Prestigious Mein....

Sweet Devil Rachel, Beautiful CS, Monkey and Prestigious Mein

Gawd....this pic was like ages ago....can't remember the year...could be circa 2009? but we definitely knew each other like way way way way away way before that. Oh well, old habits just stuck with you for the rest of ur life - referring to my glass of champagne and I recalled, we were drinking Veuve Clicquot. I know, sometimes my memory never fail to amaze myself...I can remember small lil details but not where I left my keys. LOL!!!

Sexay Back Maggie, Prestigious Mein and Beautiful CS
taken at Sweet Devil Rachel's wedding in 2011. I think I'll be receiving some calls later for posting all these old pics...>.< I call it, walking down the memory lane....

Prestigious Mein hosted a steamboat dinner at her home a few years ago and we ate so much that we eventually looked like fishballs...hiak hiak hiak

Sweet Devil Rachel, Sexay Back Maggie and Prestigious Mein

Steamboat again???? this time at Stadium Negara Steamboat along Jln Yap Kwan Seng. I dunno wat's with us and steamboat...hahahahaha.

and we had steamboat for her farewell....it was just a lil farewell and good luck for Prestigious Mein who is heading to Singapore for work. We were all so so very happy for her :))))

Nope, they were not anti-social....in fact we were working on our phone to cross checks details on instagrams. From the faces u know it's all about work. hehehehehe

All of us are in PR and publications, hence social media is seriously part of the job. It was also our job nature, that brought all of us together.....and became friends :)))

Brian C, Sweet Devil Rachel, BCBG Amy, Beautiful CS
Cat, Prestigious Mein, Sexay Back Maggie, Monkey

All the best babe!! and may you have a smooth sailing career in the land of Kiasu. We for sure, will miss you a lot. Take care!!! Hugs.

Kung Jung, PNB Darby Park

 

Burn baby burn....
the amber fr the charcoal fire was extremely hot, the sliced garlic were bubbling in the hot oil. For those who doesn't fancy fresh garlic for its spicy pungent nose and taste, this is definitely for you. After the bubbling process of coz. It has a very sweet nutty taste.

Last Friday we congregated for an early birthday celebration for Wenda. It was an informal celebration minus the cake!! where's the cake??? I guess she'll be blowing many many candles in the next 2 weeks and have as much cake as the Queen herself, hence we spare her calories with more meat for this gal.

Marbling of the beef was so beautiful that I had to snap as many shots as possible...despite the heat!!! it was really hot but thankfully at Kung Jung, the waiter will cook every morsels of food for you to your liking. 

MW Maho has got her favourite head waiter, and he knows exactly how we like our meat. Problem was we were eating too slowly, he had to remove everything off the griller once it's done, even took effort to place the individual pieces into our platter...almost had to feed us...hahahaha.

the peeps were too busy discussing bout the blind tasting we were having that evening. Again I did not snap pic of the beautiful rare bottles that we had.

MW Maho, Monkey and Wenda
As usual, the Master of Wines brought all her wine gadgets and peripherals for every dinner. Same goes to JS, his favourite wine opener is a beautiful handmade Laguiole wine opener. This group of ppl alwiz have their wine openers in their pockets.

MW Maho also bought a beautiful Swarovski white wine opener as a congratulatory pressie for Monkey on her new career. It's so pretty with a white leather box I didn't wanna use it!!! Too pretty to be used. But things are meant to be used right? So very soon I m gonna have Ms. White with me inside my handbag at every dinners.

What's that? it looked like kim chi!!! Seriously I am a terrible at documenting pics bcoz I left so many other pics behind, from all the yummy sides and different types of kim chi served here. The above pic was definitely not kim chi *though it may be marinated with one*
 

 It's lovely squid!!! yumsss, spicy sweet and tender.....
Head waiter had to remove the entire griller off the heat to stop further cooking, and we were again bz yakking away bout the wine regions that we were not familiar with - Languedoc. Okie into our next travel list. Gosh so many places in France that we've never been!!!!

Beef Ribs...we have so much of these, from original without marination to different types of marination. There's nothing in the menu that we ordered. So the next time if I am here on my own, I won't know wat to have, prollie this blog serves as a good documentation, I'll just pin-point the pics to them then....hehehehe

MW Maho is half Japanese half korean. For someone to say this place is good, it has to be really good!!! Kung Jung even received international Korean diners like the hensem good looking Rain. :)))

Wenda the meat eater was so eppy to be treated with different cuts of beef. I am sure this was better than birthday cakes huh? :))))

Finally some soup and beef and greens.

and bcoz we were perpetually hungry, we also ordered some ginseng chicken soup which was extremely yummy :))) There were oso omelette and other side dishes such as toufu with fermented kim chi.

 Monkey and Wenda

Happy Birthday Babe!!! enjoy your trip and till our next makan adventure :))) and yes I am scheduling a slot to go to ur roof top garden to harvest watever that u have planted for the last few months!!! Safe trip there.

Thank you to Papa Bear and MW Maho for dinner :))) *hic* and the outstanding wines of coz :)))

Kung Jung
Lot 3.1, Level 3,
PNB Darby Park,
Jalan Binjai,
Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: +603. 2166.7181

Moynat

*pic taken fr the web*

One cannot miss this stunning looking shop along Rue St Honore. The oldest French trunk maker since 1849. Moynat is a legacy on its own, producing handmade, made to order, customised luggage and trunks for the royal family and aristocrats. It's almost an institute in France for so many generations.

The family owns Moynat until 1976. It then went through many other hands before LVMH bought it in 2010. This was when Moynat was reborn....with a vengeance I must say. Coz it seems that everyone wants Moynat now :))) I am happy to find pop up store in Japan and Hong Kong and soon it received such overwhelming response that concrete presence was much needed. Now Moynat has got gallery and permanent shop in Asia. :))))

Whatever it is, one must must visit its main atelier and boutique at Rue St Honore. It was so important that this "activity" was listed in our itinerary to JS rolling his eyes.

JS: "We will walk past there anyway!!! coz u wanna buy this and buy that."
Monkey: "Like u not gonna spend time there everyday?? Afterall u'll be looking at wat's new inside Goyard everyday."

oh well, reasons why we are staying within walking distance from Chanel mother store and Goyard's only store in Paris. So u see, Monkey isn't that inconsiderate, she even made sure our accommodation was so strategic even for Master JS who oso insisted that Lafayette must also be around the corner. Okie got u boss.

Train Clutch, designed by Pharrell Williams....yes u read that right, the very same famous and talented Happppppyyyy Pharrell Williams. Such an exquisite clutch!!!!

Beyonce was recently spotted carrying it. Truly an "Object of Desire"

Nope, Monkey couldn't afford this

Mr. Williams seated among all the vintage trunks by Moynat, holding his train clutch.
:))))))))))

Moynat boutique looked suspended from its exterior, 2 retail floors, of ohhhhh-ahhhhh-I-want-all-of them but nothing is for sale.
:"((((

Monkey thought so hard and really hard and decided she's OK to part so much of money for a briefcase but we gotta wait 6 months for it, as it's custom-made and of coz made to order.
:"((( okie nvm...save money then

Readers should know me by now....I will never step out without having anything in my hands. I am that persistent, once set out to do *or buy* something, it has to be executed. 

Since Pharrell Williams limited collection was just launched a few days ago when we visited Moynat, the entire boutiques were showered with trains and more trains. JS suggested that I get this cute lil train clutch instead. Hmmmm now so many colors, which one to choose from? :))))

It's so cute right? Reminded me of my childhood in lollie dresses when I was drawing trains with fat crayons. Hahahaha

Anyway JS was right, don't think I can afford anything that I only like half heartedly with stocks availability in the boutique at that time. Next I was bz checking every colors availability, that best match me hehehehehe. It was only launched a few days ago and most of the colors were still available. Hooray!!!

I think Orange is the best color for me :))))) Have yet to use the choo-choo train :))) will find an occasion to. I know it's very pricey but it's a Moynat.

Right after my purchase, I received an email from Moynat...oh wow that's really good customer relations management. :)))) and last Friday, I bought something from Louis Vuitton KLCC and right after they swiped my card, ping I received a thank you email with a copy of my receipt in pdf. Wow such efficiency. :))))

right now, I am happy to be part of the journey in LVMH group :)) If u gonna sell ur soul to something, u better make sure it's worth it. Same goes to food and wines, if u gonna put calories into that body of yours, better make sure it's worth every single cal!!!

For more information on the beautiful handmade Moynat trunk, please visit.
http://www.moynat.com/en/

Celebrations on Valentine's Day

Gosh that was 2 months ago....shows I have so many pics and details to blog about. Thing is, Monkey didn't wanna pick and choose, everyday every events, every session is truly important to her, and it must be documented for memories.

Since February 2015 was around the celebration of Chinese New Year, we decided to kill many many birds with a single stone. To celebrate the arrival of Sheep Year, TC the Photog's birthday and finally Valentine's Day.

In fact JS and Monkey don't really celebrate V-Day, more like of anti V-day bcoz according to JS, everyday is Valentine's Day....hiak hiak hiak. But since we are cooking, we invited friends to dine with us with home cooked food, with love of coz.....candles and flowers and chocolates. Hahahahaha.

We bought the prepacked Yee Sang set from Isetan, added more sashimi slices of Salmon Belly. Added more fresh pomelo sacs, grated fresh daikon and carrots, used own extra virgin olive oil and we have a semi-home made yee sang.

Hmmm where's the condiments? I only see fish around here...but no complaints coz in the end everyone went for the sashimi quality fish!!!

Lou ah!!!
Huat Ah!!!!!

It's always a mess but this is a good mess, it's wat every chinese who celebrates Chinese New Year would want. The abundance of good things in a single dish...but to me Yee Sang is quite symbolic and serves as a quick appetizer. The true full abundance of good things kinda dish to Ms. Monkey is actually "Pun Choy". I had so many this year and would rate the one from Chuai Heng Chinese Restaurant at Jalan Imbi the most delicious one. :)))))

So far the year of Sheep has been a fantastic one, I am really enjoying each and every day with good company of friends and loved ones, amazing eats and drinks but most of all absolutely amazing new experience in life....

to sum it up, I just need to do 4 things this year.
Travel
Eat
Learn
Live

:)))) simple and meaningful.

Not bad.....guests did an amazing job in tossing the auspicious yee sang to such beautiful mix of colors. Just reminded me of the recently launched Hennessy VSOP Privilege Collection 5, a bottle with vibrant colors and stood the test of time, designed by British Art Director Peter Saville. :)))

Read more about it *here*

because I've promised all my beautiful guests that it will be a dining experience for them on their Valentine's Day, so it had to have some for of decorations for mood and ambience.

Japanese Yuzu with the special citrus grater and "duster" which JS acquired from Japan. Basically u grate the yuzu and dust it off ur dishes straight fr it.

Cute isn't it? we saw the same one at Kame-Sushi Desa Sri Hartamas, :)) Kame also means turtle in japanese.

Bahahahaha Horses are indeed so last year...
Welcome year of Sheep Sheep and this lil cute card is now sitting on my office desk. Reminding each day to Bahahahahahahaha. Which I do....every morning without fail esp with my secretary first thing at 7.30am

double boiled superior stock....all made with love by Mr. JS and boiled for 7 freaking hours!!!!.....those were not sea cucumber floating in this soup, but grand cru level of fish maw, acquired and procured by none other than his mommy dearest. The texture was so so good, almost like gelatine but with a good bite.

The soup was extremely sweet with a certain umami-ness. Yuzu zest added right before serving just further enhance the flavour. Indeed this was a very rich bowl of soup. Every guest only got to have one single bowl coz there ain't enuff!!! hahahaha

YS the giraffe was the only lucky one to have an extra bowl, to the dismay of other guests. Everyone was watching him slurping down the last drop. Hahahahahahaha

Mr. JS frying some greens with prawn oil. Look at that face.....it's like I got this under my control....I called this the LCLY look. LOL. Agree?

His kitchen is considered spanking clean looking at the amount of food being churned out from here. Since we have TC the Photog as one of the guests, he was also made to "work" here....snapping pics for Monkey :P

what is chinese new year without the yummy claypot waxed meat rice!!!
all cooked from scratch...where the waxed meat from Yung Kee Hong Kong were sauteed on the same claypot, rendered its fats and oil....then some these oil were used to fry the rice to a certain degree before being left to boil on its own.

the superlicious yummy waxed meat!!!! U only get this at certain time of the year :)))) So rich and full of flavours bcoz the darker colors were made with mixture of foie gras :))))

JS cooked a small portion of baked prawn pasta for Joey C coz she doesn't take meat. But it ended up in everyone's stomach. Yeah the piranhas...u know who u are :D

My dearest Dom Perignon Chef :)))) made ROAST PORK wahahahahaha. This pic was taken by Photog TC on 14th February, way before I joined the brand :)))) I know...he's really supportive of my career and I think he secretly wants my job :) kekekekeke.

We bought this apron during our visit to Dom Perignon's maison, Epernay a few years ago.

Proud Chef with his mouth full of roast pork....bz chewing...krop krop krap krap. We forgot to snap upclose pic of the roast pork...coz once it was presented on the table.....it was WAHHH all gone!!! real quick!!! well u could tell fr Chef's face he was already enjoying it before serving it to the guests.

yup we are only 30 years old.....really young :))

all the great whiskeys of limited edition and limited productions, especially the sherry cask and mizunara. What a privleged to enjoy them, :)))


Happy Guests eppy hostess....
Beautiful CS must be trying to stress her points *as always*

Ben smacking his head....can't remember what it was about...while Cat was bz helping herself to more japanese whiskey.

It was also on 14th February 2015, that her husband fell in lurve with whiskey for the first time. When he was served alcohols that nite, Cat insisted that the hubby doesn't drink a lot. Now he's a true whiskey connoisseurs with knowledge spanning from production, the types of barrels used, its peats to the different style of whiskeys and of coz the tasting profile.

what is chinese new year without "Tong Yuen"???
and what is valentine's day without something sweet to end the dinner?
so JS made the ginger jus from scratch and with love of coz, but store bought frozen black sesame dumplings.

Not forgetting the birthday boy TC the Photog with Joey C

It has always been a joy to work with TC and *click here* to read about the making of one of the project we did together --> Shell Shell's Bridal Shower photoshoot

JS was so tired by now, from cooking hahahaha and drinking :P

Joey C, Cat, Beautiful CS, Monkey and BCBG Amy

and bcoz it's Valentine's Day, all ladies deserve a bouquet of flowers :))))
thank you for coming :)))) so blessed to have all of you in my life. But most of all thank you to chef for such an awesome dinner.

The Nasi Lemak Quest

 *pic sent by Lanatir*

It all started last week, when Monkey received picture montagne from different friends. Every new day, I have a few pics of Nasi Lemak being forwarded to me. Friends were sharing their favourite joints and how they prefer their nasi lemak.

Monkey was in silence, did not contribute much to share for she couldn't have Nasi Lemak, she was extremely busy juggling 2 main events and sales numbers.

okie except on last Monday coz one of her dearest colleague surprised her with warm Nasi Lemak all wrapped in banana leaf. It's really funny how that I am in the beverage industry, I see for the first time *nope not how they drink* but how they ate non-stop in the office. These ppl and colleagues of mine are all foodie. The pantry is fully stocked and will put the convenience store downstairs to shame.

so last week, Monkey sulked it up to all the wonderful pics of Nasi Lemak posted by dearest friends...my nasi lemak...u wait for me ok? I am gonna eat ya!!

Everyone has their own lil favourite, be it the fluffyness and richness of the coconut rice. Or the savoury sweet spicy sambal. It could even be the crispy fried chicken coated with local spices. Or even how it's served, wrapped with banana leaf for its full aroma. Or it could even be how crispy the fried anchovies and groundnuts. With so many elements involved in this local dish, where can we find one that suits best to our personal palate???

that is when, then quest for Nasi Lemak begins in my household. JS decided he will take charge to make everything from scratch himself for maximum quality control and everything will be customised to our own likings.

We prefer our sambal dry with strong belacan taste, sweet and heat level should be balanced. The rice must be fluffy and grainy, hence mixture of different grains are advisable...yes u dun just use normal rice...but a mixture with basmati too. Oh while the fried anchovies must be really really crispy and light minus its oiliness....

Hard-boiled eggs are not so welcomed in our household, so fried eggs will do. Anyway with or without eggs are just fine. To us the main Actor and Actress would be the Sambal + Rice.

the end result - Ta DA!!!!

of a few days of readings through the ingredients compound, texture, flavours to achieve this. JS really did well. The rice was amazingly fluffy with just the right amount of richness fr the coconut. U'll be surprised that the trick is to used boxed coconut cream instead of fresh ones. This is because processed coconut cream has more consistency. Oh well it's processed so.....then there's also coconut water involved.

Sorry it's payback time now friends...now just stare at my plate of homecooked Nasi Lemak!!!! The sambal base paste that JS made could be used to make many other dishes....seen here in this picture is our favourite sambal sotong :))))

u can also fry some fish to go along with it. Best would be selar and kembong. The amount of sambal here was just for illustration purpose, in the end I whacked one bowl of rice with the same amount of sambal...yes exactly one bowl, to be eaten with my japanese cucumbers. :))))

Since it takes quite some preparation to make the sambal base paste which can also be stored in ur fridge/freezer, JS re-use it to make sambal petai last nite.

WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
I know....I am so so blessed. Always :))

Thank you JS for all the hardwork. Now we need to seek another quest for you to conquer :))) hehehehe.

Do you have your favourite nasi lemak stalls/joints? Share with me :)))