I Don't Understand Wine

This is the first time I've ever seen an actual hands-on show of all those weird things they call wine at wine testing events. Notes of early plum and smoky aftertaste? The only thing I get from wine is a burning warm feeling at the pit of my belly (and I'm saying that as a GOOD thing).

So.

Watch and learn. Totally cool way of looking at wine tasting.

Something "Big" Is Coming To Town

Recently, I checked The Spring's website to see how's it like since it's been opened. Since I was not and am not in Kuching to have a look around the newest shopping mall in Kuching. Something caught my eye, in a very big way.

Big Apple Donuts is opening at Kuching!! Supposedly.

This may not be the best donuts available in Malaysia, I am still partial to J.Co Donuts, but this is almost just as good. Finally, there shall be donuts worth lining up for in Kuching. My goodness, I can only imagine how long the lines would be on the first day this place opens.

When UGS-ers get ahold of Guns

One day, after stuffing full with dim sum and everything else that can be ordered in Joyous Shanghai, the UGS'ers who attended decided to go for a jog to jog all the calories off.

But not everybody agreed. So we decided to go for a walk.

But there was nowhere to walk. So Jylene suggested we SLEEP it off.

But no bed was big enough. So she suggested we go to the beach and PLAY it off.

But the beach was too far. So we decided to just go home.

But that would mean all eat no exercise which would make us fat. So in the blardy end, we DROVE (We meaning those UGS-ers who hold valid Drivers license and have their car under insurance) to Hock Lee Center to SHOP all the excess calories off.

After us girls (Jyl, Nic, Vivian and myself) scoured all the boutiques on the lower floor, we ended up in the arcade. It was there when the innocent members of UGS were exposed to the dangers of guns.

*From here out on, everything is FICTIONAL*

(Fictional means NOT real. Fictional does NOT mean NON-fictional)



Josh careless mentioned to Cedric who was suffering from eattoomuchiritis when they were playing some bang-bang games Time Crisis 3 that he was picking up his Macbookpro later on .



Eattoomuchiritis is a chronic disease that makes the patient extremely prone to mood swings and suicidal because they think they're fat. All of this mostly in a space of 20 minutes or less. People suffering from eattoomuchiritis should never be put in vicinity of a gun or any other weapon that can be used to harm anybody else.

Cedric holds Josh at Gunpoint. He REALLY wants that Apple product that'd go PERFECTLY with his Nano.

Josh does not relent. Why on earth would he give his precious baby to Cedric?!

Ahah! The pro's of being ambushed in an Arcade would be the abundant supply of artilleries!

Cedric suddenly realises, he cannot win. Josh has his own personal record of completing time crisis 3 within two tokens. He can play it single-handedly. How can Ced be more than 300 figures on screen?!


But...problem is, Ced has never even THOUGHT of suicide until now when Sam makes him think of it in pink fonts . Where to shoot?! How to shoot?! Pull the trigger once or twice?!

Then, suddenly a light shines down from up above. Clarity floods Cedric, he is liberated, enlightened, empowered, having a friggin REVELATION. Steve Jobs A voice whispers into Cedric's ear and tells him.

"Cedric, pull the trigger 321 times if you will, but the only way somebody will die today, is if you aim at the black screen."

Cedric gets the message, loud and clear.


Cedric has learned how to use his gun.

(This post was a joke Cedric! I swear I mean nothing by it! NOTHING!!!)

=)

Sam says, THE END.

Cakes cakes cakes

I realised it's been ages since I've posted a Makan post here in BUGS. Last time I used to have more of a predisposition towards savoury food, now I've developed quite a sweet tooth. Oh Mark & Spencers biscuits, why are you oh so tempting, milk chocolate digestives, jaffa cookies... Thank goodness they are only available at Suria KLCC and One Utama at KL.

Anyway, why is it I wonder, that the Secret Recipe in Kuching just isn't the same as the one at KL. I would have thought franchises have standards. Going to Secret Recipe at KL last week was a pleasant surprise, first the prices are lower than at Kuching. Secondly, they definitely have more variety. I tried this Raspberry Cheese Cake, it's the one on the right in the photo.

This variant we definitely do not find in Kuching. This was unexpectedly good, cheesy, raspberry goodness with a chocolatey base. On the left in the photo is Chocolate Indulgence that my brother insisted on ordering. Good also, but not my favourite. What I ordered was one of the "health cakes". I know I know.. you're thinking how can I go to Secret Recipe and order something like that? But it's seriously great, the low sugar Peach Cream Cake I ordered. There were pieces of "sweet but not too sweet" peaches in fluffy, light sponge cake and covered in a subtly sweet light meringue.

Then just on Friday, somehow ended up at Secret Recipe again, this time at Kuching. Somehow pales in comparison, or perhaps we chose the wrong type of cake. Had Marble Cheese and Carrot Cheese cake. My brother doesn't look like he's liking the cake that much in this photo, but that's just my offhand timing at taking this photo. He actually gobbled it up. Guys...


But after all that, I'd have to say this home-made cheese cake my friend made for another friend's birthday yesterday could give Secret Recipe a run for their money. Looks so good, you wouldn't have known it's home-made. I helped to cut it nicely... Unofficial cake cutter at birthdays. Haha. Training for future dissections?

Anyway, this cake also tasted as good as it looks. Chocolatey, peanut-buttery, cheesy sweetness. The birthday girl liked it so much she brought home the remainder not eaten. I guess she was also touched by the effort put into making the cake. See... it doesn't take that much money to touch a girl's heart, it takes effort. Haha.

The last two photos in this post were taken by my new SE W610i. It should do for now, before my camera comes back from the hospital.

The Banquet-Fathers Day Dinner

My family and I went to The Banquet, a recently opened restaurant, to have a Fathers' Day dinner with my grandfather. My own dad couldn't make it since he was in KL, so we ate his share. Which...as you will soon find out, wasn't very much.



The Banquet is a halal restaurant that was constructed since last year and just opened around a month ago. They serve Chinese food minus the pork and so far the reviews on the food have been pretty good.



The interior of the restaurant is bathed in a semi-bright yellow glow and the placing of the tables are pretty tightly packed together. The ceiling was decorated with about 30-40 lights and it created a "starry effect". There was another building where, I was told, private functions were held in.

Goose Feet? (I did not eat this)

Cue the Food. Well, I have to say, presentation wise it's nothing spectacular. Taste was great though. (Imagine fighting cousins) Portion was...incredibly small. In a table of 6 children 5 adults, only the adults were full. That's not even half!

Five Deluxe Szechuan and Cantonese Combination The spring rolls were the first to vanish.

Buttered Prawns. Gone in 60 seconds.

Desert was served warm. It got mixed reviews.

The whole place seems to be decorated with some form of lights or another. At the entrance, on the walls...all have lights that can change colours.


Then I took a picture of their fountain, which was in between the main restaurant and the "private function room". When I got back and started resizing/editing the photos. I realised there was something...Extra in the photo.


Can you spot the extra *coughguycough*? The designers of the place either strategically placed the plant there, or are really interested in exposing their customers.

I was at the Banquet =)

Roti's

"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players!"

That has absolutely nothing (nada, zero, zilch) to do with my post today, but it just seemed so proper to begin with a quote like debators usually do. That stupid sentence has been stuck in my mind for two days now and Im wondering if Im normal. Or mental.

The topic of extreme importance today is the great, indispensable , celebrated and downright fantastic (albeit not so common) ROTI BOOM!

Looks like a squashed donut

No, Im serious. Thats what they call it. Roti Boom , pronounced 'Roh-tea Bomb' with a tangible chinese slang that the prata-man will laugh at if you're non native. I had this piece of roti at some indian specialty stall at some street off 7th Mile, so I am not sure if its a local delicacy (never heard of it in my life). Or maybe I just dont eat enough.

This thing is heavenly!

To be honest, I ordered it because of its fancy name. I wanted to know the connection between 'boom' and the squashed piece of fried roti, and whether the title could be substantiated by overwhelming evidence to support its claim of... well... BOOM.

This thing is heavenly!

It doesnt exactly look impressive... squashed piece of..

Then when the roti arrived, I thought I had made the wrong choice. Then of course, I cautiously took a bite... a tiny morsel... just a small little nibble... nothing but a munch... and..

MY GOD IT WAS HEAVENLY!!!

I dont want to tell you what its made of, what its filled with, or exactly how it tastes like. Thats what you have to find out for yourself, when you visit your nearest indian roti stall. Just ask for a Roti Boom, and angelic choirs will sing its torrential cry of glory.

And yes, I believe that it does live up to its name.

BOOM.

Kuching Makan Places Episode 5: Bella Italia

Here's somewhere that I've been a few times that somehow I've always forgotten to bring my camera to, till about two weeks ago when I went there on a Saturday.


Bella Italia, I'm not sure how many Kuching people are aware of this Italian eatery, since it's situated off the main road. It's at RH plaza area, near the new flyover at the airport road. In front of the Stutong indoor badminton courts.

Anyway, this time round, we ordered 4 dishes. From prior experience, the lasagna there isn't really anything special. But the pastas, risotto and pizzas are really good.

My brother had this Chicken Soup which has a tomato cream base, and has vegetables in it and of course chicken. This was delicious, not too rich, not too mild.


Next came the Risotto Alla Funghi, which is a fancy name for a special kind of rice dish with mushroom and vegetables. If you do not know what risotto is and think it's just like fried rice or something, you never know what you're missing out on.


A bit later came my favourite pasta dish of all time, I love Carbonara style pasta. This one is Linguine Carbonara, if not mistaken. How can anyone eat the Pasta Carbonara at Pizza Hut anymore after eating something like this? Ohh.. I remember long time ago how I used to savour any chance I had to have this dish. Whether it be when holidaying abroad, or once at this really good Italian place at Kota Kinabalu. Mmm.. Unexplainable love. Haha


Lastly came the Roasted Chicken dish, which wasn't really as good as expected. The Chicken was so so. The accompanying sauce was sourish, and there were only two wedges for the whole dish, though the chicken was a sizeable portion.


And I love those glasses that they serve Hot Chocolate in at these Italian places. This was Milo though. And it's even nicer if they serve the Hot Chocolate with marshmallows on the side. Goodness I could do with some of that now.


The atmosphere there is nice and comfy, with dim lighting, soft music playing in the background and air conditioning is moderately cool. You don't want to end up sweating while eating or shivering away, so temperature is very important ok. Haha. And isn't it just nice when eateries encourage sharing by setting out plates for everybody? Uh huh..

Anyway, I definitely wouldn't mind going to this place again. The prices are pretty reasonable, and the food is pretty good if you know what to order. And the good thing is it's halal, since the Bosnians that open this place are probably Muslims.

Secret Recipe's sweet delights

It's Sunday night, and I'm here to blog about food. Yes, evil evil Wandkey.

Okay, I promise I will not make this sound too tempting, oh I will try my best. Haha.

Photo please.. Ah here we go.....

Do you know what this is? Yes, this is the full selection of cakes available at Secret Recipe. All the names of the cakes, its' descriptions, the prices, weight of the whole cake, everything. 24 cakes in all. Six of which I have sampled a bit of in this month. Yes, 6! In fact, I am very very angry at myself when I counted back to how much I've had. How is it possible to eat that much in a month?! Although, it was just a little nibble here, a bit more there..

Okay, back to my point. Here's a close up of the cakes available...

From left to right, top row first: Mango Delight, Moist Chocolate Cake, Classic Cheese, Espresso Cheese, Cheeze Choc, Chocolate Cheese, New York Cheese Cake, Oreo Cheese, Tiramisu, Marble Cheese, Black Forest, White Chocolate Macadamia.
Whew, I'm getting a little heady typing all those tempting tempting cake names out.


And the other 12...

Almond Coffee, Chocolate Banana, Blueberry Cheese, Cappucino Cheese, Americano, Baked Cheese, Chocolate Indulgence, Cocoa Mocha, Chocolate Chip Walnut, Chocolate Fudge, Caramel Cream Cheese, Carrot Cheese Cake.
And that's it. Yes, lots of cheese cakes, which I don't quite fancy anymore.


Actually, my favourite so far is this...


In real life, it looks like this..
Somehow the photo in the brochure, hmm.. I think it looks better in real life. This is the White Chocolate Macadamia, slightly more expensive than the others. This is Rm6.30, while most of the others are RM6 per slice.



Are you hungry yet? If not, you're either not one with a sweet tooth, or you have great willpower!

And now I shall leave to isolate myself from all this food photos, stick it into my head that I've had too much for this month, and perhaps wait a few months or so till my next Secret Recipe visit. Okay, maybe few weeks..

Sunnyhill Ice-Cream

Kuching is famous for its food. That is a fact! If it isn't a fact. Well never mind. It's a fact by me!

Kuching has great kolo-mee. Great Laksa. Great 3 layer tea!

What Kuching also has, is Sunnyhill Ice-Cream.

If you're from Kuching, the chances of you never indulging in Sunnyhill Ice-cream before is pretty slim. One in a hundred peas actually.


Normally when people go to Sunnyhill, the first thing they look at is the wonderful red board that displays the flavors available for the day. Then they (normally) look out for the popcorn that normally lies resting on the shelf. On some days, the shelf is empty due to the gluttonous rapid sales of the yummy salted popcorn. On other days, the yummy salted popcorn is yours for buying!


After that, they choose the ice-cream they want, how they want it and how many they want! And that indulgence is pumped out from the glorious ice-cream maker. Nuts and Sauce are optional. So are the bananas. And the bread. And the cone. And the yummy salted popcorn which rocks when covered in yummy sweet ice-cream!




Sunnyhill bread is really coarse. And it somehow manages to fit the ice-cream really nicely. Almost like they were made for each other.

But the best thing of all, is still the delicious, cold, soft, creamy, yummy orgasmic ice-cream.

Perfect patterns

If you aren't hungry by now...Well, I am!!! *Can't wait to get that ice-cream!*

I was here promoting pleasure foods. Ice-Cream.

Kuching Makan Places Episode 4: Secret Recipe

Seems like the buzz around town lately has been, “Have you been to Secret Recipe yet?”. Such is the size of Kuching that the opening of such a place would garner so much hype. Everytime I pass by the place, it’s so packed. So much so that I’m surprised I managed to go at last on Wednesday. Well, it wasn’t a planned thing and I’m glad I decided to bring my camera out afterall, or else this would be a photo-less post. After parking the car, my family and I thought we would just take a look at the menu and prices. One thing led to another, we went in to have a look at the cakes. And then we got lucky, a table of people just left, so we somehow found ourselves sitting and ordering food. Heh.

I must admit, we had a hard time deciding what cake to order. There were just so many kinds there! Most of them were priced at RM6 per piece, excluding taxes. Which isn’t too bad compared to the prices you get at Coffee Bean or other places like that. Okay, off the top of my head I remember there was Marble Cheese Cake, Baked Cheesecake, Oreo Cheesecake, Blueberry Cheesecake, various kinds of cheesecakes, Banana Chocolate Cake, Rich Chocolate Cake, White Chocolate Macadamia Cake and brownies, carrot slice and so many other kinds of desserts I can’t remember them all. Bad judgement on my part to not take a photo of the menu which listed all the cakes they had.

Here’s a photo of the aforementioned cakes. Mmmm…

Took a look at the counter area and there’s this big sign saying that Secret Recipe was named the Homegrown Franchisor of the Year in Malaysia, which year I’m not sure. And apparently, they have branches overseas too. Got Best Restaurant Award in Indonesia. And Excellent Food Award in Singapore. Not bad for a local franchise..

Anyway, what I ordered is as follows.

First came the White Chocolate Macadamia cake, RM6.30. Excuse the slightly ruined cake in this photo, my brother just couldn’t wait to have a taste of it. And I had to take this photo in a jiffy, it could have been better I know. Well, this cake is just unlike anything I have ever tasted before. The white chocolate is creamily soft, and sandwiched between layers of cake, with nutty bits of Macadamia in it.

Next up came my brother’s serving of kid’s size Spaghetti Bolognese, RM11. Nothing really that fabulous about it.

Later came the Carrot Slice, RM4.40. This was warmed up, and had cream cheese on top, sweet raisins at the bottom. Not bad, but I think I preferred the other cake.

Then came the Chicken Mushroom with Rice, RM13, that I failed to take a photo of because was too hungry by that time. It’s basically a hefty portion of chicken topped with mushroom sauce and served with buttered, herb rice and salad.

Finally came the Chicken Kebab, RM13. This was also served with rice and salad. It had pieces of yellow pepper and mushroom skewered with chunky pieces of chicken.

Well, took a look at the receipt later and realised something. Secret Recipe’s tagline is: “Great Cakes, Good Food, the Place to Be” And it’s no wonder. The food itself is not much to rave about, or perhaps I didn’t get to order their specialty Irish Lamb Stew or their better dishes. However, the cakes are really quite something. So, anybody want to join me for more cake sampling?

Note: All prices quoted are excluding 5% GST and 10% service tax.

Kuching Makan Places Episode 3: Scoops

Just yesterday, a friend of mine asked me whether I would like to go to Scoops with her and hang out. I seem to be getting in luck these days, been invited to go to some of the more fancy eateries in Kuching. Which explains the previous few eatery reviews I’ve posted up here in BUGS.

So, yesterday it was Scoops, a gelato bar, probably first of its kind here in Kuching. In fact, first time I’ve been there since it opened last year, partly scared off by the supposedly pricey gelato there. Just before going out, I had been forewarned that the gelato costs RM5 for a single cup. Hmm… much more than the price any ordinary Kuchingnite would pay for ice-cream. But nevertheless, after hearing all the raves and reviews about it, I just had to try it out for myself.

So that was how it came to be that I found myself in front of the counter, faced with a tough decision to make, “Which out of the 14 flavours of gelato should I fork out RM5 for?” Thankfully, they allowed free tasting so you can sample a bit of the gelato there to find out which you would rather have. I think my friend and I sampled almost all of the flavours there.

On that day, there was Dark Chocolate, French Vanilla, Butterscotch, Lychee Sorbet, Avocado, Passionfruit Sorbet, Kiwi Apple, Horlicks, Raspberry Cream, Banana Cheese, Mango Sorbet, Green Tea, Espresso and Tomato flavour. Yes, tomato flavour, I wonder if that would taste funky. Supposedly, the flavours are changed quite often so you get to try different flavours with almost every visit. For a single flavour cup it’s RM5, a double flavour cup costs RM8, and the triple flavour cup I didn’t bother to see the price because I wouldn’t be able to afford it anyway.

Behind the counter, there’s a menu on a lighted board where you can see there are sundaes, cold drinks, hot drinks, gelato cocktails, and kiddy sundaes on offer. Well, the prices range from RM8 to RM15 for the sundaes, and the drinks cost from RM5 to RM10, whilst the cocktails are RM15 each.

And here’s a photo of the menu, I like the silhouette of the glasses against the menu…

All the gelato flavours were pretty strong, so I settled for something a little milder, French Vanilla. Although the Butterscotch was tempting, and so was the Passionfruit Sorbet. Here’s a photo of what I had, and the complimentary glass of water served.

The interior deco of the place is kinda retro modern, I don’t know why this style seems so popular in places these days. Along one side are tables and chairs, all in sleek black. However, my friend and I settled ourselves on the hot pink leather couch in a corner that had some throw cushions. Pretty comfy since there weren’t anybody else there that time except us. Afterall, it was a Thursday morning.

Another photo, note the reflection of the adjacent Hilton Hotel on the glass-topped table.

Well, the gelato there I would say is pretty good, really full of flavour. I could see the black dots of crushed vanilla pods in my gelato, nice… But the price, well, if you want quality, that’s what you have to pay.