Birthday celebration at my favourite restaurant :))

We've been eating and drinking since the sun rose early in the morning, so by late afternoon....I can't really remember wat we've been doin. So pardon me for being so quiet the last few days for I had to recall the itinerary of that very beautiful day.....a day where I celebrated my birthday with my dearest friends in Ipoh.

Seen here entertaining myself...yeah coz I dunno wat was I hitting on the piano. Prollie sound pollution.

after the piano, Monkey hijacked Caden's violin to his dismay
"Heeey that's mine!!!"
nvm, lemme try lemme try....I wanna play too. Yeah I am a big kid.

Host and Hostess who arranged all the makan itinerary and the logistics part of the entire group. THANK YOU :))))


Monkey trying to look sober :P
anyway I was quite sober by dinner time....boxes and boxes of stemware were wheeled into the private room, not to mention the stunning wines which we were about to consume :))))

Such a treat :)))) the wine with the banana leaf, 2 eyes and 3 grapes. Hehehehe the winemaker gonna come after us for labeling them this way. It symbolizes the interaction of God, people and nature.

and so there were 2 tables being setup all ready for dinner.....
As usual there were some guests who refused to be photographed for privacy purpose. I've been receiving many request of late to omit them off my blog. :D

and dinner commence with her :)))

and a special order of this :))))))
we believe in consumption of sustainable shark fins. Go read about it.

This one was very very special on extremely special request. The Chef himself peeled the fresh crab meat on the very same day with his dedicated team. The crab roes were set aside for this dish, plenty of it hence the color of the soup was rather orangie :))) Chunks of awesome goodness were concocted in this soup with sliced sea cucumber for that extra texture.

Dish of the nite for me :))))

hello piggy, u have no idea how yummy u were!! Oh that sounded so wrong but then if you have to be sacrificed for my birthday, it has to be prepared and cooked with utmost respect and skills. Chef personally roasted you piggy...with his gloved hands rolling u side to side on the metal skewer over fire.



J&J Jelina looked skeptical.....she's training hard to climb Mount Fuji and was deciding hard should she have another piece :))))) Tough decision!!!

steamed deep sea fish :))) look at all the fatty gelatinuous parts of the head :))) all soaked in its own jus....yumminess beyond descriptions

they called this "har lork"
for me it's giant yummy umami prawns. Deep fried then cook in special homemade soya sauce.

they should just call this fist prawns bcoz it's the size of my fist. Do u know that the size of our stomach = the size of our fist? one fist of coz.

You'll be surprise that this restaurant also makes really good peasant food...such as this hakka stuffed tofu. Ipoh has got one of the best tofu thanks to its "hard water", high in mineral content.

Who can resist these babies? :)))

Don't let this dish betrayed you for its looks. It may be lacking in presentation but full in flavors. Comfort food of slow braised yam and pork belly. 

Monkey and her Yoshitomo Nara iPhone cover. Was so happy to have visited his art exhibition recently in Hong Kong that I had to own his books and merchandises.

"JS does she look like me???"

JS told me, looked more like this painting by Yoshitomo Nara
-_-"
geeee thanks....I didn't know that the perception of myself in your mind is as such....with evil gangsta eyes and flaring nostrils. Okie readers, bcoz I am so in love with Nara, I will dedicate a special posting to him :))

Yeah both of us agreed that she's definitely not one year old!!!!

Make a wish or plenty of wishes....and I saw picture of my ciggie box there -_-" ishhhh

Caden said "no eyes see" coz she's definitely not one year old!!!!

Thank you guys!!!! Such a great celebration with loved ones and amazing food and wines...and champagnes *hic*

Stunning line-up all prepared and curated by Mr. JS. He managed to dig out 2 bottles of magnums bcoz there's almost 20 of us, Yeah only 6 person gave permission to be photographed, the rest of the guests just X-ed themselves.

Kee Kee went to the famous stall nearby and got us these crispy apom for desserts. The fragrant nose of coconut milk soon penetrated our senses. When he bought in hundreds, everyone commented it's impossible to finish.....but.....all gone...and friends added that it must be consumed while it's still warm and crispy on the edges. Hence the speed of consumption...chomp chomp nom nom -_-"

and we paired it with a bottle of Chateau d'Yquem.....perfect end to our dinner.

Thank you my dearest friends for such a great birthday celebration. I ate and drank so much *hopefully I've gained back my weight!!!* Monkey is so blessed to have them in her life. Love always :)))

by the way my favourite restaurant in Ipoh is :)))))

Mun Chong Seafood Restaurant or

Pusing Public Seafood Restaurant
57-65 Jalan Verasamy,

Ipoh, Perak.

Tel: +605 241 9348

Catch-up session with the gang

These days, the world just got smaller without borders anymore. You could be at one place in the morning and another by noon and fly over to another destination for the evening. In fact the saying goes of having breakfast at A then late lunch at B before proceeding to C for dinner could actually happen all thanks to the convenience of air travels and globalisation. So the world is really small.

A few weeks ago, we had a gathering of different people from different part of the globe. Malaysians who have been residing in Hong Kong for years, or Shanghainese who calls Singapore her home or a Japanese couple whom traveled endlessly I don't really know where their homes are.

Ellen who enjoys her wines as much as her travels :))))

Madame herself who's half Korean half Japanese but really a globe trotter. I can't recall how many languages she speaks. MW Maho plays golf from beautiful Provence to Nordic Sweden and then back to hot humid Malaysia before flying off to Tokyo to check on her houses. But she doesn't reside there.



Again, Chef Takashi was in his top form again - creating NEW dishes and some of his iconic signature dishes too. I really don't know how he does it, by keeping tab of a database of recipes vs his clients....wat the clients had and their comments + tasting notes. So 80% of the time we'll have new dishes. It's not helping that we are there at least 4 times a month, he must be scratching his head.


This one was special....MW Maho alwiz managed to surprise us with her "Surprises" it's always not what it seems....I know she's wicked. Being a MW - Master of Wines, she has all the access and knowledges to procure stunning wines and basically all the good stuffs which were unheard of. Let's keep it that way to keep the prices down.


A guest brought this beautiful 1982 bordeaux. Considered to be a young label though the history dated from 1725. It was once split into 2 families through generations of inheritance before being re-united again. Again due to globalisation and commercialisation, it is no longer own by the same family. These days, it's hard to find companies being own by the same family after so many generations of savoir faire.


Cote Rotie from the beautiful Rhone Valley :)))
brought back memories of our trip there 6 months ago.

I know, we are really blessed with all these experiences.
of amazing friends, good health, beautiful journeys that we brushed through everyday :)))) Whichever way it is, you yourself gotta make it happen. Agree?

Fat plump japanese rice, served with lobster and a special secret sauce. Being Asian, I need my carbs. hehehehehe.

None of us are really sweets person, so dessert is usually simple and refreshing.

Look at all the contended and happy faces :))) Hahahaha But most of all, everyone was still feasting on the wines at the end of the meal. I look forward to our next catch-up, which is errr...tonite? hehehehehe.