Pernod Ricard CNY Dinner @ Ming Cuisine

The thing with working for a company that has dealings with liquor is the awesome invitations to dinners and functions with guaranteed goodies and free flow liquor. Sounds like a dreamjob, yes, no? Being a Buyer for the liquor category certainly has its perks ;)

I regretted not bringing my camera along the previous CNY Lunch organized by Bacardi Martini, which was quite interesting, both the dishes and the people. So I told myself I need to bring my camera this time around! After all, these are blogging materials what.



This year's dinner was held at Ming Cuisine, Section 19 PJ. It is a relatively new place that houses a chinese restaurant and nightclub... hmmm. Anyway, we were greeted by a lion dance at the entrance. Kinda 'extravagant' since it's after CNY and there's a lion dance!



Another reason why I said it's 'extravagant'. Look at the number of tables! From my guess, there should be at least 30 tables. Pernod Ricard literally booked the whole restaurant for the night's dinner. I told Iryna, my boss,"This looks like a wedding dinner!" True enough, it does seem like one with all the "Yammmmmmmmm SENGs!" and the VIPs hopping from table to table to shake hands and cheers. The only missing element is the karaoke session, haha!





Oh, yes. Before I forget about the big roasted pig at the restaurant entrance. The 'butcher' was chopping up plates after plates of delicious looking roasted pork belly for every table. Quite a pity that I didn't get to try it as this plate was taken from the VIP's table and I am not seated there :( When I went over to settle down at my own table, the whole plate is polished off already. Must be some really good roasted pork belly, eh.



Did I mention it was free flow of Chivas 12Yrs, Martell Cordon Bleu and some red wine and bubbly?



The dinner finally started and the obligatory Yee Sang was served. What makes this Yee Sang more special besides having one after CNY is the additional soft shell crab on top of the obligatory salmon slices. Oh and btw, the salmon slices were in thick cuts too. You know it's good when I have second servings! Ok, I had second servings.



Lou, lou, lou! Not low, low, low ok? Lou to good health! Lou to good wealth! Lou to wishes coming true! Lou to better economy, steady jobs, promotions, strike lottery, boss good mood, etcetera etcetera etcetera.



Instead of the usual sharks fin soup, we were each treated to a mini pot of Fatt Tiu Cheong, Buddha Jumps Over the Wall instead. Quite a lovely surprise I'll say. What's even better was when the 'uncle' seated next to me started adding 2 spoonfuls of Martell CB to everyone's pot claiming it tastes better that way! I was bit skeptical at first, not knowing if alcohol being added to hot soup will result to explosion or will speed the drunken process but ok it does tastes better :/

And then the fish, vegetarian dish and prawns came...







Followed by the must have CNY dish, glutinous rice with waxed meat...



And desserts! No, the free flow liquor isn't considered a dessert.





I love the desserts! It has been such a long time I had fried yam with nian gao!! And remember about my blog post on CNY Set Meals where I complained that restaurants don't serve memorable desserts anymore? Well thank god PR had Tong Yuen as the dessert. It was so good and comforting.

PR was very generous with the flow of liquor, I even saw people carrying cases of liquor to the makeshift bar as supplies were running low. And what's better is this miniature bottles of Martell CB and Chivas 12Yrs. They have the normal sized ones as well but we were more fascinated with the mini versions. I took 2 empty Martell CB and half a bottle of Chivas 12Yrs and subsequently gave a bottle of CB and Chivas to my boss as she loves Chivas. The way to buy (my) boss's heart is through whisky, yes Iryna? *wink wink*


Now you see a full bottle...


And now you don't!

Seriously, nolah it was my token of appreciation to her for bringing me to the dinner. Really wan!



The picture above has got to be my favourite shot of the night. Hardcore pimping for Martell not intended!

Last but not least, pictures with people!



Pernod Ricard's Managing Director, CK Tan a.k.a. Ze Big Boss addressing the crowd before chowing down!



Some of the powerful men and women in the industry. Not too sure about the guy in blue but the other guy next to him is Ze Owner of your favourite clubbing joints- Passion, Poppy and Rum Jungle. Should have asked for a No-Cover-Charge card from him haha. The lady next to him is his wife of course. My lady boss, Iryna hereafter known as Ze Boss is the one in red cheongsam.



Ze Boss seen here with Pernod Ricard's Ze Big Boss's wife.



Ze Boss with the guy with Iphone and cool cigarette case. Sorry mate, donch know your name!



And lastly, my own picture taken with my camera. Seen here with some of the Table 7 members and my supplier, Maria.

Thanks for the dinner Pernod Ricard, Maria for the invitation and Iryna for bringing me there, if you're reading this ;) I certainly had fun!



And this is PR's style of giving the Ang Pao. Either you strike alot or you got nothing in the end. I find this ang pao idea pretty ingenius. To married people, no you cannot do that next year, I still want my ang pao to be in cold hard cash tqverymuch.

Oh yeah the draw is on Sunday, tomorrow. Lookout for the winning numbers for me!

Happy Valentine's Day, peeps!

Qing Zhao Xiao Cai @ Kota Kinabalu

I am back from what I can say to be my final trip to Kota Kinabalu. A place that would hold many fond memories for me. While I have never set foot at the East side of Malaysia before joining the company, I can now proudly say that I have been to Kota Kinabalu 5 times within 8 months! Even more than I have been back to Ipoh for the year!



Forgive me if I misspelt the name of this little shop sandwiched between many other shops in the quaint little town of Kota Kinabalu. I was told it is in Beverly Hills, no not the US of A's Beverly Hills, this is the KK's version of Beverly Hills. If not mistaken, it's somewhere near Jalan Bundusan-Jalan Penampang. Special thanks to Eric (my Lady Boss's business partner, Angie's old friend) who brought us there.





What brought us back here again is the craving for the comfort food served here- porridge. And in the case of Qing Zhao Xiao Cai, it is not just plain porridge but the Sweet Potato Porridge and the other various side dishes. The dishes have a very homely feel and taste, something different from the usual seafood we have while we were in KK. The simple meal of porridge with century egg/ stir fried string beans/ fried omelette/ minced pork patty w salted egg/ etc. is the epitome of comfort food, especially when you're far away from home, after a hard day's work.......







If you would have expected service to be slow for a small simple set up like this, then you are wrong. Food arrived very quickly, almost like it was fast food, Chinese style. The good news is, the food quality was not compromised. Perhaps part of the reason why we came back for more (I had this during my first trip to KK, such a coincidence that I am having it for my final trip as well- starts with a bang, ends with a bang?) is because of the awesome red snapper fillet. It was smooth and fresh, with the right taste of soy sauce and a little bit of garlic, we would all agree if they name this Ze Fish.



The Star Number 2 was the century eggs. Take a look at it and you should know why it should be called Ze Century Egg as well.



I enjoyed myself very much for the 2 nights' dinners. The first night, Eric took us to Dowish Restaurant, a seafood place at Penampang Road and we had the most awesomest seafood dinner, even better than Ocean Seafood Village. My only regret is not taking the camera with me... now I don't have pictures to show you guys how awesome it was :(

Thanks Angie, Iryna and Eric for sharing these delicious meals with me, now I wish that wasn't my last trip to KK with you guys for I will truly miss the laughs and silly jokes.

Stupidity is ME

Hello everyone,

As you're still snoring and cuddling your bolsters, I'm now sitting at the Departure Lounge @ LCCT, KL. Let me tell you how unbelievably stupid I am this morning. And by 'morning' I mean really early morning... Like 4am?

I woke up at 4am+ (albeit only sleeping for 2hrs plus due to a night out w alcohol involved) looking like a reluctant zombie w a flight to catch. I had earlier called Taxi Uncle to pick me up at 5am. 5 mins before 5am I realized my flight is at 6.20am. Normally it takes at least 40mins from my home to get to the airport, so it suddenly hit me that I was gonna be late!

Especially for flights to KK, the check-in q is always v long, so it's better to check in 45mins ahead. To cut the long story short, I told Taxi Uncle to speed ahead... He was kind enough to oblige and sped at 150kmph. Until we missed the important turning and had to 'gostan'. Luckily it's early morning and there's not much cars.

I reached airport still in one piece at 5.35am. But my colleague was nowhere to be seen. I thought I was late but she's even later??! After waiting for 15mins, I went to check the flight details and realized I got the timing wrong.

The flight was at 6.50am, which means I had an hour plus to spare.

Ok gotta go! Tata!

Jin Xuan Hong Kong Dim Sum

This will be my final post under http://to-eat-or-to-live.blogspot.com. From Thursday (12/02), I will be changing the domain name to http://yilinglim.blogspot.com. So, to those who have linked me, please do remember to update your links :) Thanks!

*****

Affordable dim sum places are hard to come by especially in KL. Most of the good places are either in hotels or places like King Crab or really too expensive until unheard of. I was introduced to Jin Xuan Hong Kong Dim Sum by E awhile back.



I reckon it's gaining popularity among the people from Damansara as for both times I was there, the place was crowded and people were lining up to get a table! I wonder if it has affect the business of Hong Kee which is also situated in the near vicinity.























The variety of dishes is commendable, I saw plates of cheese baked crabs and was so tempted to get one but E stopped me :( Tastewise, JXHK's dim sum fared a little above average, better than those el cheapo dim sums you get at coffeeshops and even better than Hong Kee's, but IMHO, King Crab still has one of the better tasting dim sums around Klang Valley. Price wise it is affordable, not too sure about the prices per single item though.



Related Post:
Eiling's In Dim Sum Heaven

~~

I will be in KK from Monday-Wednesday! I know! It's Public Holiday tomorrow, but I have to work :( Ok, update more when I get back! Cheerios :)


Jin Xuan Hong Kong Dim Sum
59, 61 & 63 Jalan SS21/19,
Damansara Jaya,
47300 PJ.
Tel: 03-7729 6866

[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.]

The TENJI Experience

[Warning: Too many photos of delicious food!]



Tenji was having a lunch promotion a month back where the lunch buffet will only cost RM49.90++ max instead of RM77++ with RM29.90++ as the starting price and every subsequent 1hr an additional RM10 while the max is till RM49.90++. Still a pretty good deal, compared to Jogoya which cost RM100++ per pax!



Many said Tenji is set to give Jogoya a run for its money. I don't see why not. In terms of food variation, Tenji is said to be as good as Jogoya's. I cannot compare as I have not been to Jogoya. While I am not going to comment much on the food (basically everything is edible), here are pictures to satisfy your cravings and curiousity for those who have been trying to get a table there.



Just like Jogoya's mini coconuts. Love this to bits! Had 4 to myself!





Oysters the size of a palm! Our favourite... We had about 8 of these monsters!










Selection of assorted sushis. Not much selection but you know what they always tell you about Japanese buffets? "Never eat the sushis first! Leave space for other better things!"









Grilled saba, mackeral, yakitori etc. I felt bad for the tiny fish on skewers...



Feta chesse wrapped in smoked salmon. Smoked salmon! Yumm!



Sliced abalone with ikura. Do I need to show you my expression when I see, "Abalone"?



Some grilled prawns or something.



It's not Japanese Buffet if there's no tempura!



Baby octopus. I was too starved to have this. But now I can only drool...



Escargots in kam heong style. Foreground is kerabu squid salad.



Soba noodles in paper thingy. These paper thingy are so hebat!



Pasta with hints of spicyness, assorted bell pepper and squids!



Made to order pan fried salmon fillet. Even made to order items are nice in presentation :)



Miss your dim sum? Fear not, there are dim sums available too.





A plate of greens (Emperor's Vege) and herbal soup to balance the glutton's diet.







Assorted plate of goodies.

Last but not least,



Happiness is free flow of Haagen Dazs ice cream! :DDDDDD



Pastries and fruits for chocolate fondue.



Assorted desserts in glasses. This one is Tiramisu, very strong coffee.



Assorted mochies and variety of teas to neutralize the palate.



In total, we paid about RM80++ for what seem to be like 4 hrs of eating spree. Ambience wise, I think it's very nice as you can choose to be seated outside (but may be abit troublesome having to go in and out to take food). Service is good too, can't say the same when it's crowded though.

Eh, your saliva dropping on keyboard already leh... ;)


Operation Hours & Pricing

Weekday
Lunch 11.30am-4.00pm RM77++
Dinner 5.30pm-9.30pm RM88++
Supper 10.00pm-2.30am RM88++

Weekend & Public Holiday
Lunch 11.00am-4.00pm RM77++
Dinner 5.30pm-9.30pm RM88++
Supper 10.00pm-2.30am RM88++


[p/s: Due to the ridiculous amount of photos of food and such took, I cannot post all of them here. So please visit my flickr set to view the photos in full. Tq.]


UPDATE:
Received a text message few days ago from TENJI. It reads,

"TENJI: March Weekday Lunch Promotion for only RM49.90++ (normal price RM77++) For reservation, pls call 1700-80-1818 www.tenji.com.my"

Looks like this promotion thing will last quite awhile. I think their strategy is to have a promotion every now and then so people keep flocking there thinking it's a good deal. But it's all good for us consumers as this allow us to indulge in some jap food and/or buffet without having to burn a hole in our bank accounts!


Tenji Japanese Buffet Restaurant
Lot L-01-01, SohoKL, Solaris Mont Kiara,
No.2, Jalan Solaris, 50480 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 1700-80-1818
Email: info@tenji.com.my

[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.]