My Elephant

my elephant

I came to know about my elephant's existance in Seksyen 17 after I read the review by another flogger. My Elephant serves thai cuisines. then the other day I went to Choon Yien for the chicken rice, I managed to locate it. It's just conveniently located behind Choon Yien, occupying 2 shoplots.

On saturday night, I suggested to have dinner there with Jon and Eiling. nowadays I'm acting like a food directory- people asked me to research and read reviews first before eating out. HAHA. Not that I'm complaining but at times I'm afraid that whatyoureadisnotwhatyouget (wyrinwyg)... and people lose trust in your foodtaste, you see.

The menu

My Elephant is a pretty comfy cosy place for meals. the decos are minimum, many items you can identify they're from Ikea- the touch of white and self painted walls reflect the simplicity of the place and the location itself. The place itself can accomodate about 30-35 patrons or so.

For beverages I had watermelon cooler and Eiling had the coconut cooler.

Coconut cooler- RM4.50

Watermelon cooler- RM4.50

Their coolers taste... weird. Well it is coconut and its watermelon alright but they added something in it which makes it taste... weird. Jon said it's lemongrass. well makes sense since one of the main ingredients in thai cuisines is lemongrass. also, I would prefer them to be really cold/chilled/cool since its called a 'cooler'. Don't get me wrong, it was cool but not cool enough, geddit?

For appetizers we had...

Miaeng kam- rm8.50
DIY daun kadok wraps with coconut crisps, peanuts, dried shrimps and assorted condiments topped with sweet-sour tamarind sauce

Well, it was my first miaeng kam so I didnt know what to expect and I cant compare which places have nicer miaeng kams but Jon commented that he had better of this elsewhere. However, it was okay for me... but I find it a tad too dry. Quite fun to wrap and dip the thing though. It's like a DIY leaves popiah.

Tod man plah- RM6.80

Deep fried thai fish cakes

I find the fishcakes acceptable, but it was abit too oily. My mom made these before and I really love it. Eiling and Jon said Krissada's fish cakes are much better. Krissada is a thai place at Sunway Mas, used to serve pretty good thai food till it changed management. Will find out more about it if I can find my way to Sunway Mas next (alot eatery places worth exploring there).

Gai tod gratiam prik thai- rm12
My Elephant's special deep fried chicken nuggets with kafir lime leaf, garlic and crushed thai pepper corn

Initially I thought the waitress had mixed up the orders cos I thought this looks like mantis prawns and we didnt order that. but after having a bite and getting the confirmation from the waitress, it is "chicken nuggets"- thai style in elongated shape. I think it is great as a snack (with beer *burp*) but as meals and for rm12, not really that worth it.

Tom yum- RM12
spicy galangal-lemongrass-lime soup with aromatic herbs and homemade chili paste

If you had'nt had tom yum then you had'nt been eating thai food! We had the tom yum, there were a few choices for soups- tom yum, tom ka, tom sap, tom som. no, they dont have tom dick and harry or peeping tom soup. Maybe a guy by the name of tom invented this soup. Differences between the soups are whether they're of clear soup or with santan or something. It comes in 2 sizes- small (RM12) and big (RM20). The waitress said the small is enough for 3/4 persons, thats of cos if everyone only wants a serving. If you're expecting second servings then big would be the better choice.

the tom yum is not too bad. not those chokingly spicy hot, just nice. it also has generous amounts of seafood- big tangy squids and prawns. quite worth the money :)

Jungle vegetable of the day- rm10

This is my fav dish of the night. when asked what the vege is, the waitress said 'paku pakis' and i went ohmaigourd, "okok this one, this one!!" I love paku pakis- for its rarity and previous experiences with this vege has never disappoint. I remember when we were young and still living in ipoh, the Super Kinta smelly big market has this vege called "sabah shu chai choi"- its something like paku pakis but smaller and its SO DAMN GOOD (also as the name suggests, it can only be found in sabah i think?). but they stopped selling it and since then we've missed this vege so much...

Oh sabah shu chai choi, where art thou now?

Anyway, this paku pakis was kinda good IMHO. maybe I love the vege itself so much that even if it's cooked badly it'll still taste heavenly to me. Heheh.

... and to accompany the dishes was unpolished brown rice. Fyi, white rice you normally eat are not good for health. Because it's polished, it has lost its nutrition values and white rice generally has higher sugar content, thats why diabetic people are warned against having white rice. At home, we have switched to organic brown and yellow rice :)

total bill- rm64

Prices of the dishes are generally not too pricey given its location and portions. Jon and Eiling don't really like it but I thought it was pretty alright to me... very well because they had better thai food elsewhere before (Sri ayutthaya, Krissada). Jon quipped, "the deco outshines the food."

For me, I think it deserves a comeback in the future that is until I taste better thai food elsewhere ...

My Elephant
CG-4, Happy Mansion,
Section 17, PJ.
(row of shops behind choon yien)
http://www.pureworks.com.my/myelephant/

[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 ranch cafe

not knowing where to eat for lunch yesterday noon, and we didnt wanna go out as roadblocks are everywhere (read: hindraf rally). we (jon, eiling and i) decided to try this cafe in the kota kemuning neighborhood. not very proud to say that i live here yet dont know this place too well- for eg. where to have a decent meal except mcdonalds.

the ranch it was then.

the ranch cafe

upon entrance we were greeted by a christmas tree but sadly they werent any patrons in the cafe. we were the one and only table of three- from the moment we came and left :(

ho, ho, ho merry christmas!

the menu

and these are what we had...

jon's pattaya spicy fried rice- rm12.00

eiling's spaghetti bolognaise- rm14.00

my beef stronganoff- rm13.00
beef tenderloin sauteed with mushroom and onion sauce served with buttered rice

ice lemon tea- rm2.50

food that makes you sigh... first off, jon commented that the rm12 for his pattaya fried rice can be better spent elsewhere. i tried a spoonful and indeed asia cafe can fry better and its only rm4.50 compared to this rm12. eiling's spaghetti bolognaise comes in a big portion but what good it is when it tastes bad. the spaghetti were overcooked leaving strands of pasta all soft and once twirled around the fork, everything breaks into small pieces. BAD. my beef blahblahblah came as a disappointment as i thought it was a western fare given its non-asian name. but anyway, the beef itself was alright, they were many slices of beef but i dont quite like the rice. actually i dont like mixed vege itself. you know those lil peas, corns and carrot bits??

total bill- rm44.00

yay for no taxes. but boohoo for the pricey bad quality food.

will we come back again? NO. as jon said, "the food is ranch'ed". whatever thats supposed to mean, im sure it means bad. enuff said ;-)

the ranch cafe
14, jalan anggerik vanilla y 31/y,
kota kemuning,
40460 shah alam.
03-51227706


[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.]

friday night out @scarlet

im not much of a kaki clubbing... particularly when it comes to super loud music and loadsa people- smoking, drinking, dancing, its just not my th'ng. so, when i was told we're gonna go scarlet @cineleisure, i thought it was a bar type- just drinking, no super loud music.

i was wrong.

scarlet restaurant lounge

anyway, it was an experience lah- being a n00b and all. and knowing that im in safe company so i was okay with it. i was there with my eldest sis, hue gee (sis's collegemate), wei ling (mgs girls remember?), and greg.

a picture speaks a thousand words!

see i didnt lie, damn alot people k!

bar counter- an alcoholic haven

hennesy v.s.o.p.

and the company- just a few of us though.

greg and i

hue gee and i

hue gee, eiling and greg

eiling and wei ling (jessica)

eiling, greg and wei ling

greg and i again

sistas!

orang ipoh united- wei ling missing

lucky boy greg

i think i had like 5/6 cups of hennesy + green tea/coke + ice. yeah was feeling alil' tipsy by the 5th cup or so edi but still very much sane. you know the feeling when you realize that you're between drunk and sober- tipsy but still able to walk and think soberly? i knew i had to call it a night, and so i drove home. reached home safe and sound. luckily no hangover, frankly i dont know how it feels. but the most important point is to know when to stop- unless you have someone to drive you home and not take advantage of you then its different.

well cant say i totally hate the loud music atmosphere (though not the best place to catch up cos most of the time cant hear what the other person is saying) but i understand how some people find it therapeutic. its when you have a couple of drinks, soak into the loud music and just shake to the beat. it releases stress really.

as i was telling greg, no more clubbing place next time. maybe laundry or starbucks will do :)

**********

food post... soon!

have a great start to the weekend folks!

socit ball homecoming 2007

sorry, folks. backdated entry again.

socit ball homecoming 2007 is the first and inaugural ball for both current socit students, alumni and staff to get-together. its also the first of any faculties in the college to organize an event like this, so three cheers to them!

despite being a business student in a computing school event, i didnt feel like an outcast. HAHA. anyway, got to know a few alumnus whom were all very friendly :)

reason for post being so late is cause i was patiently anticipating mr fuh-tog-ruf-fer/new friend found- ryan to upload the pics on his flickr. was too shy to bug him for the pics you see. anyway!

p/s: no food pictures this time! but you'll see me in almost all the pictures. HAHA.

the ticket

the ballroom setting

with cheerful chen fei

with mama of icsj aka principal, mrs ong and chen fei

with oc of the event, ms jane
love her complexion!

with talented mah gc

with ms jane, ryan, angela, and poh leen

with mr alex as jedi!

with mr poo as capt. jack sparrow!

HAHA. le roy as snow white! he won best dressed ;)

with the three beautiful ladies

lucky boy greg with additional wei ling on far right
mgs girls, remember her??

with ever so leng lui angela

with mr capable- phillip lim

lucky boy greg *winks*

accompaniment for ms ruby singing yesterday once more

solo act
love the color of this pic :)

thanks for inviting me to the event. i had fun meeting all these new and old people alike!

opening act video by ms jane singing a korean song (maria ost for 200 pounds beauty):



a video of saturday night fever & grease dance performance by socit staff:

**********

mom left for dubai this evening to look for dad. ok this sounds abit wrong. i mean she went to dubai to stay with dad for bout 2 months... so we're kinda liberated here :) ask me out, kays? LOL.

well good thing is this gives me a golden opportunity to polish up my cooking. after all, i guess i'll be the one taking over mom's job of washing, mopping, sweeping, cooking and waiting for my sis to come home, to which i am sure they'll be calling back very oftenly and say, "im not coming back for dinner". anyway, being a housewife is really not easy! salute my mom, even till the last minute before getting ready to leave she mopped the floor and cooked our dinner and it was only 4pm! but i also helped lah okay...

okay so what should i eat today? hmmmm...