of cupcakes and potluck

during the makan trip, the idea of having a potluck party popped up. and so it was decided that we WILL have a potluck party on wednesday at kenneth's place, everyone is to bring a dish and an empty stomach. i asked my sis and mom to help me bake their bestest most deliciousest cupcakes.

pretty pretty colorful decorations~!!

knowing how hopeless i am at baking and cooking, i was responsible for decorations!

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there were 19 of us and these were the dishes of the night (which most claimed that they cooked it themselves). it was our first potluck party and probably the first to many more to come. we are even considering making this a monthly get-together-all-you-can-eat.

param's fettucine with chicken and eggplant toppings/sauce

fries contributed by kenneth
nuggets from chu xuan
hotdogs from i dunno who

(clockwise top left) fried noodles and rice from jia hui, jade, kuan kit (??) and rong jiang

the awesome nasi lemak by atikah

konyaku jellies contributed by kenneth

my pretty chocolate cupcakes

juicy watermelon by kenneth

"heavenly" potato egg salad by jill
hehe, inside joke ;-)

all-you-can-eat buffet

we were surprised that all the food tasted good (albeit some *coughcough* burnt nuggets *coughcough*) and that everyone did bring a dish/drinks/snacks. we ended the night with some games and a round of twister.

so when should we have our second potluck?

foodnote: will be going back to my beloved land of good food hometown, ipoh tomorrow!! i miss ipoh food...

:(

restoran sin hock seng

in to-eat-or-to-live, i dont just write about good food, but also the not so good ones as this is a food blog after all... i write about the good and bad encounters.

and this post is about the latter :)

went here for breakfast one sunday morning out of convenience as we were waiting for the bridal studio to open (nobody's getting married, we were just there to view ziling's graduation studio pictures). there were hardly any patrons when we were there and the place look utmost unwelcoming, not the best place to indulge in a cuppa while reading the sunday news.

actually its not the place to do anything here! unlike usual plastic tables and chairs, the owner of this place (im refraining myself from calling it a "restaurant" even if the signboard suggests so) must have love mcdonalds (mcds is actually just opposite) as it has the same type of tables and chairs. ciggie butts and used tissues are sighted everywhere. i guess the reason for its existance until now is the income from the lunch crowd during weekdays from the nearby offices.

nasi lemak + ayam masak merah- rm4.50

i usually wont take nasi lemak on a sunday like this but that day was an exception (cravings?). this nasi lemak is definitely nowhere near awesome. but i'd like to comment on the ayam masak merah. it was rocky hard, how it was cooked is beyond my comprehension. the only thing i like about the whole traditional fare is the peanuts. really crunchy, i like.

pork ball noodles

fish head noodles

eldest sis had the pork ball noodles while mom had fish head noodles. heard they were not too good as well and mom said it was not worth the money paid. it must be a case of standard kl price vs. standard ipoh taste. hahaha, told ya ipoh people are damn fussy with their food.

pork noodles

pork noodles is not the same with pork ball noodles. pork noodles has pork slices and the occassional pork livers AND pig intestines which we all love. i didnt ask second sis how this bowl of noodles taste like though.

if you want delicious value for money pork noodles, i know one in ipoh which has like the bestest soup base, the most generous pork servings (pork slices, livers, intestines, minced pork, minced pork patties) AND this thingy which looks like a sponge (fish maw?? im not sure of its name)... its been ages since i had that pork noodles and im craving for it now... oh and the best thing? it's only bout rm3 for a large bowl. dont know got increase price or not-lah. btw im going back ipoh this friday and really hope to eat!!

pan mee soup

grandma had the pan mee soup. i also didnt ask her how it taste like.

bubur cha cha

leng chi kang

gingko barley

we all had tong sui instead of the usual hot tea/coffee. every dine-in bowl of tong sui retails at rm2.50 and take away is at rm3. i heard bad comments from mom and sis about the bubur cha cha and leng chi kang. my second sis and i had the gingko barley or pak guo yi mei. the only saving grace in this bowl of tong sui is the pak guo (gingko) which we ultimately love. too bad it only has a few pieces innit. the barley was too diluted.

if you are willing to spend a few more bucks, mcdonalds at the opposite might be a better choice for meals.

and cleaner too :)

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on a non-eating note, if you've been an avid fan of patrick teoh's productions/ loves live plays, sketches, theatre/ feeling depressed and need a good laugh, do as i say:

1. go to google.com
2. google for google video
3. type "the executive spa"
4. load all 4 parts of "the executive spa"
5. laugh till you can no longer laugh

it. is. TEH. FUNNY.
god, i love patrick. love his voice. i also like to read his takes on the gov. hehehe.

restoran sin hock seng
dataran mentari,
jalan pjs 8/2, pj.
(opposite mcdonalds)

[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.]

big apple, ikea, swensens

Q: what does a donut joint, a home improvement giant and an ice cream parlour have in common?

A: everybody loves 'em and they sell tasty comfort food :)

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this is the final post on the one day makan outing with the makan club members last friday. i shall not elaborate further as i believe all these places and food need no introduction. so feast with your eyes, aight mate!

first up! big apple donuts at the curve!

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next... ikea!

ikea hotdog at rm2 only!!

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last stop... swensen's!!

topless 5 with nuts toppings- rm15++

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till we meet and eat again...!! adios para sempre!!

... to be exact, we went to 4 shopping malls in a day (ikea, the curve, i utama, subang parade), ate 5 meals (mixture of light and heavy), and all these for about rm70 per person.

happy with the first outing, guys? more to come, aye!

big apple donuts and coffee
available at the curve, pavillion kl and 1 utama (coming soon!)

ikea hotdogs
available at ikea (~duh!)

swensen's café & restaurant
available at subang parade

restoran shabu-shabu

for dinner we proceeded to restoran shabu-shabu located at puchong, as yours truly felt like having some steamboat :p

mention klang and automatically, bak kut teh comes into your mind. the same is for bandar puteri commercial area, every few alternating shops serves either steamboat/shabu-shabu/korean bbq. its certainly gonna be a hard time deciding which shop to go to if you dont have a specific one in mind.

i, of cos have done my homework and so restoran shabu-shabu is the place to be for us...

restoran shabu-shabu

upon entering, we were asked weather we wanted the buffet or ala carte. the waiter showed us the menu and explained that for buffet we'll be getting to eat all these...

... and these are complimentary in the buffet set as well:

bottomless drinks
mango slush, grape slush, green tea, sky juice

the pork slices above are retailed at rm4 per plate (if ala-carte) and for 6 persons, we'll have 4 plates, bottomless drinks, every single thing in the menu... for rm25 per person.

pay first, eat later

buffet area is at the upper floor. upon entering, this is what we saw. interesting concept, isnt it?

raw food are placed in these plastic containers and transported around in a conveyor belt, just like the sushi concept. all-you-can-eat and eat-whatever-you-want concept. for groups of 6, there are also tables which allow you to sit opposite each other (but have to reserve early) instead of side-by-side, but of cos the furthest person will face inconvinience getting food from the conveyor belt.

sushi king-inspired concept

shabu-shabu is a japanese variant of hot pot or what is known to us as steamboat. shabu-shabu is roughly translated as "swish-swish" due to the swishing sound you get when you dip your meat slices in the boiling soup. unbeknowst to many, shabu-shabu differs from steamboat in a way that you dont actually dump everything in the pot and wait for them to cook. the correct way would be holding a thin slice of meat or vege and dipping it in the boiling soup back and forth until it cooks.

step 1: allow the soup to boil

step 2: select any meat/vege of your choice

step 3: dip it in the boiling soup for say 5 secs

step 4: lift it up, say bout 3 secs

step 5: dip it in again

step 6: ready to eat! make sure meat is cooked :)

besides having an interesting buffet style conveyor belt concept, every person has his/her own individual pot and fire (its not fire, they use electrical heating) can be controlled according to one's liking. we like having individual pots as its more hygenic and everything is according to your own liking, dont have to ask opinions of others.

safe and convenient

the array of food are what you get in other steamboat places- the usual, chicken, mutton, beef, fish slices, green veges, tofu, squids, egg, mushrooms, fishballs, meatballs, prawnballs, squid rolls, prawns, fu pei, meat dumplings, fried stuff etc. there are also items that dont normally appear like mussels (all-you-can-eat!!), baby octopus (the japanese type), kimchi, chicken gizzards, pork livers. not everything in the menu were on the conveyor belt though...

service is ok, but funny that they dont provide you with spoons, you have to get them yourself. the place is clean and not hot and stuffy surprisingly. however, parking is not necessarily easy in this area. restoran shabu-shabu should not be too hard to find as it is just opposite Giant hypermarket.

and one for the scrapbook!

p/s: sorry for my horrijible picture editing skills :p


SCORECARD
taste- 3.23
price- 3.18
ambience- 3.06
location- 2.28
service- 3.15


restoran shabu-shabu
no.19, jalan puteri 1/6,
bandar puteri,
47100 puchong.
(opposite Giant hypermarket)
03-80605221
opens daily from 5.00pm-11.30pm

[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.]