spatula while in the pot or pan definitely a different sway from us. And so I stop blaming the blog and I stop blaming myself for I understand sometimes, it's true, they keep something for themselves too. ;) And again, knowledge are meant to be shared for it will bring you benefit to the grave. Be wise and be kind to others for Allah surely be kind to you..Good Luck in trying recipes obtained online! ;)

Can we really save?....

I was conducting an experiment when I was startled by a scream. It's not that loud but loud enough to encourage me to know more..

Oh, the oil price hike. One of the lab personnel was shouting to her colleagues upon entering the lab "Oi korang minyak nak naik lagi ni, jom gi full tank", and it was greeted by another figure saying "eleh penipu je la, sape tah buat joke kat facebook, da kuar brite kata tipu", ..and there was laughing. I went back to my desk and laptop staring blankly at my Calibur...

On my way back home, there seems to be massive traffic at all pump stations. I don't even care to listen to radio instead tuning in to my Brian Adam's CD. Why Adam's? Simply because that's the first CD my hand reached in the CD box..Reaching home, I laid my back on my bed, and switch-ON my lappie and checking my emails and wwooohhh lot's of updates from facebook status about 'MINYAK NAIK HARGA'. And to my 'happiness', yes, the government made an official statement about increasing the RON95 & diesel price by 20 cents. So, they lie! They lie about promising no increase in oil price this year..What does that mean? Are they munafik? I don't know and I dare not say, let the expert tell...

What I'm going to review here is the salary and all the hike in groceries, diesel, bla bla bla..electricity and water bills. There seems to be an inbalance hike in price. When the diesel were increase by 20 cents per litre, all the teh tarik, nasi lemak and what so ever will be increase by at least 20 cents per cup, per packet, per plates. The profits were doubling by God knows how many times. And it's that a burden for those restaurants to carry the oil price hike but to burden it to consumers. What choice do we have? 

Imagine, a mother of six had to go to work to help the husband in making a day's life. At the end of the day, she finish work at 5.30 pm, went home, on the way, maybe picking up her children from transit house, from nursery or from school and reach home by 7pm. If she's a muslim, she already had to prepare herself and her children for maghrib that tolls up to taking bath, clean herself & the children, preparing for diner and all. How can she cope with her tiredness? When will she has the time to relax, and this is when working wives resort to buying dinner or simply went out for dinner. And yet, her salary do not change, won't be increase just because she has to cope with price increase everywhere. Believe me, some employers even cut down on allowances and bonus for their staffs due to diesel and oil price hike. Go find out yourself..

So what's the relevant and the good idea behind cutting the subsidies on rakyat just because you want to have that noble heart of yours to increase the BR1M??? What's the logic and where is the benefit? So many talks, so many facebook statuses that says the government should cut down the allowances of their officers, on electricity bills, yes, on the car fuel allowance's of their officers and on so many other things rather than cutting the subsidy for rakyat. The once-pay BR1M cannot justify what will be burden on the rakyat's shoulder by increasing the oil & diesel price. Do not and not once do you compare Malaysia to other countries in terms of any price hike. We are looking at the good things to be copied to and looking at the bad things as examples and try to avoid doing it to your rakyat instead. Why must we compare the oil price of other countries that were far an out-cry to ours when we have no effort to compare our public transportation services, our medical services or even the most simple thing, the allocations for newborn babies and expecting parents given by the government to be applied in Malaysia?

Do review the effort of Malaysia government to improve the life of rakyat and compare it to those countries that the minister mentioned have higher oil and diesel price. I've been to European countries, resided at one of the modern Germany state and been traveling around but still Malaysia is far from being 'home' to me..

Is it LOVE at first sight, ...

..Nope, my heart was frozen and my taste buds went awry..

I am not a professional food reviewer and many will condemn me, maybe, after this entry. But I review sincerely and I always believe that good food are meant to be shared and those aren't deserve a chance of improvisation and there will always be a better rendition after comments which were accepted with open heart.

SERAI is a huge name. An exclusive dine-in restaurant and I believe can be afford by only a few of us. 'Can be afford' means, something that is so routine that you can simply subscribe yourself to it daily. At least that's what 'can be afford' meant to me. As for me, SERAI is within my budget but not in my 'affordable' list. Therefore, spending time and resources dining in at Serai took sometime for me to be executed.

I wasn't very well with morning sickness and all a few months ago and my husband took me out for lunch. Nothings seems to be able to make me wanting to eat and he brought me to this outlet in Paradigm. SERAI. Approaching this outlet alone excite me. I have been getting good comments from friends about SERAI but was contemplating ever since due to it's undoubtedly expensive plates. But that day, I walked in with a huge smile into the premise proudly with my husband.

Sirap selasih - served hot

It was close to 12.30pm when we arrived at Paradigm. Lunchtime and people were flocking the food & beverages outlet. It was not hard to get seating at Serai, we let ourselves in without any warm greeting and were greet inside by a petite young lady who then ushered us to a table for two. We were given the menu book each but my eyes was hooked at the pavlova inside the glass counter. I thought to order that later on after my main course.

Hot tea served in tea-pot with sugar & creamer packets

There wasn't many choices in the menu book so I wasn't spoiled. I decided to have Nasi Goreng Serai, sirap selasih served hot and my husband went for fried Kuey Teow and hot tea. We didn't order for appetizer because no appetizer seems to be appetizing enough..

And our verdict ;

Fried Kuey Teow came with one large prawn and diced salad (red cabbage, white cabbage & carrot)

Fried Kuey Teow was flat and too spicy. But the prawn was nicely fried and seasoned. They need salt in their kitchen and I am not sure what type of soy sauce they're using because at least the soy sauce should be effective in giving a slight salty to the noodles but nope, it fail..

Nasi Goreng Kampung style

Nasi Goreng Kampung style came with...

It was ok. Nicely fried rice with lots of kangkung. Unfortunately, the kangkung was a bit hard to chew, it was supposed to be tender, I don't know what happen in the kitchen. But the accompanied fish keropok did a good job together with the acar timun. It was well blended with carrot slice and red onion with the vinegar. Sweet, tangy, salty and a hint of spicy in the acar goes well when you eat it with the fried rice. The keropok was easily chewed and done. To my frustration was the cucumber, it was not fresh, perhaps a yesterday's left over or they bought an old cucumber... :(

Two sticks chicken satay with peanut sauce

Chicken satay  accompanying the fried rice was slightly frustrating. Why? It was not served hot as I expected it to be, it was cold with cold peanut sauce and it tasted like it was yesterday's and just being taken out of the chiller.

Nice fish keropok

 The fish keropok strips did a good job, excellent one. Unfortunately, my order was Fried Rice Kampung style...and not keropok ikan....

Acar was nicely superb

Acar did a good job too.

Overall, I gave 5/10 for their kuey teow and 7/10 for the fried rice. Presentation wise, they were good. But for a food to be glorious, it has to be in a package - presentation for first impression, the taste and the freshness of the ingredients. I really hope Serai could do better. It's not cheap to dine @ Serai so make every diner's dime worth!

I was very frustrated with what been served and I straight away cancel my desire to have their pavlova. I don't want to feel more miserable. Maybe they taste nice but I do not have any regret for not trying.

So, the next time you're in Paradigm, do visit Serai. And let me know of any dish you try there, I would love to know how the other dish fare to you and maybe, I'll walk in to try their pavlova, perhaps! ;)

Till then, spread good things around and a better things will find their way towards you! 

Life as a student, ;)

 We just came back from visiting a close relative. She was discharged from hospital yesterday after a mastectomy. The term itself is something that we don't really want to explore more, it doesn't sound interesting but believe me, when you encounter someone whom has been going through or about to go through the procedure, your life will change. For those who do not know what is mastectomy, please go and google yourself about it. After all, education counts, ;) ..

Talking about education, I've been spending half of my life on being educated. I think more, maybe third quarter of my life and another quarter goes to sleep, dream and doing something else that I enjoy most and of course, that'll be between me & Allah. ;), ....

What fascinated me about being a student is the capability of you being manipulated almost all the time. I'm doing my post-grad degree and friends still came to me, to borrow my student ID card for discount to movies, books and some even to dine at restaurants. And I'm not talking about being manipulated by peers, but by those younger than me. And I succumbed to that manipulation, I will just surrender my student ID to them and smile. After all, it doesn't hurt me. It pleases me more than ever to be able to help them to get discounts. Especially on food....food glorious food.

What is your favorite snack when you need to do some revision or finishing your assignment in the middle of the nights, those sleepless nights? I, for instance, I love instant noodles. Not that I don't care about my health, I do. I'm scared of death. But I just can't ditch instant noodle. It makes me happy. During school days, I used to boil water and dip my instant noodle (Maggi, Indomie during those years) and mixed it with the seasoning. A friend taught me about squeezing a kaffir lime into Maggi chicken instant noodle. And since that day, my instant noodle never taste the same. I became more addicted to instant noodle. But, it works only with Maggi, should you squeeze kaffir lime into another instant noodle's it won't give you that exquisite taste. This addiction has become staple food for me until I went overseas somewhere in the early new millenium. Reason being, I can't get a decent guaranteed halal instant noodle back then. That's when I started to love spaghetti & pasta. And that'a another story to tell.

Today, I'm going to write about MAMEE Chef series. Featured here is the MAMEE Chef Tomyam. 

MAMEE Chef Tomyam bought at Giant hypermarket

I can't find MAMEE Chef at Tesco or any other hypermarkets or grocery. I can only find it at Giant supermarkets. I don't know, maybe you can find it but I can't. I didn't and I've tried so many supermarkets but no to avail. 

Wallap this while finishing my paper

 I cooked this instant noodle with an egg. It's super easy, just boil 2 cups of water and dip in your instant noodle, let it simmer for 30 seconds and pour in the seasoning and let it boil, and add in what ever egg, or vegetable or even meat slice of your choice. 

Most of the time, I only put an egg, but in this review here, I add in some chicken slice. The thing with this MAMEE Chef series, it already carry the extras. For example in this Tomyam version, they already have dried shrimps and chillies and spring onions to go with it, and dried cabbage.  

Blue oval is dried chillies & spring onions and the red one - dried shrimp

It cost RM5.99 for 5 packets of instant MAMEE Chef noodle any variations. They have Tomyam as featured here, Chicken Mushroom and I can't remember another one.. The taste? Better than any other instant noodle so far for me but my sparring partner says the other way, so it depends on your preference. Tomyam, for me, spicy and kicky as it should be compared to Maggi or any other brand. 

I had that while I was trying to wrap up my writing. I was writing a journal. And I need to chill and it's a day before Ramadhan. I just need to have instant noodle!

That mug was very loved. Seriously, I love that mug, bought in a place where I first fall in love with my sparring partner now, ;)

I usually will have hot lime juice or at least hot tea after an instant noodle treat but it was a scorching hot day that day, so I decided to have ice lemon tea instead. Why lemon? Lime? Simply because I need and I want to get rid of those wax layers that have been diluted during the cooking of that instant noodle. Learn more about the making of instant noodle ok..Google it. So lazy to give you the link here.

My advise, don't do this and make this a habit especially with children. Instant noodle are meant to meet your hunger desperation and not as staple food. You will never satisfy your hunger with instant noodle, it'll only alleviate the hunger for a while. It has no nutrition, please do not buy the Information details written on its packaging. They lie. The manufacturer lie. And the seasoning, it's not good at all. To those with kidney, liver problem, this is a hazard to your health. But should you really have to consume it, please drink lots of water, warm plain water or warm lime juice, lemon juice or orange juice to go with it as these substances from citrus fruit helps to flush the fat and acid out of your system. A glass will do. Because too much citrus will add another problem to your kidney. So be wise with food. Eat to live and it's never LIVE to EAT...use your brain peeps!

All reviews here were intentionally to spread good things. Good things are meant to be shared, ;)