Maiden quest for Sitiawan Kampung Koh Chilli Sauce

Ngo Kia Jong which stands for NKJ, is today's trademark acronym for the famous bottled sauce recipe which was originally started by Ngo Kie Swee in 1969 .

Sweet , sour , spicy and tangy , it has gotten most of us hooked till no siew mai or loh mai kai is complete without a small saucer of this sauce by the side .

Plan b. - no prawn behind The Big stone

There is a Malay idiom that goes something like this 

" Ada udang di sebalik batu "

Literally translated , it means 

" There's a prawn behind the stone "

What that means is that one should be wary and expect a motive or trick preceeding an act or offer of goodwill or in this case a fat bait cast outwards that seems to good to be true .

Yep , when I saw this offer on facebook just now , I stared at it for quite a while before I starting scanning the comments section for some spirit sterilising input .

There was none .

So I called up the outlet and enquired about the timing . Oh boy we had to rush . Last call was around 9ish and we had half an hour to battle the jam in Gurney Drive and get there .

Light House for Whiting at Matang

This fish is called Chia Hu in Penang but in this particular shop , the lady called it Chiam Hui or something to that effect .

Otherwise known as the Whiting , this is a surface fish which takes the bait easily . However , the body is filled with a lot of scales so even if we purchased it at the wetmarket , descaling will take up a backbreaking portion of preparation time before one merely needs to salt and place it in a wok of bubbling oil .

To make life easier , this is why we prefer to eat it outside .

A Daiso winter

Regular Daiso customers know one thing . That is winter is soon approaching and here are some essential supplies you might need to ready yourself for it 

# 1 . Hand and Body Warmer

Update : Does not work for below zero . The heat is very slight and minimal and it takes a long time to build up .

Never used this before .

Yet I'm gonna give it a try .

It's a little early however I'm snapping 2 packets up before it totally disappears from the shelves and then I'd have to go loco going from store to store searching for it .

6666 for Nasi Padang

This semi makeshift restaurant has been operating for the past 3 years already and the prices are so reasonable , it left me speechless when they passed us a chit of paper with the total bill amount scribbled on it . 

I'll begin by listing out my favourite dishes then show you what the shop looks like at the end .

Bergedil .

 Finely mashed potatoes with teeny weeny chunks of beef and celery embedded in a pattie that's deep fried with a thin egg batter coat .

Packed , fragrant and delicious , I absolutely love this as the few places that serve bergedil in Penang seem to be slacking these days . Don't be surprised to get some that are swimming in oil , coated in chewy batter and as well as those that fall apart when you try to lift it up  .

This one's good .

Malaysian Witch doctor cures

Ever wonder what a Malaysian witchdoctor can cure ? 

Look below .

Like To Wait on this road ?

Jalan means Road .

Whereas Suka Menanti means Like To Wait .

The fact that there really is such a road sure is funny as hell .

I'm thinking that maybe there's a lot of traffic lights on this stretch . Or perhaps it is perpetually jammed .

Whatever it is , if I'm on it , I probably won't stick my head out of the window and yell at the top of my lungs that 

" I Like To Wait " on that particular road 

( sure sounds like an eternity )

Maybelline - Vivid 2 Neon Pink

You are slitty eyed , slightly tanned , above 40 , maybe as tacky as me .

You probably dye or bleach your long hair also , and perhaps you're also looking at some ugh shades of polish .

Hmmmmmm .... what next .

This bebeh ....I tried it and if you fit the description above to a tee , this is what you need next in your arsenal .

Vivid 2 Neon Pink from Maybelline under the Color Sensationals range .

Henry Restaurant - Bukit Panchor

We had a choice . Between Heng Lee or Henry just a few doors down .

Heng Lee has Southern Thai chefs ( which could mean that foods would have a lot of sugar thrown in ) while Henry seemed to attract silver haired  customers . 

At around the same time , a car full of Ah Beng and Ah Lian occupants spilled out and rushed towards Henry . That decided it then , we would follow suit  . 

The instant they sat down , a humungous platter of crabs was served . Talk about fast service . I guess they must have placed their order via telephone first .

Anyway , the man who took our order was patient as well as polite . Other really good thing I noticed about this restaurant is , they're not stuck up in the least and won't pull a face if you want to order less or have just a one dish meal .

However , when the first of the 2 dishes arrived , we took one look at the size of the prawn and thought to ourselves ....

" die already , sure kena chop wan " 

Inside was 6 numbers of medium sized ( pek heh )prawns , plus one big slice of fish , a few pieces of squid and okra in claypot curry

Boy were we wrong .

When we got the bill , this was listed as RM 30 only !

Look before you eat

He's the one that usually goes and gets the snacks and goodies .

And it was also him that cut it open .

He popped one into his mouth and then I put my uninvited hand in the opening to fish out one for myself .

As I was proving to be a distraction , he shoved the pack in my direction .

That's when I peered in and ....gasp !!!!

Oh mai gawds !!!!!

Is that what I think it is ? 

Is that a fingernail ???????

Tried to fish it out but it fell to the bottom . Thus I had to take all the contents out to see if it really was what I thought it was .

Monsoon season

I used to dread the monsoon season until I went to Mumbai .

Never looked at rain the same way again after that .

Still most Malaysians will immediately feel a bit under the weather when the skies pour down mercilessly and ruin our shoes through and through . We will grumble and mutter and should we be caught in the midst of dining out in the open , we will run helter skelter and take our plates with us to the nearest sheltered place possible .

Guess the rain came too quick today .

The irony of our flag twisted above the motley of abandoned tables is not lost on me .....

Ampang Yong Taufu in Penang

 Many years ago ( not so good with recalling exact numbers so I'll put it around 10 years ago ) , I found this stall at a foodcourt just behind the Shell station at the Tun Dr Awang roundabout in Bayan Lepas .

Beside them was the Sabah Pan Mee operator which became so successful that today they have taken up an entire shoplot a few doors down from the Kampar fishball outlet near the Queensbay roundabout .

Eyah ....kindly read that again . That is Penang today for you . People come from everywhere and they offer all that familiar hometown comfort foods to outstationers who now call Penang , home .

Nee wayyy , after a long goose chase I have finally , finally , fiiiiinally located them tucked away in Taman Sri Nibong at the second kopitiam just opposite Goh Teo Kee .

In the paper today

With this picture finally out in the newspapers , I hope that the tiny state of Perlis will finally be seen as destination challenge by our local shutterbugs out there .

KSB Cahaya New Abu - finally , some real mamak food

You have absolutely no idea how difficult it is to find a good mamak stall selling yummy roti canai , mee goreng and maggi sup , at night , in Georgetown these days .

 A lot of the former haunts now rely on factory produced roti canai dough which tastes really awful and the cooks under their employment have tastebuds that are world's apart from us regular Malaysians hence the decline in orders , when it comes to those 3 dishes .

Until you swing into Macalister Lane .

It's close to 11 pm but this quiet lane is filled with hungry owls  .

A scene that is increasingly rare nowadays . 

Waaaaaaa.....will you take a look at the beaming crowd ?

2

  2 million views on Google+ ladies and gentlemen , boys and girls .

Kellogg's Cornflakes - 110th Anniversary heritage tin

Isn't 2016 turning out to be a bumper year for the tin collector ?

Released just in time for Deepavali , there are a total of 4 designs for you to drop your saliva into your big mixing bowl over ! 

Your amma or pati will love you to death if you get this for them with your pocket money haha . And then they'd shower all the guests with get extra murukku and more mutton curry than you can eat . Yay ! Win win for everyone .

First up .

Boy and his pet doggie having fun together . Oooo ....whooshhhh . Hold on tight .

If you don't mind me saying , that's a pretty updated hairstyle for a boy from the golden age . 

Cute

This notebook was sitting pretty on a shelf just now .

It turned me into one of those annoying morons who like to read the obvious out loud 

( poor staff behind the register , wonder how many times a day she comes across peeps like muah ? Awwww too bad , I just got to read it out loud )

Pink is to Candy

She is nothing like you have ever seen before . The mere mention of her name will elicit an immediate sort of response from those involved in the West Coast tourism industry . Everyone knows who she is . 

Except me at the time .

Honestly , I was so shocked when I first met her . From the hair to her choice of togs ( at her age ! ) to her flower petalled clogs and her bag , plus her nail colour oh wow .... I was really in a daze even though I myself like the colour Pink and Hello Kitty stuff .

There is a Jenaka in the Celaka

For some reason or other , koochi moochi read this page out loud .

After my ears started bleeding 

, I snatched the book from him and then my eyes nearly popped out .

Found fault with the word

 " Kecelakaan "

 in this language guidebook meant for Chinese school students .

 Co written by a Malay lady and Chinese lady mind you , the word 

" kemalangan " would have been more appropriate . 

If both authors really found the need to utilise the word Kecelakaan , it shouldn't have been repeated so many times .

7 times to be exact . 

That's not just way too many times , that is plain and downright Celaka kali tujuh .

Caramel blues

First it was Lawin , now they're saying Haima is up next . As far as I'm concerned we're kind of feeling the effects too in Penang .

It's been two whole days of incessant rain and while it is nice and cold with Penang Hill covered in fine mist , I'm feeling a wee bit blue . 

Time to drag out my stash of nail polish and play around with some colours .

Blue polish . Maybelline Color Show Shocking Seas # 303 to be exact . Wow what logic . I am ditzy . I am . 

Yeah , I'm feeling pretty colourful lately , even took to wearing an indecent shade of orangey pink on my puckers lately . So not gonna show you . Because it IS truly indecent . Very wettish and icky at the same time .

Waterfall under a flyover

 So glad I went for my spa session yesterday and really so thankful that the weather was just so beautiful for me to snap pics of 

because whaddaya know , it's been pouring the entire day today .

Anyway , we went ahead and carried on as usual despite the strong winds and all that .

As we were making our way towards the airport , past the Tun Dr Awang Roundabout , this " waterfall " appeared right under the flyover .

The water didn't go through the downpipe but instead it flowed out from the expansion joint .

CHI The Spa - Rasa Sayang

It was blazing hot one minute with scattered showers the next but that did not matter as whatever the weather is like outside , this spot provides the perfect refuge for you to leave it all behind .

Sky catering meal options

It's never a pretty sight when a vegetarian flyer gets served a meat laden meal onboard .

There will be a volcanic outburst that could cause some minor turbulence should you be within earshot .

While I've never given much thought to it , I never realised that meals onboard aren't just confined to a 

" Would you like the fish / chicken / beef or vegetarian ? "

Imagine if the stewardess would have to rephrase that to the following ...

Asian Vegetarian ? Bland ? Child ?Diabetic ? Fruit ? Gluten free ? Hindu non vegetarian ? Low Calorie ?

Nope . I'm not finished yet .

There's more !

Low Fat , Low Cholesterol ?

Low Sodium ? Non lactose ? Oriental vegetarian ? Raw vegetarian ? Lacto ovo vegetarian ? Jain vegetarian ? Non dairy vegetarian ?

Little Dragon Puffs in a bamboo steamer - Din Tai Fung

I love the set up of this restaurant . Clean lines , with guzheng and erhu music lilting softly in the background .Slightly spiffy but not too stiffling  , the staff approach is one that maintains a distance , is professionally non judgemental , yet remains attentive and quick to attend to every one of our needs and wants .

Makes you feel as if you fit right in , with thoughtful , polite diners that take care not to raise their voice to too many decibels .....my kinda place alright  .

Thanks boys

Thanks for the single rose and your presence 

Thanks for the half a dozen " special order " stems , your wishes , your love and your kisses 

Chef Zam ' s Breakfast Ideas recipe booklet by Mission

Fans of 

Chef Zam , will surely be as excited as I was when I first saw this booklet tucked behind the free gift counter .

 Of course , you'll need to purchase some Mission products first but it's worth it because the recipes are creative , plus the accompanying pictures are quite stunning !

Drop that defence shield

Update : 

Am sticking to my guns and firing the first shot back . Have just contacted the customer careline to file in a complaint . The manager will be alerted on the matter . Hopefully this harassment stops . If it doesn't I will start taking their pictures and post it up here .

Was at the hypermart just now . Wanted to get some sardines and white bread to make sardine sandwiches .

Something I picked up in my teens after asking the enthusiastic Celeste for tips on how to make it like the one she brought to pot luck .

( Ya ...dis iz mahkehreil , I know , still ai like to call eeet sahrdeens )

Nepalese cooks ....what next ?

Would you believe it if I told you that this entire Malaysian Chinese meal , was cooked by Nepalese chefs in Penang ?

It was good , tasty and wholesome yet I still cannot get over the fact that a good number of them can cook better than today's local hotel chefs and many of us women .

Geez.

Whatever laws the Penang state government has put in motion , it's useless as these foreign chefs seem to be an increasing fixture in the chu cha and dimsum kitchens . 

First it began with the Thais , then Banglas , followed by a regretful period of terrible cooks who should NOT be given any licence to cook from ( 2 countries which I don't want to name because one of those are known to be super siew hei ) and now omg , now we have the Nepalese entering the fray  . Fast learners who can deliver the desired results !

Lai Foong serves Hainanese Beef Noodles with kiam chye bits

While in KL the other day , I took the opportunity to take a quick nip into Lai Foong .

Bad cookie , bad , bad cookie

Got my first free cookie from the Earl of Sandwich followed by another at PH Starbucks .

Thinking back , that was a very clever  American marketing ploy indeed but a huge mistake on my part . I should've chucked both aside . By nibbling , I never realised what I would be getting myself into .

Projek Nasi Lemak - Jalan Dato Keramat

We're parked here . I've heard of Projek Nasi Lemak but I must have got this mixed up with a charitable cause because I don't think this and that are one and the same .

I'm talking about one where a Malay girl is giving out free nasi lemak to the poor in Armenian Street. This place on the other hand, is a business enterprise operated by a Chinese boss , near Jaya on Dato' Keramat .

World's apart . I just wrongly presumed it was the same and that if I came and ate here I would be supporting her cause .

Never mind . It happens . My bad .

Have you seen Barbie lately ?

Rather have you taken a good look at her face ?

Big Dad , Poor Kid

Pretty sure I was number 5 in line at the gate .

Then all of a sudden a boy ( I'd say he's around 11 years old ) he nudges me and asks me some question in Mandarin .

Oh man . So , I turn to the steward ( somehow MAS stewards seem to be the hottest just not this airline...boringsss )

and ask him to assist the boy ( because duuuh my Mandarin is par hopeless )

That boy ( whom I wrongly thought was from China due to his size ) he tells him this in Malay .

You made this happen

Dear readers and people who constantly drop by .

You .

Yes you made this happen .

This photo was taken at a newspaper headquarters in the capital city which saw me rubbing shoulders with the who's who , who was in attendance . And I was there because ....well read on .

Ah Soon Kor Har Mee - Carnavon Street

Never have I come across old Japanese men patronising any local Hokkien Mee stall until just now .

The soup though teeming with rich prawn flavour is so much more oilier than other versions of Hokkien Mee on the island , that it looks so wrong  but of course it tastes so darned good lah otherwise why you think the Japanese would eat it , no ? 

Even then , notwithstanding the fact that I am one of his fans , I was still very surprised to see with my own four eyes that Ah Soon Kor has managed to snare at least one foreigner in his apron .

Toxic century eggs , flat salted eggs

How odd .

Just the other day I had the most unsalty , insignificant tasting salted egg at a nasi kandar outlet and today at a lohbak stall ,

the century egg so beautifully segmented and laid before our eyes , has no pungent smell nor flavour associated to it .

 It's flat . Flat as the back of a Chinese cleaver , with no flavour whatsoever. Doesn't smell sharp , sooooo odd .

BreadKing - M Mall

Had my first taste of Bread King's sausage bun and yummy donuts at their E-Gate branch .

At the time , we were hungry yet in such a rush , so we ate one of each on the spot and raved over how divinely soft and scrumptious they were . Following day , we decided to takeaway more items , but by the time we got back , the flavour had sort of changed a little bit . Which was not only disappointing but also caused me to

 think of their products as grossly overpriced unless one managed to get them hot from the oven .

As I can't be staking out their premise all the time , the dining option at M Mall is exactly up my alley .

Nope , I'm not talking about the bakery , rather , it's the existence of an open kitchen that's got me all excited .

Prepared fresh and served piping hot with quality ingredients one would expect to come out of a 5 star hotel instead of a mall bakery , this certainly isn't our first visit .

We're back for the Mushroom Soup Set served with a whole loaf of garlic bread that is still warm by the time it gets to our table , I swear that this is as good as French pumpkin soup .