FOOD...GLORIOUS FOOD - KAK YANI & TEAK 5

The day after we went to Ariani, I was again invited, together with Mimie the Tulipot, by Niza and Kak Siti (and her Honda City) to go in search of "Dzara", another shop selling tudung. It was located in one of the shophouses in front of the Surian Condominiums. The tudung shop was ok but as the prices were also "HOKAY", so again I sat and watched as my friends did their best to assist the country's economy...Ha! Ha! Ha!.

On our way up (the tudung shop was on the top floor of the shophouse), we noticed a shop which we thought was selling high end teak furniture. We decided to check it out on our way out. Surprise, surprise...it's a restaurant cum furniture shop, something akin to Mum's Place. So again promises to come and sample the cuisine one day.

This time Niza the Sunflower beat me to it. She went there the same day for her buka puasa. Bila dengar cerita dia the next day, perasaan I pun meluap-luap untuk try it out. So I took my hubby there one Friday night, just before he had to do his programme (I am married to a penerbit rancangan with klFM, it's one of the 32 radio stations operated by RTM - check out Paparay and Haji World from 9.00 pm to 11.00 pm on Fridays. Paparay is mine, Haji World belongs to someone else, a pleasant lady with three beautiful offsprings).

Nice, not to mention expensive, decor. Not quite the place for young, uncontrollable kids. Some of the items on display are breakable and are very-very expensive, so unless daddy has really deep pockets, it should only be visited by mummy and daddy sans children. Of course if you have angels then it should be alright, but if you have a "taufan Katrina" in the making...then as Nabil said "lu pikir la sendiri".

Loads to choose from but decided to settle on the Set B for two (based on Niza's comments, this is suppossed to be good). It has....two plates of white rice, one plate of kangkung goreng cili, two pieces of ayam sunda, one plate of telur goreng dadar, ikan cencaru sambal, sotong goreng kunyit, two bowls of soup of the day (on the day we visited it was soto) and two dessert (sago gula melaka). We then added two drinks...my ribena thingy (have forgotten the name) and something similar to mango lassi for my husband.

Nampak tak betapa penuhnya meja, mind you meja ni can sit 6 people. The yellow green drink in the glass tumbler with the straw sticking out is my husband's mango lassi. The purplish drink in the glass tumbler beside it is my ribena which my hubby demolished!

The Ayam Sunda.

The soup of the day which came with the set. We had soto. When Niza the Sunflower ate there, it was crab meat soup. Sedap...

The ikan cencaru lentik.

The sotong goreng yang sesangatlah "yummy" nya!

Well...what can I say...kali ini BUKAN indah khabar dari rasa...SEMEMANGNYA indah rasa. Husband I sampai tersandar. We could not finish the food. Did not even touch the kangkung, ayam sunda and sago gula melaka. Bukan sebab tak sedap, tapi portion dia besar, so after finishing the rice, the sotong (yang tersangatla sedapnya tu), the cencaru, the telur and the soup there was no space for anything else!

We met the owner, Kak Yani, born in Indonesia, raised in Singapore, living currently in Malaysia. She is very friendly. She said she was surprised that we took the Set B as the portion meant for two can actually feed three or even four (if you are light eaters).

We packed the rest and added one nasi putih. Mana la tau lapar pulak nanti. Kak yani was nice enough to show us around her shop. You can actually go walk through the shop as it sort of has a double enttrance both front and back, both equally well decorated. If you are one of those who prefer to have your meal ala-ala kampung, you can "bersila" all you want in the RM18,000.00 wakaf at the back entrance. Or you can choose any of the elegant teak furniture to rest your derrierre on.

Actually, I wanted to try the "Ayam Penyet" which is a house specialty. But as it is so popular, it was finished by the time we arrived. nevermind, a good excuse to visit "Teak 5" and Kak Yani with her delicious array of dishes again.

While we were there, two men in bush jackets arrived carrying several "balang" of cookies. We were allowed to sample the cookies, named "BIARLAH RAHSIA". Sedap...so we bought a "balang". If you ever find yourself in "Teak 5", get Kak Yani to tell you the story behind the name of the cookie, and buy a "balang". Believe me it's worth every sen of the RM38.00 that you have to pay for it.

So give Kak Yani a visit sometime.

FOOD...GLORIOUS FOOD - THE CHINA EXPERIENCE.

We are on a roll here!!! Let's continue talking about food. Well, one rather overcast afternoon, I was invited by Niza and Kak Siti to join them on an expedition to seek out the new "Ariani Boutique" in Kota Damansara.

When we arrived the sky was dark and threatening to rain. There was a strong wind blowing, macam kat over the sea.....waaaaaaa!!!!!!! Den terimbau konangan silam....masa muda-muda dulu....

Anyways, the shop was nice, uncluttered, the air-conditioning working well (heh, sejuk...best! best!) and the scrafs were to die for! Semuanya in pastel colours, so sheer and pretty. Tetapi harganya pun agak pretty jugak...so...pendamkan la dulu hasrat untuk memiliki.

Alahai, ni dah lari topik ni. Well, after Niza the Sunflower did her bit for the country's economy (dia shopping la) we all piled into Kak Siti's Honda City (cute kan? Siti's Honda City) and on our way back, Kak Siti drove past this Chinese Muslim Restaurant - Dong Yi Shun. Semua orang pun berjanji untuk makan di situ satu hari nanti.

Malam tu, my hubby and I faced our usual problem...nak makan kat mana? So, feeling rather adventurous (which was quite a gamble as my hubby is quite finicky when it comes to food, can you believe it, he hates pasta and is not too partial to cheese), I drove off to Kota Damansara and we parked the car right in front of the restaurant. We were greeted by a young indonesian girl who ushered us to our seats. She then brought us the menu. Like Mum's Place we were spoilt for choice, the menu was vast. Thank Allah, the girl was able to give suggestions and could answer our questions regarding the dishes.

This is a photo of the main entrance. Sorry the name (in neon lights) is unclear...mine is but a cameraphone from the lower caste of the NOKIA hierachy.


This was the bill...just to confirm the name of the restaurant. It's rather smudgy...blame it on the good food.

We finally ordered : two plates of white rice, 2 glasses of longan (I then added a glass or apple juice...yummy!), a plate of sizzling black pepper beef, a plate of crispy abalone and a plate of spicy garoupa. The beef arrived first, sizzling and spitting away on its plate whih is in the shape of a bull...don't believe me, check out the photos.

The beef dish...spitting away.

'Allo hombre, it's ze bull's head...now you believe me?

We were hungry, so we belasah the beef first...sedap! Then the abalone arrived, pun sedap, tatsed like chicken tapi lagi best, and finally the garoupa.....hmmmmm.......pun sedap jugak. Here comes the photos!

The abalone...not to be eaten alone as the portion is huge, even by my standards!

The Garoupa....kurang rupa tapi sedap rasa.

While we were satisfying our hunger, a malay couple and their teenage daughter watched us. Then the man approached us and introduced himself as the owner. Asked us about the food, we said it was good. Seems that the owner used to work in China, and he was introduced to the restaurant. When he came back home, he decided to take on the franchise and opened a restaurant at The Summit. Two years later they decided to open a branch at Kota Damansara and alhamdulillah, my hubby and I were given the opportunity to enjoy the food. The manager of the shop in Kota Damansara is actually the son or is he the son-in-law (I forget) of the actual owners in China.

My thirst quenching apple juice...so cool and delicious.

The food is different from the usual chinese fare you get here in Malaysia. It's rather spicy and quite appealing to the palate. Should try it sometime...it's in Kota Damansara, housed in one of those brown buidings just in front of the Kota Damansara Giant Hypermarket (unfortunately I gave the flyers to a friend and can't give the actual address here). The food is good, the decor brings to mind the chinese coffee shops of yore, and the price will not take the joy out of the meal. So go on then, give it a try next time you are lost in the ever winding maze that is Kota Damansara.

FOOD....GLORIOUS FOOD!

It's me again. I think I'll talk about food today. Everybody else's blog seems to have such photos, so I think I'll give it a go. I love going out to eat as I luuuuurrrrrvvvvveeee food...muah! Muah! Muah! (to food). However I never thought about taking photos of the places I go to eat at. Then I saw a few other blogs and decided maybe I'll give it a go....but seriously I probably won't be doing this on a regular basis. Pure laziness folks...and the fact that I (still) don't have internet connection at home or own a card reader (have to do something about that soon).

MUM'S PLACE IN DAMANSARA PERDANA

I read about this place on Sunflower's blog. Seemed like a swell place and the photo of the masak asam pedas made my mouth water like Niagara Falls (have to go there someday). So off we went, my hubby and I, my mouth in a "muncung" which would have accomodated twelve reels of ribbon (we had a fight....what else is new).

We were early (I think) and had no problem with parking. A word of advice, try to park near the entrance of the restaurant. You will appreciate it when you waddle out of the place, your tummy distended with good food.

So we walked in, hmmm.....nice furniture....I cannot afford any of it...

Ketika menunggu makanan, perkara yang bermain-main di fikiran suami ku.."Biar la bini aku ni tak buat perangai merengek nak kerusi meja kat sini plak, habis botak aku nanti....."

You see the restaurant is also the showroom for the furniture that is being sold so you can buy the actual chair that you are seating on. All the very imported one, hokay, very the classy, classy, classic with loads and loads of ukiran like that. They even have a full size marble statue of a woman with certain parts of her anatomy (ehem!) anatomy exposed. I sat facing the statue but soon forgot about her...babes and gents, no half naked marble statue can compete with a Jenahak, 'kay, the Jenahak will always win.

The half-naked statute. I made sure my hubby did not sit facing it.

The gorgeous and so sexy Jenahak masak Asam Pedas Parit Jawa.

The waiters and waitresses were friendly and good. We were attended to by one malay girl. Fulamak....rambang mata tengok menu...lapar pulak tu so sifat-sifat tamak tu pun mula menular.....

We ordered: one air bandung, one lime juice (Piau beb!), two nasi putih, one regular masak asam pedas Parit Jawa (Ikan Jenahak), one regular terung goreng cili padi, one regular tomyam seafood and one regular sotong goreng.

Kali pertama merasa the limau juice...sedap...hilang kewarasan fikiran sekejap!

Gambar yang senonoh sedikit...after my sanity returned...heh! Heh!

The waitress smiled and gave us some very sound advice..."Portion ni besar, takut tak habis nanti"......maka bertelagah la perasaan tamak dengan perasaan tak nak membazir.

Alhamdulillah, tak nak membazir menang....so we axed the sotong.

I sat next to this "young lady" who was probably praying that I will remember not to minta nasi tambah...unfortunately her prayers were not answered...so...nasi tambah please!

Didn't have to wait long, the dishes arrived and we started eating (Allah knows I was hungry like a Lycan by then). Ya Allah, heaven.......memang sedap. No wonder Raja Nazrin of Perak, Tun Che Det, Pak Lah, Tengku Adenan (former minister) and several celebs have eaten here. I append herewith the photos...of the food and my hungry hubby enjoying it.

The WALL OF FAME...photos of the who's who in Malaysia who have satisfied their hunger (for food only, 'kay) at Mum's Place in Damansara Perdana.

What we ordered.

Terung goreng cili...closer view.

Tom yam seafood.

My hubby enjoying the food and washing it all down with his "Air Bandung Cincau".

Ya Allah, lapar betul rupanya suami aku!

The whole meal cost us about RM101/-. Some may say its a bit pricey for three dishes and two drinks, but it was worth every single sen, anyways it was Jenahak. I am going back there again, this time I'm bringing my ayah and ibu along.

Needless to say, I waddled out of the reataurant hand in hand with my hubby, in good spirits...the "muncung" forgotten and discarded in the pinggan with whatever was left of the Jenahak.

Tulang-tulang berselerakan...

To the people at Mum's Place...keep up the good work! Kudos to you guys. And a big thank you to the lady who attended to us and made the experience even more pleasurable. I did not get her name. But if you have the chance to go to Mum's Place and you see a malay waitress, slightly plump, wears her hair in a ponytail and a pleasant smile, then she's the one.

THE INJURED WAJA PART 2 - SARGEANT CANCER

It's been some time but I am back. There are a lot of things that I want to add but I just did not have the time. Kengkadang saje malas kot. Well, as stated above, this is still about the fateful day we had a an accident with a motorcyslist and his pillion rider.

So, here goes...after not being able to get the Moonlighting Bombaman to pay us any compensation we decided to make a police report. We went to the Police Station in Kampung Baru but was instructed to go to the Police Station in !@#$%^&*>. I CANNOT MENTION THE ACTUAL LOCATION, i MIGHT GET SUED FOR DEFAMATION. aNYWAYS, THE ACTIONS OF A FEW DOES NOT REFLECT THE ATTITUDE OF THE WHOLE STATION.

We arrived at the station and I had to take my number from this machine which was guarded by a young policeman in very tight pants. I am not being funny ok, he was sitting in a very laid back manner, both legs far apart...I think he was trying to make a point or maybe he was just trying to impress us with his "other firearm". Pleeeeeeaaaaseeeeeee....la Bro, orang tengah tensen, TAK ADER MAKNANYA OK! Gaya poyo jer, rasa nak sumbat nombor tu dalam mulut dia. Sorry la, orang lain punya blog penuh dengan suasana gumbira, I punya ni ganas sikit 'kay. Biasa la, I never conformed to the norm, always marching to the beat of a different drummer, always taking the path less trodden. OK, enough, enough....

So when my number came up, I went before this pakcik, agaknya dia ni tinggal dua tiga hari lagi nak pencen, punya lah menaip satu-satu...took him a good forty five minutes to type out my less than 100 word report. Rasa nak menjerit!!!!!! Then I was told that I had to see Sgt. @#$%^&*!. So, duduk lagi, tunggu lagi, pakcik polis nak pencen tu dok print my report asyik salah, tunggu lagi, tak tau berapa lama, malas nak tengok jam dah, i finally got my report and Sgt. @#$%^&*! was finally free to see us.

So jeng...jeng...jeng...we had to go into the bowels of the police station (kat belakang jer sebenarnya, I am just exxagerating) , knocked on a door with the sign "Sarjen @#$%^&*!" and went into a haze of cigarette smoke. Alahai, mamat ni ker????????

Sebenarnya my hubby and I dok perhati Sgt. @#$%^&*! ni. Setiap kali dia pergi tengok kereta yang eksiden, which is every five minutes or so, dia light a ciggie. Bila balik, the ciggie would be down to its last embers (is this correct?). Kita orang sungguh terkesima dengan kerakusan dia hisap rokok. So duduklah dalam that cramped little room, with his face behind a haze of cigarettes smoke. Dia pun dengan gaya poyo bertanya soalan-soalan yang kononnya akan memerangkap I. mamat ni sungguh la MCP (Male Chauvinist Pig)! Apa pun I said dia akan twist and turn and cuba jugak nak buat I kata I caused the accident. But of course he gleefully took down the Indon's number and name...I don't want to mention the obvious. Now...do you blame people for having such a bad impression of the Police Force?

I kata I dah pasang signal, dia kata "Pasang signal jer tak cukup, you kena himpit ke kiri atau ke kanan ikut signal tu". I kata I dah himpit dah, so much so that I was on top of the white line (divider line tengah jalan tu), dia kata "Itu you cakap, I mesti tanya penunggang motor". Bila I senyum sarcastic kat dia (This is my own assumption 'kay....memang la kau nak cari dia kan, dia indon kan, kan, kan...senangla kau kan, kan, kan...), dia cepat-cepat alihkan muka and started talking to my husband. Everything that happened after that was a blur, because I was numb.

HELLO!!!!!!!! I have just been involved in a car accident, my car is a mess, I am still traumatised and you have proceeded to traumatise me further! Langsung tak people friendly! Apa la salahnya kalau berhati perut sikit. Bukan suruh pegang tangan atau bagi duit repair kereta, a little compassion will do. But hey...this is life, raw and unedited!

So, I left and drove home in another haze of tears.......and made a promise to myself and my dear beloved Waja, I will try to drive much, much better because I do not want to have to deal with them...the PULES...again. Menyakitkan hati dan perasaan jer! I know that there are a lot of fine upstanding PULES out there, but these few bad apples gives the whole force A BAD NAME!