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Love at First Sight

8 Sep

The curvaceous lines of the body made me want to caress it longingly. The size was irresistible plus the height and shape was just right. I could not resist, it was love at first sight.

The new 350ml baby blue Thermos flask beckoned me. I had to buy it.

This was a few weeks back when we were at the mall and we happened to walk pass the Thermos display. Hubby and M2 rolled their eyes at me. We already have four Thermos flasks at home, why do we need another one?

Somehow they managed to pull me away from the lure. But on Sunday, when we went to the mall, I brought up the subject again.

Amazingly, they allowed me to go buy my flask! Oooh… I am in heaven. I went off quickly in case they changed their mind.

So now there’s five Thermos flasks at home. Oh, it slipped my mind, we actually have six but the 500ml one went off to college with M1. Is this an obsession?

Not Typically Thai

29 Aug

Our first night in Khao Yai and where did we go for dinner? Khao Yai Cowboy Steak House! Hahahaha…

We picked all three choices from the recommended list. Although not the most authentic in Thai flavors save for the fish and Singha, dinner was actually good.

The accompanying chili was explosive. A little dip in it with the pork knuckle was enough to put the mouth on fire!

Glen Campbell was belting out the ‘Rhinestone Cowboy’ over the speakers then Dolly and Kenny came on before the band members came on stage to prepare for their live performance. Hard to believe we are in Khao Yai.

We are calling in the night early. Tomorrow, let the golf begin!

   
   
  
  

Satisfying a Craving 

21 Aug

I hardly have cravings, I just indulge. A glass of wine, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, some chocolate, you know… the usual decadent stuff once in a while. Last Friday I suddenly find myself craving durian, the King of fruits.

It’s been said when you crave something, most likely you are pregnant. The last time I had a strong craving, I was pregnant with M1 and I specifically remembered a strong craving for satay. Hubby had to oblige me. This time, while I am certainly and definitely not pregnant, it’s rather unexplainable that a sudden craving developed. And for durian!

We didn’t have to go far in search of it as my golf buddies came to the rescue! They were kind enough to go buy for me. I just had to pick it up after work: a tub worth at least 4kg of durian. Yum…

The minute we walked into the house, M2 groaned. The smell! It’s just too pungent for words. She opted to sit in the terrace away from the smell and played with Rooney, official pet number one. Between us and the maid, we polished off the tub.

No words can describe the smell. To say it smelly is an injustice. Then again to label it fragrant is equally incorrect. I guess one has to savor to appreciate as it’s an acquired taste. I was definitely a happy camper with my craving satisfied after the feast. Burp…

  

We Ate and Ate and Ate

27 Jul

It was an interesting weekend. We took Friday off and drove north to Ipoh to meet our golf buddies for golf. A pleasant drive, we arrived early and it was the beginning of not just a golf outing but also a gastronomic adventure.

We started off with lunch at a food court, having a simple soto ayam and a salted fish fried rice before meeting at the golf Club to tee off. Kelab Golf Kinta was interesting to say the least. 

Unsure of where the greens were many a time, we were also challenged as to where the fairways were on certain holes. At some point, we were even unsure where the red tee boxes were located! Thank goodness for it allowing buggies on course for most of the time, this saved us a lot of grieve.

We never completed our round of 18 holes for the rain came down and we had to abandon our game. But nobody complained.

Went back to our friend’s home to shower and we headed out for dinner, which was very good and cheap. Paired with the 18-year old Old Parr whiskey, it was a good dinner.

Despite a late night, everyone agreed to wake up early the next day for a dim sum breakfast. My goodness, the crowd was crazy at the restaurant, Ming Court! We had to literally stand next to a table to rush the family finishing their meal. I would have choked on a morsel of ‘har kau’ if subjected to this! Here begins the foodie trail.

After dim sum, the seven of us piled into the MPV and off to another side of town for coffee and toast. Then we took a drive to another location to have dessert: tau foo fah. A stroll here and there, we tried to burn some calories. After all this, we decided to head to Meru Valley Golf Resort to chill. With 4 buckets of beer (that’s 16 bottles of beer) whilst we chilled, all those burnt calories were piled back on. I know… I cringed.

We decided enough beer and we should do lunch! It’s like we all had bottomless pits on that day. Lunch at Lou Wong was simple and satisfying. I belief we were contented by then and decided it was time to make our way back to the city. 

It was a good outing and we look forward to another occasion like this.

Upon reaching home late because along the way, it rained so heavily, we had to go slow. A quick shower and off for dinner with Mom and M2!

Yes, we ate again.

We had Spanish tapas. At the end of the day, burp and double burp is all I can say to sum up this whole gastronomic day.

Lunch at Lou Wong

 

Tapas and paella for dinner

 

A Mountain of Tissue!

21 Jul

Whenever we eat authentic Thai food and not the fusion version, we would be hit with the worse sweating and sniffling. A mountain of tissue would always be part of the table mess.

The recent Saturday outing with Mom, we did Thai and that was exactly what happened. Hubby declared he lost a kilo of water and on the verge of dehydration from all that sweating, I fared slightly better and M2, almost in tears from the spicy chilli onslaught. Mom had a good laugh as M2 also complained she had to have three servings of rice to quell the burning sensation.

Although we had a clear tomyam, a kerabu, a pandan chicken and a veg, the last two dishes being not spicy at all, it was the lemon chili fish that did us in. Man… It was spicy to high heaven and back!

Despite the sweaty experience, it was a good dinner and we look forward to the next outing with Mom.

  

On a Roll

20 Jul

For the first time in many moons, we indulged. Watched two movies on Friday, Ant Man and Terminator Genysis, and then followed that with a big mojito to accompany the salad and ribs dinner.

The movies were good but loud and noisy and I felt an onslaught of a headache. The mojito helped. Maybe this is why I hardly do the movies, let alone a marathon of it, if back-to-back can be considered a marathon.

And this was only Friday!

Come Saturday, I played a round of golf. The weather was so hot, the umbrella didn’t help. Well, weather lately has been very hot. So gotta face it and deal with it. Otherwise, don’t play.

Then the usual dinner with Mom on Saturday. We had Thai food. An experience worthy of another story.

By Sunday, the weather took a turn and it was drizzling and cool. A lazy day but it was nice to wind down the 3-day weekend and kick off the week with a high.

  

Saturday Nights

13 Jul

We try to make it a routine to have dinner with Mom every Saturday evening. But whenever we play golf, dinner would be scheduled later because tee off time is usually after lunchtime. 

So far our dinner outings have been very varied. From local fare to Korean and Western, Mom follows our adventurous food trails happily.

I find these occasions great to catch up with her as I hardly see her during the weekdays. And it is always nice to have a good meal together, like a reward for surviving each week with its stresses, challenges and sometimes boredom.

   
   

A New Way to Eat Durian

29 Jun

Recently I discovered a new way to eat durian. With disposable gloves, something I have never used before in all my previous durian experience.

A week ago, we did our Tuesday Food Club outing with the regular friends and after dinner, adjourned to the durian stalls nearby. It has been a bumper harvest this year and the place was crowded. 

We sat at the table and a box of disposable gloves was available for use. There’s no need to just use our bare fingers to hold the fruit and then have the pungent smell stuck on our fingers. It was strange to a certain extent to be using gloves because it takes the finger-licking experience out of the art of eating durian.

But use the gloves we did. Which was a good thing because I did not see a wash sink within the area. The durians were good, the company great and the smells kept checked from the fingers after the meal.

Can’t wait for the next durian outing.

 

Suit up the hand!

  

Now hold your durian and smile!

  

Dinner was good. Burp.

  

The Breakfast Days

9 Jun

I remember when I was very young, my Dad used to bring me and my older sibling out for breakfast on Sundays. Somehow Mom never came along because she doesn’t like Indian food. We were doing the ‘Ghee Thosai/Roti Canai’ breakfast.

The shop was just opposite Dad’s office, crowded, stuffy and dirty. The one thing I remember significantly of the place was the little drain around the perimeter of the corner lot coffee shop; it was all clogged up and rather disgusting in sight and smell. And every time before entering the premise, I never dare looked down at the drain when crossing over it for fear that it would make me lose my appetite.

But the lure of my favorite ‘Ghee Thosai’ was irresistible and no dirty drain was going to stop me.

Dad insisted that we have to eat Indian food like the Indians, that is with our hands. So we ate our ‘Ghee Thosai’ with our hands. After the meal each time, I remember I always placed my ‘Dhal’-laced fingers near my nostrils to savor the aroma during the car ride home. Call it a bad habit or whatever but those ‘Dhal’-laced fingers smelled really wonderful even after washing!

Although I don’t use my hands to eat nowadays whenever I go for a ‘Ghee Thosai/Roti Canai’ breakfast with the hubby and M2, I would recall fondly of those memories and the drain!

My all time fave!

We Went Crabbing

4 Jun

A postcard came from M1. She mailed it on the day of her whale watching excursion. Hubby was taken with her idea of all the activities that she listed especially ‘crabbing’ and gave us the urge.

Well, put it this way, our version of ‘crabbing’ certainly is different from what she has in mind.

Crabs with salted eggs