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Having A Party

12 Dec

I don’t normally cook but I do enjoy the task occasionally. Over the weekend, we hosted a birthday dinner (for hubby) and had a dozen friends over. Normally with numbers like these, we would just have a BBQ but the constant wet weather made it impossible to have an outdoor cookout. So I cooked.

I wouldn’t say it was tiring because I had help from hubby, M2 and the maid. Everyone played a role; it was good planning and timing that resulted in the tasks going smoothly without a hitch. 

And the Saturday evening turned out very enjoyable. Lots of alcohol (beer, tequila cocktails, whiskey, Riesling, Chandon Brut and more whiskey), laughter and of course food. Lots of food that was, in my opinion very balanced – covering all the basic food groups: carbo (pasta and garlic bread), fibre (salad), fruits (there were grapes and pineapples in the hor d’oeuvres), milk/cheese (ice cream and cake) and protein (ribs and chicken).

Even the weather was cooperative. It drizzled for a short while and the wind was rather strong, creating a really cool and windy night. Sitting out at the terrace was just wonderful.

The star of the night was the ribs. I searched the internet high and low and found this ‘Easy Fall-off-the-Bone Oven Baked Ribs‘ recipe from inspiredtaste.net the easiest to do. But time was of the essence when baking the ribs. I decided–to save time–to also boil a second batch of ribs (with just garlic, salt and pepper) and doused it with ready BBQ sauce to bake so that everything was ready by the time all the guests arrived. Both recipes turned out excellent, complementing the balanced basic food group menu.

We did good and had a great time playing hosts. Having said that, I wouldn’t mind hosting a party and baking some ribs again.

Top tray was first batch, bottom tray the second batch

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New Flavors, Part 2

9 Dec

Dissatisfied with the new coffee that I am on to now, I was on a mission to buy something nice for my morning cuppa. I recalled awhile back someone told me that we can now buy the Vietnamese coffee, G7 here at the local supermarket. Oohh… how enticing!

G7 is the super nice and fragrant coffee that I bought from my Ho Chi Minh trip a few months back. Obviously my regular grocer does not carry it. So we went out of the way to that particular supermarket and lo and behold, G7 was in abundance on the shelves. Yay…

I was conservative and just grabbed two boxes and a bag of 3-in-1 as I should finish consuming the bottle of Columbian that I have currently. Also now that I know where to get good coffee, I don’t really need to stash an abundance of supply away.

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Sweet Tooth

8 Dec

Lately I have been eating a lot of candies. For someone who drinks her coffee black, this is bad. Everyday in the office, I would reach for my candy containers and pop one or two, sometimes even three of these temptations to chew on.

This has been happening for a few weeks now. And this had to stop. Like now. Or until I finish them…

  

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A Case of Two Breakfasts

15 Nov

It seems to be a pattern that every time we are away on local escapades or road trips, there is this need to eat twice for breakfast. We did this in Ipoh two weeks ago and again in Penang on Saturday, the morning after the wedding dinner. 

For breakfast #1, we had an array of local delights: Char Kueh Teow, Lobak and some Kueh Chap innards minus the Kueh Chap at the coffee shop on Lebuh Carnarvon. Then we traversed to Jalan Gottlieb for the second breakfast of Assam Laksa. The coffee shop is located right smack opposite Penang Chinese Girls School. All these before noon, that’s why it’s two breakfasts. 

This pattern is only doable when there is no fixed agenda for the day. With a free and easy schedule and basically a mission to eat, the other adventure here is following the GPS to the coffee shops, then driving around to look for parking and thereafter, hope for an available table to reap the effort.

I must admit I am not a breakfast person. My usual fare would be just a cup of coffee and something light. So having two breakfasts is worrying. The pants become subconsciously tighter than before and guilt sets in, so standing on my bathroom scale is a definite no-no for the time being. Guess there won’t be breakfast, let alone two breakfasts for now until the next road trip or escapade comes around!

 

Char Kueh Teow with duck egg tastes better!

  

Penang Lobak is just so yummy

  

Porky innards. Not for the faint hearted

  

This Assam Laksa tastes as good as it looks

 

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Road Trip Again

14 Nov

We enjoy road trips every now and then. Four years ago, we went on our most epic road trip and what I called ‘The Great Adventure Road Trip‘. It was a 21-day trip that covered three states and a driving distance of 2,285 miles of the West Coast of the USA, flying distance not inclusive.

We started off from Phoenix getting in from LAX with Southwest Airlines. From Phoenix, we picked up the keys to our rented MPV and headed off to Chandler, Flagstaff (to visit my college), the Grand Canyon, Henderson, Las Vegas, Anaheim, Long Beach, Los Angeles and San Francisco. 

It wasn’t so much to eat but rather to see old friends, places and do things; to share with my family places that I’ve experienced and to enjoy new sights together. Aahh… What an adventure we had and I would do it again if the opportunity came around.

It sure is nice to reminisce and while we don’t do such lengthy road trips anymore, it is equally nice to go on one, albeit shorter. And of late, the short local trips taken focuses more on food. 

Over the weekend, we took a 3D/2N trip to Penang to attend a cousin’s wedding, skipping work and school on Friday. And while we were there, the local Penang food was top most on our mind. This gave us an opportunity to compare the flavors of Penang with Ipoh, which we visited two weeks ago.

I must say there is a difference and conclude that the Char Kueh Teow, Lobak and Assam Laksa in Penang are simple mouth watering while the Loh Shi Fun and Chicken Rice with Beansprouts in Ipoh are tops. So be sure to have these items at the top of your checklist of must-eat before you try anything else.

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The Little Escapade, Part 2

1 Nov

The plans for the ‘Little Escapade’ was a little different from our previous trips to Ipoh. We stayed at Z Hotel this time, a new boutique hotel with an impressive cafe offering a wide range of artisan coffee, tea and cakes. But these drinks and desserts were not on our mind, local food was.

We walked quite a fair bit going on a food trail during this trip. I think Ipoh can rival Penang as a food paradise. We had two dinners at two different locations which were very good. Simple and cheap, we were definitely sated.

 

Day 1, dinner #1

  

Day 1, dinner #2

 The ‘hor fun’ in Ipoh is really, really good. It’s a known fact that it’s the water source at this place that makes the ‘hor fun’ and beansprouts taste different. Besides these two, we find that we also like the local coffee and snacks.

We made many foodie stops, trying a little of everything so that we get to eat as many varieties as possible. And with everything within walking range from the hotel, we did not have to feel guilty with the input.

 

The long breakfast queue for dim sum

  

Day 2, breakfast #1

  

Day 2, dessert after breakfast #1

  

Day 2, breakfast #2

 The peanut snack is one amazing snack. We found ourselves queuing up twice to buy it. On Saturday we were in line for half an hour only to abandon the attempt because it would derail our golf plans. So the next day, we went again and ended up queuing for an hour and a half! A friend asked was it that good and worth the wait? Yes I would say. The taste is definitely unique.

  
On Sunday, we had two breakfasts so lunch was not even on our mind. Working off the breakfast, we walked and discovered Concubine Lane, an interesting lane that has quirky shops as well as street vendors selling trinkets and snacks. With such wonderful discoveries, Ipoh is fast becoming the choice option for a getaway for us.

 

The little boy with his ice ball

 
By mid-afternoon, it was time to leave and head home before the traffic built up. And with a car full of food and snack purchases, I think this ‘Little Escapade’ was a deserving one. I sure look forward to our next destressing trip!

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The Little Escapade

31 Oct

Last week work in the office was very trying. I was kept so busy, the iPad was ignored as in managing my virtual games. Instead I had to manage my design projects with my team on the challenges we faced. Initially I thought I would set up my canvas over the weekend and exert some creative energy into painting but when a friend suggested an impromptu overnight getaway with them, we readily jumped at it without hesitation.

The destination? Ipoh.

For all my life, I have never frequented Ipoh as much as the last two years. All this due to friends, food and golf. This trip was termed the ‘Little Escapade’ simply us to getaway from the work stress. With Saturday being a public holiday, the thought of a possible traffic crawl did not even deter us to make the trip.

We had a really gastronomic time and a wet golf outing over the weekend. The weather did not stop us and we ended up playing in the rain, and being totally soaked. The wrist felt good, there was no nagging pain and the condition was not that hot with the clouds and rain.

There were many firsts as far as golf was concerned. My raincoat was totally utilized throughout the game. And for once, my umbrella was used to shield me from the rain instead of the sun. Despite such measures, everything was soaked – the golf bag, the shoes and socks, the cap, myself, right down to the sports bra and undies. But I didn’t care nor felt any discomfort. In fact, I was having the time of my life!

We were also very naughty, sneaking in three cans of imported beer. But we drank only the 12% ones for we felt if we did the 16%, everything would go downhill. So we decided to tell the flight behind to bypass us to save ourselves some embarrassment. However, when the rainy condition persisted and no siren sounded to abandon game, not many flights stayed on to continue like us. We basically had the place to ourselves. It was a really fun outing.

We completed 16 and a half holes before calling it quits. Not so much from the rain but rather due to darkness. We could hardly see our balls flights. We really had a blast and after a nice hot shower, a good dinner capped off the day.

 

Day 1 lunch before tee off

  

The beer choices

  

After the rain…

  

 

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Brand Loyalist

25 Oct

I am a brand loyalist I must say. If I buy a product of a particular brand and like it, I will continue to buy it as long as I have a need and use for it. Like my handbags for example. It has to be Salvatore Ferragamo. Different sizes and shapes for different occasions, all my handbags–save for one Furla–and two pairs of shoes are Ferragamo. Brand loyalist. Let’s not even go into the other stuff… 

Recently the loyalty in me acquired yet another Thermos to my collection! There’s already five flasks (six if M1’s unit is also counted) of different sizes and there I was purchasing another. 

It could have been a simple thing but I suddenly needed my coffee to be always hot. So a sipper lid was required. But I didn’t fancy having to use my flask every morning for my coffee because the flip-top is too tedious to flip plus the flask does not have a handle like a mug. And frankly with this criteria, there are not many choices out there, that’s why I ended up with yet another Thermos product.

The purchase was a mug, the ThermoCafe serving this different need. And I love it.

  

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New Flavors

6 Sep

After my supply of the super fragrant G7 Vietnamese coffee finished, I decided to be a little bit adventurous and moved on to new brands to try. And sadly, they pale in comparison. Sigh…

The Douwe Egberts Smooth Caramel may smell nice but is only good with sugar which I prefer not to add to my daily intake. So I can’t drink this every morning although I do admit I occasionally have a coffee (a ready 3-in-1) with creamer and sugar, it’s not often. Have cut down my sugar intake with coffee for the longest time and have gotten used to it. A strong black is always good and preferred. 

The Percol Smooth Colombia is slightly better but its aroma doesn’t perk me up as much. Well, gotta make do. A decent coffee is better than no coffee in the morning to start the day!

  

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Happy Anniversary

1 Sep

What?! It’s that time of the year again for us to gush over the year that has gone by and add another notch to the marriage. Didn’t we just meet at a recent graduation party in Queens, New York? Or was that eons ago? Goodness, no wonder I feel more and more like a dinosaur.

Last year, being the 20th anniversary–a special milestone–we went off to Khao Yai, Thailand but this year, only a simple dinner which was a short drive away from home. Have we mellowed and lost our sense of wanderlust? Why not another faraway trip like before? Could it be a 21st anniversary is not as big a deal as a 21st birthday? 

Truth is, we did talked about going somewhere but we couldn’t decide – golf trip versus a beach getaway. So nothing came out of this indecision. I guess we are fine to stay put in the end. So yesterday, a simple early dinner sufficed to mark the occasion and we even included M2.

It was cozy, quiet and nice until the crowd came in. Well, another year, another milestone, another strand or two of white hair on the crown…

Happy anniversary hubby!

  

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