Mimi Nguyen Cafe

J-01-04 Jalan PPK 1

Taman Kinrara

47100 Puchong

Coordinates: 3.059103, 101.640962

We were in Puchong running an errand and stumbled on this place that boasted authentic Vietnamese cuisine. We were sold on the idea, and walked in purposefully.

The ambiance and décor was testament to its authenticity, and the personnel were actual Vietnamese as well.

unassuming facade belied what was in store

the decor got us hooked

For appetisers we tried the ¹Banh Beo while for the main course Brendan, Cat and I unanimously went for the Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup.

¹small steamed round rice cake with dried shrimp dipped in sweet and sour sauce

jasmine tea hit the spot

banh beo

Brendan, Cat and I

ordered the same thing

vietnamese beef  noodle soup

ulam (salad) 

Perusing the place, I noticed other patrons having a quite ravishing cup of Vietnamese-styled coffee so I followed suit.

irresistible!

The verdict? This ‘café’ which seemed more like restaurant is run by actual Vietnamese so the dishes served were authentic. Though not falling within the category of the everyday food for the everyday man it’s a welcomed occasional distraction.

Joe Wong Bak Kut Teh

No. 1 & 3, Jalan Segambut Tepi

51200 Kuala Lumpur

Coordinates: 3.145029, 101.711230

We have a particular penchant for ¹Bak Kut Teh (BKT for short). This cholesterol laden pot of black gold is an obsession is hard to shake. After reading rave reviews online we were hard-pressed not to give Joe Wong BKT a try.

¹a Chinese soup that literally means "meat bone tea", and at its simplest, consists of meaty pork ribs simmered in a complex broth of herbs and spices (including star anise, cinnamon, cloves, dang gui, fennel seeds and garlic) for hours. Additional ingredients may include offal, varieties of mushroom, choy sum, and pieces of dried tofu or fried tofu puffs. Additional Chinese herbs may include yu zhu (玉竹, rhizome of Solomon's Seal) and ju zhi (buckthorn fruit), which give the soup a sweeter, slightly stronger flavour. Light and dark soy sauce are also added to the soup during cooking and garnished with chopped coriander or green onions and a sprinkling of fried shallots, and usually eaten with rice.

If you have been following our blog you would have noticed a trend developing. Living in Subang we used to frequent Yu Kee, while trying out other establishments that serve BKT as well.

Joe Wong BKT is a newly found eatery and is pretty tricky to locate if you are not properly guided by GPS. It shares a mutual premise with the God of Prosperity Temple here in Segambut. After parking our car at the temple premises we walked to the back but not before passing by a few tables hosting a rather noisy session of ²Mahjong.

²a tile-based game played with a set of 144 tiles based on Chinese characters and symbols that originated in China during the Qing dynasty. It is commonly played by four players. Similar to the Western card game rummy it is a game of skill, strategy, and calculation and involves a degree of chance.

The exterior may not be charming or appealing but we did not come here for its aesthetics. What mattered was the herbal broth they prepared.

unassuming

simple

deceptively excellent

Scanning their menu, we decided on a pot of BKT and with the proprietress’ insistence we gave the Herbal Chicken Soup a try as well.

our new-found love: herbal chicken soup

BKT: black gold

to wash it all down

bon appetit

What can we say? Brendan who is a hard person to pleased was completely enamoured with the BKT, while Cat and I fell head over heels for the Herbal Chicken Soup. The taste, aroma and texture of meat was exquisite and although a bit pricy (the entire meal cost us RM57) we would still recommend this place to all and sundry.

Herbal broths have a new name as far as we are concerned: Joe Wong Bak Kut Teh!

Restoran Yu Yiee

97 Jalan SS 22/41

Damansara Jaya

47400 Petaling Jaya

Coordinates: 3.145029, 101.711230

Brendan was representing his school for a debate tournament at a private college nearby. Since it was still early and not wanting to venture too far off from the general vicinity we settled on having breakfast here.

a purple shop house?

the enduringly healthy alternative

Brendan ordered the ¹Pan (pronounced pahn) Mee while Cat and I had the ²Wantan Mee.

¹Hakka-style noodle, literally translates to "flat flour noodle" served in soup, together with dried anchovies, minced pork, mushrooms, and a leafy vegetable

²egg noodles tossed in oyster sauce, topped with barbecued pork, wontons (dumplings), choy sum (chinese flowering cabbage) and pickled green chilies

Brendan's Pan Mee

Cat and I...

had the Wantan Mee

the dumplings that accompany our dishes

The verdict? All of us enjoyed our noodle-based breakfast immensely, which we put down to the fact that the stall proprietors here were local Malaysians with years of experience.

prepared with loving...

Malaysian hands

And with breakfast not costing more than RM15 we would definitely recommend Yu Yiee to everyone.

Big Food Street (Closed)

(closed as of January 2016)

Bukit Bintang MUT-1(B)

Third Floor, Sungai Wang Plaza, Bukit Bintang

55100 Kuala Lumpur

Coordinates: 3.145029, 101.711230

Dropping Brendan off for his extra classes, we drove to the Bukit Bintang area since I had to buy a printer cartridge at an IT store here.

Lowyat Plaza, for all things IT and gadget-related

We parked at Sungei Wang Plaza, and since it was close to lunchtime we walked up to the third floor to try out a newly opened food court.

This so-called upmarket food court is located within Sungei Wang Plaza which is one of the oldest and still very popular shopping malls in town. Taking into account its location and foot traffic, we would think this food court would be doing rip-roaring business.

attractive front facade

hardly anyone here

This was hardly the case, and we thought maybe this food court catered to the weekday crowd. The existence of an older and more reasonably priced food stall clustered located on the rooftop could also be another factor?

I went to the Japanese stall and ordered the Chicken Teriyaki with rice while Cat tried the ¹Bee Hoon Soup. We both shared a bowl of mango flavoured ice shaving.

¹rice vermicelli soup

mango and peaches

oo la la

I tried the chicken teriyaki

my stomach was grumbling

Cat's noodle soup

let's dig in!

The verdict? The Chicken Teriyaki was okay; a little too MSG-laden for my liking while Cat’s soup was just so-so.

Since both our meals went into double digits in terms of price we wondered if this food court would be appealing enough to attract the tenants at Sungei Wang Plaza. Despite the spiraling costs of food the average person will still want to have his lunch cost no more than RM10.

We wish Big Food Street all the best.

The Long, Long Drive back to Kuala Lumpur

We’re leaving for Kuala Lumpur today. It’s been raining incessantly all of last night, but has since subsided. We left at around 9am and an hour into the drive the rain resumed, with a vengeance

About 2 hours into our drive and 110 kilometers later along Jalan Kmpung Nyior (Dungun to Paka trunk road) we encountered flash floods, and the roads were inundated with what appeared to be knee-high flood waters. We braved our way through and made it to the other side of the ‘stream’ and proceeded make our way to Kemaman.

We made a pitstop at our old favourite haunt, Kedai Kopi Hai Peng for a late breakfast.

We then continued our journey and found our usual route to Kuala Lumpur, the Lebuhraya Pantai Timur (LPT) closed since massive flooding had rendered the expressway impassable along the Chenor - Temerloh – Lanchang route. The old trunk road connecting Kuantan to Temerloh was submerged as well.

taken from a facebook page

We were advised to take the alternative route which was to head to Gambang first, then head south to Muadzam Shah, then west to Bahau before heading to Seremban before finally heading north to Kuala Lumpur.

Reaching Muadzam Shah, we stopped at a petrol station for a biological break while filling up our car with petrol in anticipation of the long detour ahead.

We reached Bahau at about 3:00PM and had a late lunch at a restaurant in Batu Kikir which was oddly called Tikey Corner. I couldn't help suppress a smile at the name and imagined its waiters and waitresses having a having a go at tiki-taka soccer while serving us.

After our meal, the car developed problems and the gear could not shift up. We were stuck at a low gear and could only travel at about 30 kilometers per hour.

A kind soul suggested that we try a workshop (Jit Sing) nearby. After almost an hour the mechanic at Jit Sing came to the conclusion that the car needed its entire gearbox replaced! We could not help but wonder if the flood waters we encountered at Jalan Kampung Nyior earlier this morning had anything to do with this?

Jit Sing unfortunately did not have a gearbox at hand, and despite calls made could not procure a set from the surrounding area. After much discussion we decided to tow the car back to Kuala Lumpur to our regular mechanic.

The tow costed RM550, while we had to take a taxi back to Kuala Lumpur as well which cost another RM110. This experience has taught us a very precious lesson: never underestimate Mother Nature's powers, and never assume knee high flood waters won't do serious damage to your vehicle.

What a way to end the year!

On The Way Kopitiam

141 Jalan Kampung Cina

20100 Kuala Terengganu

Coordinates: 5.333417, 103.132749

Its our last night here and we thought we’d spend it in Kampung Cina. We settled on a rather upmarket looking café overlooking Pulau Warisan that boasted local cuisine. Curious to see what they had to offer, we scanned the menu and placed our orders.

new (to us at least) establishment

quire a lengthy order

as we waited

assortment of beverages

Brendan had the Chicken Chop (what!?); Cat tried their Fried Squid with Rice while I sampled the Fried Rice with Mackerel. We threw in orders for the ¹Roti Paun and ²Keropok Lekor Rebus for good measure.

¹little butter buns (literally?)

²steamed fish sausage was the closest translation I could find

Brendan's Chicken Chop (sheesh!)

fish crackers

rice with squid fried in spicy sause

fried rice with mackerel

roti pa-ong

keropok lekor rebus

The verdict? To be honest, if this had been a cafe that we tried in Kuala Lumpur we'd be more than happy to give it our collective thumbs up. But since we've had the real and authentic dishes the past few days, the dishes on offer here was a little off the mark.

And since the entire meal cost us more than RM50 it hardly qualifies as the everyday food for the everyday man.

My Alma Mater(s)

My Primary (Elementary) School

Sekolah Kebangsaan Sultan Sulaiman II

(SK Sultan Sulaiman 2)

Jalan Engku Sar

20300 Kuala Terengganu

Coordinates: 5.323481, 103.140269

My Secondary (High) School

Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Sultan Sulaiman

(SMK Sultan Sulaiman)

Jalan Sultan Mahmud

20400 Kuala Terengganu

Coordinates: 5.300345, 103.163802

THIS IS OUR 300^th POST… WOOT!!!

Growing up, the schools I went to were simply called “SS2” which was my primary school, and “SS” which referred to my secondary school. Malaysia modeled its education system on the British, so we had no in between ‘middle’ school. From the ages of 7 to 12 I went to a primary school, and from the ages of 13 to 17 I went to a secondary school. Simple, right?

So, in taking a walk down memory lane let’s start with SS2, shall we?

despite the rather lengthy name...

its still SS2 to me

its the school holidays, which explains it being quiet

this school hall was after my time

while this was here since the 70s

its still just SS2 to me

I sense that although things look the same it somehow feels different at the same time. Can’t seem to put my finger on it.

the wooden building is gone

Ah, I get it now. In the photo above do you see a concrete structure to the right of the main gate. When I started schooling here aged 7 my Standard 1 class was a wooden building (which doubled as the old school hall) where that concrete structure now stands. I remember vaguely being sick and vomiting in class, and feeling faint all at once. I slept while waiting for the school to call my Dad to come pick me up, and the next thing you know the entire class was vacated. I guess the stench of my vomit was pretty vile!

We’re heading to SS next.

school assembly every Sunday morning

just as I remembered it

my Form 1 block

walkway leading to the main blocks

view from the other end

walkway to the Form 1 block

Located along the bustling Jalan Sultan Mahmud road although on the outskirts of town this was (and still is) one of the premier non-boarding schools in the state. Apart from trying to achieve academic excellence, SS also strived to be the best at all local school sports events as well.

no, my camera was not over saturated

the school is painted in this yellow/orange hue

my Form 5 block

it was a dark and soggy day

hallowed grounds

another view of my Form 1 block

the girls dormitory

the 'astaka or pavilion facing the school field'

the basketball cum volleyball court

someone needs to give it some tender loving care

Again there’s this sense of familiarity but strangeness as well, as though you’re back in the place you used to live but it doesn’t quite feel like home anymore. I guess with age the brains gets fuzzy sometimes.

I sometimes reminisce about my school canteen, and my daily menu of Mee Goreng with Keropok Lekor. The photo above is of the canteen I always speak so fondly of.

our ginormous field (and the wall at the farthest end)

memories

Our school field is HUGE, and can accommodate two soccer matches at once. And I have a confession to make. Do you see the wall at the farthest end of the field? That’s the wall we jumped over to sneak out of school to play truant! (Brendan, pretend you didn't read this).