In and Out trip to Singapore

with Luke and ZiLing. Both of them were so eppy, dazzling shining brighter than all the diamonds presented by prestigious brands that evening.

Last week Monkey flew into Singapore for work. Supposed to be stealth mode but then again friends will not forgive me if I ever do that again. Work was like usual, event was like usual as well, everything went "as usual" but no complaints bcoz we must alwiz make lemons outta lemonade right?

When I needed some "fix" to cure myself, I just needed walk down the road to Caveau to meet some familiar friendly faces and even more familiar bottles :)))) They just made me so so so happy esp after a crappy week.


the other happy "fix" *apart fr my ciggie fixes* would be the famous Bak Chor Mee at Tai Wah. Pic stolen from JS coz I didn't join him for this breakfast. The al dente homemade noodles with a very balanced vinegar and chili sauce. This we can't find in Malaysia.

and not to mention coffee fixes. No...Starbucks isn't like the best but bcoz it's just outside my hotel, I just had to go......Actually in my hotel room I have a personal Nespresso Machine but sometimes u just have to go out there to get some fresh air. 2 Angry Birds staring back....I wish I could just stick someone else's face on your head and smack the shit outta you, but anger isn't gonna solve a lot of things. So hello angry birds, u can eat my crumbs after I'm done. Karma babe....Karma....

 

Then the week got better :)))) esp with my dearest friends. Here J&J Jelina took al the trouble to make yummy awesome amazing tasty crunchy Pie-Tee and Poh-piah. There was also some spicy chicken rendang which I forgot to snap pic. Was too hungry and chop and nom everything the moment I landed my bum on the beautiful Eames Daw Dining Chairs at their home.

and I saw lights coming at the end of the tunnel. Bright Shining lights and definitely brighter than any diamonds. My friends are rare and precious than any diamonds in the world :))))))))))

and on Sunday for Brunch, Kowfu made an awesome Sarawak Laksa. Triple strained laksa broth and that's hell lot of work but I guess he doesn't mind. And homemade chili paste. Basically everything was homemade. I got scolded bcoz I forgot to add some egg rolls into the bowl before snapping this pic :P Sowwy Kowfu~~~

and finally Kowfu's signature Hokkien Mee. I must say I still prefer Kowfu's daddy's Hokkien mee!!! Hiak Hiak Hiak. When this group of piranhas gathered together, all food and drinks were gone in seconds. This was in fact a compliment to the chef!!!

There were actually much much more food than this but I can't stuff anymore into my face nor stomach!!! hohohohohoho~~~~

Monkey and Cuppy Cake Jennifer. Beautiful pic taken by Henry H, thank you :))).

It was such a lovely surprise to see her in Singapore. That actually reminded me that we haven't been to Melbourne for quite a while now. Cuppy Cake Jennifer is a great chef in her own league, but she denied it. I guess when you are growing up in a culinary household, where everyone is perpetually cooking up a storm u don't feel that u are special.

and finally we were guinea pig for a REAL Patisserie Chef in her new project. With a Cordon Bleu International certification on her sleeves, Chef Gwen has such meticulous details in her artwork and food. Her passion to share her love of desserts shows when she spoke about her projects.

Patisserie G is located at Raffles Boulevard at Millenia Walk. Bagaholic Tracie said she makes the best Canele in town. Will make time to visit Chef Gwen at Patisserie G soon. In the mean time, Monkey is all drowned with work and numbers and budget and sales target before she heads off again this Friday. Okie no complaints here, I work like a slave here but I made sure that I enjoyed like an Empress at the end of the day to make it all worthwhile.

Over and out and Happy Week ahead there folks!!!

Brian C's Birthday @ The Red Herring

Peakie D, Brian C and Notti Monkey 

the 3 globe trotters who just got back home to KL. We lurve to travel...sometimes it's work, sometimes it's leisure but most of the time it's work *I think*. Travelling for work ain't fun seriously, but in life u gotta turn lemons into yummy lemonade don't ya? Since we knew that watever it is....we still gotta go and travel bcoz of that particular assignments, why not just go with a happy heart, pick up new languages, meet interesting ppl, taste new food but most of all LEARN. Life is all about learning isn't it? I learn everyday...even in my dreams.

so these 3 friends who love to travel finally got a date to congregate to celebrate Brian C's birthday. Setting dates or a date is mad crazy trust me. It's either has to be extremely in advance or last minute on that week itself. But I am glad we made it :)))

Brian C's new MCM clutch.......*ahem*

yes I lurve to touch and mess and toy around with ppl's properties. But this isn't so me. The size is good as a document or iPad folder. If you have nothing much to store, you could just fold the top down to make this clutch smaller and fits in your hands perfectly.


It's either I was messing around with ppl's properties or ppl's staffs busy at work in the kitchen. Filling meat into the casing with this awesome gadget - I dunno what it's called.


and ta-da!!!!! such cute perfection and it's all homemade with love :)))))


WHAT??? U mean u didn't prepare this dish for us????
Mean Xer got so stressed up with this "client" bcoz I ordered nothing fr the menu and everything off her menu.


Champagne and wines were already chilled and prepared in advance


Started off with a beautiful pork terrine. Everyone was so hungry including the kids, and all gone in seconds. Hahahaha.....We were like piranhas!!!!



Remember those sausages earlier? Now they are ready to be nom nom nom, full of hickory smoke flavours. The bite was crunchy and snap bcoz of the casing, followed by meat!!! REAL MEAT innit!!. Oh Chef Mean Xer, when are u gonna serve breakfast here? This is sooo gonna be wicked with eggs and bacons and coffee!!!!

Now you can order these beautiful pork sausages from The Red Herring. I don't know what's the price but definitely sold by weight. Definitely good to have some stashed away in the freezer and if u are feeling up to it, take them out and grill em baby!!!



we requested this simple grilled sweet pepper pasta again....not in her menu. With some extras added on top....toasted Ikan Terubok eggs on top....this is like the Malaysia version of European Bottarga *mullet egg roe*


Beautiful vegetable terrine with reduced balsamic. So pure, yummy and good texture. Natural goodness from all the vege balanced off with the acid from the dressing. If vege gonna be presented like this on the table, I am sure everyone will have some fiber every single day!!!


Last minute request of Giant Garoupa with homemade tomatoes. Simple yummy wholesomeness, but trust me, when things looked simple, actually it takes the most work, techniques and skills to prepare.


We ordered our pork chop to be charred....beautifully charred. Chef Mean Xer has got a lava rock char-grill stove so any food can be grill to this perfection. Crispy edges and beautiful moist juicy meat on the inside. Yeah usually if u charred it to this way it would have been dry but this wasn't. Need to learn her secrets.


the kids were so happy bcoz it's their kinda food!!!


Cheeses that landed less than 48 hours from London. It looks like there's a lot but everything gone as well.


Thank you to Dr. Epicurean for the cheeses. Nope he's not sleeping in this pic....working on the phone. I don't really know which timezone he's on. He's perpetually working 24/7 inclusive of weekends.


Peakie D and Lynd brought a really limited bottle of Nikka Brandy. We didn't see this when we visited Nikka factory in Japan.


Such a beautiful cake :))))
I wanna learn to bake and decorate like this!!!!

Happy Birthday my dear Brian C :)))) 

May u alwiz be blessed with many many many beautiful adventures and experiences, travels, great eats, wonderful ppl in your life and thank you for your friendship


Group picca.

JS it's not ur birthday, please stand aside!!! kekekekeke. Peakie D said he looked like Iron Chef. But then again the Iron Chef Mean Xer was trying to hide herself.

Thank you so much for accommodating to all my insane request!!! Promise next time I will be a good gal and order from you menu ok?

The Red Herring has officially opened for business. The menu is very focused, which is great so u won't have to worry of wat to order. Muahahahaha. I am now looking forward for her to open for breakfast on weekends.

The Red Herring
M-1-16 Plaza Damas,
Jalan Sri Hartamas,
50480 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 603 6211 1417
Closed on Monday

Pad Thai Pratupee @ Thip Samai

The famous and the holy grail of Pad Thai, the national dish of Thailand. Hmm I've alwiz thought it's Tom Yum. Peakie D and Globe Trotter Wei insisted that this is worth the visit, and not to mention its queue.

and so on hot a evening our hotel doorboy tried so hard to hail a cab for us. During peak hours, no sane cabbie would wanna come here....just to earn your RM 15. The bad traffic only means your journey would take about 45 minutes for a place 5km away. So JS decided he's gonna hail the dangerous Tuk-Tuk instead.

JS: "TUK!!!!"
and the ferocious driver just zoomed in and stopped right smack in front of us.

hotel doorboy stared at us in horror.
"sir!!! this one is dangerous and they don't have meter!!!"
yes my dear cutie pie Thai boy, we are not Tuk-Tuk virgins either. In 10 minutes we have arrived at a sleepy area along the road of Maha Chai.

The queue basically has about 48 people...yes I've actually counted....but surprisingly it was not a long wait bcoz ppl just come, eat and go. The menu only consisted of Pad Thai coz no brain cells to kill while ordering it.


Even if u arrive in a Rolls Royce Wraith, u still gotta join the queue and wait. No exception. But this Thai guy was really a head-turner bcoz of his million dollar car. By the way, Malaysia just received the first shipment of wraith in June.

While we waited, there was a lot going on here to watch. Maybe that was the reason that we didn't exactly felt that time passed by. The fire flickered and the cooks move the wok as fast as he could. 

U won't believe it, everything was cooked with charcoal fire here. In fact this entire Maha Chai street, there's 3 restaurant/stalls that are worth visiting. All cooked with charcoal fire. 

First you pour in some animal fats onto the wok, swirl it once....scoop some mixture of eggs, and u swirl another time.

The plate of cooked Pad Thai was then dunked in.....


move once more time to wrap the pad thai....

and off to the plate!!!

Seriously I can't even time it, We had to snap so many times to get the entire sequence right. Bcoz the cook was just too fast!!! He just went wham wham wham and done. Definitely under a minute. Well with that kinda crowd, u better cook fast boy!!!

Yea especially when there's so many plates of Pad Thai are waiting for you.

Basically pad thai is a street food of stir fried flat rice noodles with eggs, toufu, beansprouts and chives. These days, there's meat and prawns innit. Flavoured with tamarind pulp, fish sauce, spices, chili and sugar. Usually served with a lime wedge and a generous dash of chopped roasted peanuts.

As we queued and made our round, we saw this huge like bath tub of fresh orange juice!!! WAHHH it looked so good man. These were made from local oranges - the one with green colored skin. No preservatives and had to be consumed within 48 hours?

Then we were finally seated and we got to choose between dining inside the shoplot or al-fresco. We wanted outdoor for more ambience....hahahahaha and to snap more pic of curious customers queue-ing up along this street. 

To quench our thirst from the evening heat....the yummy fresh orange juice with tonnes of pulps. One can get full just by drinking a bottle. There's so much of fat juicy pulp in here. It's about RM 15 for a big bottle to be shared for 2.

before we could order, the typical mise-en-place arrived at our table. A plate of raw banana tree flowers, fragrant lime wedges, clean and juicy beans sprouts, and chives.

and the star dish arrived....

it has a very good balance of savouriness, sweetness and spices.
its noodle still has got its al-dente-ness and aroma from the charcoal fire.


the other version that we've ordered consisted of a lot of big prawns, freshly peeled crab meats, finely sliced green mango. I prefer this version bcoz it has got such tanginess from the mango.

Suddenly....our table has to be moved.....
careful of my orange juice there boys!!!!

bcoz the next door shop tenant needed to get out from her building.

yeah so hilarious that Monkey had to pose. Bout 8 tables were moved to somewhere in that short 1 minute. Yes it only took one minute to move and to place everything back in order.

Nobody was grunting, no one was complaining....it was a quick affair.

the boys replaced back the table in proper order with the correct side. Look ma!! my plate of crab meat pad thai was still on my side!!! 

so u mix the crab meat with the tangy mango along the pad thai....and enjoy.
NOM NOM NOM...so so yummy and worth waiting for :)))

Next door to Thip Samai, there's a few other vendors selling other kinda Thai Food. So if u would like to indulge while waiting, u could :)))) 

After our yummy Pad Thai, we walked down to the last stall/eatery that you must try along this road. Local Thai noodle....that smells so darn good. No tourists ate at this stall, they dun even have an English menu and nothing in A B C on its signage.

JS: "Monkey, u sure u can eat sumore?"
Monkey: "YES!!!!"
The menu consisted of only 3 items, from wat u could see on its banner...so I guess for tourists like us just point wat u want? But JS spoke such fluent Thai, he just ordered like a local.

the lil gal at the back was playing with her father while he was feeding her. I wondered wat kind of food could a young child consume here bcoz it's super spicy can die.

the simple RM 4.50 thai noodle in pork broth with some char siew, pork balls, fish paste slices and loads of vegetables. Lookin at this pic just made me salivate bcoz the memories of its taste just came gushing into my head.

nope this isn't bee hoon but really fine and thin flat rice noodle

the standard mise-en-place for noodle shops in Thailand. With pickled chili, chili flakes, sugar and the 4th one is usually the signature chili paste from that particular store. In this case it was smashed bird eye chilis in some vinegar. There was also a bottle of Thai fish sauce if u wanna add more saltiness to your food.

OMGawdddddddddd it was the hottest thing I've ever eaten in my life!!!!!! but it was so tasty and good. The broth/soup has got so much for tiny local Thai garlic innit. Still wrapped in its thin skin. The taste profile was so complex that we were thinking hard, wat else was in there.

that bowl of spicy Thai pork noodle got me thinking hard the entire nite. I should have tapao a pack to be eaten in my room for supper hehehehe.

So this Maha Chai road is really worth visiting for:
1) the yummy crab omelette at Raan Jay Fai *read bout it here*
2) the holy grail of Pad Thai at Thip Samai
3) and this hot spicy noodle stall

Thip Samai Pad Thai
313 Maha Chai Road,
Samran Rat, Phra Nakhon,
Bangkok 10200,
Thailand.
Opening hours: 5pm to 3am daily