ong kee chicken tauge @ ipoh

onn kee (tauge ayam)

they say, "if you have not eaten chicken rice balls, then you have not been to malacca!"

well, the same goes for ipoh. if you have not eaten the famous kuew teow chicken tauge, then it's almost as good as you have not been to ipoh!


jalan yau tet sin, ipoh

located along jalan yau tet sin, ong kee is a rival to the more famous lou wong. if you are a local or know any locals, they will probably tell you that ong kee is a better choice as lou wong is too commercialized and often very crowded. so, being once a local and listening to another local, we opted for ong kee instead of lou wong.


translucent hor fun

the best noodles to go with chicken and tauge would of course be the famous ipoh hor fun, which is translucent and smooth. this pairing is match made in heaven, the thought of slurping down smooth hor fun and then picking up a piece of smooth steamed chicken with soy sauce is already enough to make me mouth water!


steamed chicken with soy sauce and sesame oil

to be honest, there was nothing spectacular about the chicken. it was nice nonetheless, just how the chicken should be.


big fat juicy tauge

another ipoh famous must-eat is none other than the big fat juicy tauge (beansprouts). many say that it is because of the water used to plant these beansprouts that contribute to the bigness fatness and juicyness. ipoh is surrounded by scores of hills and mountains (with natural water source), so such claims is not without its truth. whenever we make our family trips back to ipoh, we will without fail bring back a big bagful of beansprouts home (very cheap too).


awesome meatballs

this my first time having the meatballs and i must say it is not too bad, although my fav meatballs would still be the ones from wan hou steamboat- big and juicy, yum!

chicken tauge hor fun is a must have when you are in the small little ipoh town of good food. i wonder when will be my next time having this again...

till then, happy independence day and a long weekend!


ong kee tauge ayam
jalan yau tet sin,
30300 ipoh.

[disclaimer: the opinions expressed here are based on my personal views, tastebuds and preference and may vary for others. please dont sue me, i dont have money. kthxbye.]

Vietnamese cuisine @ O'viet Restaurant

mixed grill platter- rm24.90
a combination of traditional vietnamese appetizers such as fried spring rolls, grilled beef and chicken, sugarcane shrimps, healthy greens and paper rice to make your own yummy rolls

this review takes us back to at least 2 months ago when calvin and i met up with my fellow ipoh besties fang, her sister yi hua and another bestie jacqueline (who's now in columbia university which is in NY and not columbia, HAHA dont be confused and so n00b like me). with the new wing and all at sunway pyramid, it was still a tough task for me to find a proper good place for a meet up lunch.

calvin and i have tasted the food here, so it was kind of a 'tried and tested' place, but we didnt have the same dishes as we had the first time, so in any way this is still a food review!


paper roll you can eat!

we both were given the ultimate task to order food of course. we decided to have a more family-like lunch where food are shared instead of individual meals. for appetizers, the mixed grill platter was ordered as it is always recommended to have a mix of everything if you don't know what to order!

i would give 2 thumbs up for the appetizer especially the paper roll, nice to see and nice to eat too!! it was quite funny to see everyone trying to wrap the roll without tearing it. wrapped with a little bit of greens and chicken/beef slices, and then dipped with either the peanut sauce or the nuoc cham sauce (a type of vietnamese sauce), it was indeed a delightful start to a great wholesome meal.


don't you feel like taking a bite too?

the main dishes arrived not long after and we had them with rice.


chicken with basil


grilled lemongrass fish on banana leaf


chef's recommended toufu

as this was eaten and digested about 2 months ago, i have misplaced the receipt and couldn't remember the exact price and name of the dishes. but if my memory serves me right, the chicken with basil was ok with the basil not too overpowering but taste relatively normal chinese-style cooking. the grilled fish was another unmemorable dish- grilled fish, on a banana leaf and with the littlest (if not any) hint of lemongrass. last but not least, the toufu came as the most disappointing dish, an absolute miss from what we had expected since it was labelled as chef's recommended.


durian pancake- rm5.90 for 2pcs

all hopes not lost yet as we patiently anticipated for the durian pancake. we both have had this before, so it was not a surprising dessert. it tasted ok, just what it is supposed to taste like- fluffy whipped cream and durian flesh enrobed in a pancake wrap. recommended if you're having durian cravings in a vietnamese restaurant.

overall, it was a hit and miss lunch affair with the mixed grill platter and durian pancake receiving some accolades while the mains were generally disappointing. the bill came to a total of (if i remember correctly...) rm170++ for 6 persons, so it's not exactly cheap.



o'viet restaurant
g1.45 ground floor, sunway pyramid old wing.
tel: 03-74920018

[disclaimer: the opinions expressed here are based on my personal views, tastebuds and preference and may vary for others. please dont sue me, i dont have money. kthxbye.]

of pot luck and good luck

photolog of pot luck party at kenneth's place last few weeks before college exams (hehe i think i was the only one totally relaxed, no exams anymore, hehe).

read jen's full account of the night because i curi-curi to blog from work :-p




kenneth must be a seasoned pot luck party host (those orange plates tells it all!)


ze wonderful roazt duckz courtesy of jen


calvin's secret recipe seafood pasta- le yum!




very oreo'ish and cheese'ish


thoughtfully cut to share!


HAHA look at that reluctant frown!


while param downs it like wet wet water man -_-


calvin is the gold medalist for 'eating the most ceasar salad' sport


testosterones bringin' the house down!


alamak why so few girls wan???




an almost perfect jump after 42 shots *panting, inhales*

alex can kick your ass!

my first working trip to kota kinabalu

this is what sunday mornings look like up the skies

there's always a first to everything. this is my first working trip abroad (well, technically since it's over and beyond the seas anyway), and also my first trip to the east coast.

DAY 1

last weekend, i had my first taste of working + travelling. my colleague, jennifer and i together with our lady boss, her two teenage sons, girlfriend, and husband (aka my big boss) boarded the 9.30am flight to KK on what else but 'now everyone can fly' airasia.


airasia now everyone can fly

we reached the land below the wind (negeri dibawah bayu??) at about 12pm touching down at the KK LCCT (aka Terminal 2). comparing the KL LCCT with the KK LCCT, well i think the KK one looks a little bit worn out and messy, not that the KL one is any much better.


perfume shop at terminal 2

upon grabbing our luggages and arriving at the arrivals hall, i followed my fellow bosses to check out our perfume and emporium shops located near the entrance. this is my first time seeing for myself the shops that i have been raising purchase orders for the past 2 months. got to put faces behind the names of people that i have been conversing through phones as well.


radius international hotel room 507

we stayed at the radius international hotel which was located at 7th floor of warisan square. the rooms are pretty cozy but small, just what people on business trips need- a bed and a bathroom with heater.


from L-R: eiling, daphne, jennifer, lady boss, me

on the first day, we had our lunch and dinner at this seafood restaurant which is pretty well known among tourists for seafood but more well known among locals for the cut-throat prices. well, i aint paying, so i really don't care as long as there's good food! HAHA.

sorry no photos, too shy to take in front of bosses. for lunch, we had 2 servings of fresh water prawns, siput tarik (local escargots which goes really well with the mustard dipping), sabah paku pakis (my fav!), fu yong omelette and steamed fish. for dinner, we had the same paku pakis -belacan style, steamed red snapper, fried fish with spicy sauce, fried soft shell crabs (*drools), siput tarik again, fried rice, butter prawns (yumz) and clams. servings were large but the bill was even larger- about rm750 for that night!

nvm, boss pay.

DAY 2


the new Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA)

it was back to work on day 2. after a well-fed dinner, we were obliged to work hard the following day. don't think anyone of you would be interested to know what i did the whole day but it roughly includes being stuck in the store with 700 over cartons of chocolates around you (looks like a dream job for you, jen but no eating any!), having mcdonalds for lunch and dinner, cleaning the perfumes' wallbays and gondolas, receiving stocks and displaying them etc... all the way from morning till 4am the next morning! we had to rush for the opening dateline which Malaysian Airports Berhad (MAB) has set as the first inaugural flight for the new airport was at 6am that day!

to cut the long story short,

DAY 3


perfumes and cosmetics section @ Emporium Departure Level 3 KKIA


chocolates section @ Emporium Departure Level 3 KKIA



inside the emporium- yukiko jewelleries, timepieces, convenience, toys, luggage and fashion


going down to level 2, after the immigration is our 2nd shop right infront of gate A4/5

the shop opened on the same day, imagine the hectic to manage both shops! luckily i wasn't the outlet manager, else i would have fainted.




chocolate shop @ Level 2 Airside KKIA


convenience section @ Level 2 Airside KKIA

as you can see in the picture above, my sister (eiling) was with me on this trip as her company is our supplier for fidani chocolates. hence, it's only appropriate to show you guys the beautiful gondolas and tempting chocolates on sale in the shops.


FIDANI's finest chocolate creations


BERYL's fine chocolates


ferrero roche golden tower!


Hershey's say it with kisses

after a hard day + night's work, we chilled out at one of sutera habour's resorts- magellan sutera's lounge for a drink. we had the black opal cabernet merlot 2007 which was very smooth and easy to drink. the sutera habour is really beautiful and with the sea breeze blowing right to your face at night, sipping on redwine, good live music, good company... well it makes you ask, "why can't life be like this everyday?"


magellan sutera's lounge


cock and bull bistro @ kk waterfront

we had another bottle of black opal at cock and bull bistro after returning from magellan sutera. a bunch of alcoholics who just won't go to sleep without buzzing the alchohol-o-meter :-p


of cos must take pic with the FR tower before leaving! (with jennifer and the very awesome angie who was once a radio announcer!)

DAY 4


i love this pic of the sun rays and the clouds

byebye and hello peninsular! will be back to KK again soon for another shop opening.