TRISTUPE.COM

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Wondered Why Your LPG Tank Empties Faster?

My family cook and this revelation sort of ticks me off with the possibility that the LPG i buy has been tempered with. Apparently, there is a syndicate that buys the subsidized LPG in bulk and then transfering a portion of the LPG into the bigger tank meant for industrial/F&B use as they are not subsidized. The price differences could be as much as double per every KG. Current LPG price in Malaysia for Domestic use is RM1.90/kg and it is RM3.43 for industrial. What these syndicate does is to transfer a portion of the LPG into the bigger 50kg tanks and sell them at non-subsidized price!

Photo from ondscene,my

Read about the whole report here, dated November 11, 2011. These scumbags that cheat your hard earned money ought to have a tank strapped on them and blown up!

Organic Wholewheat Raisin 3 Seeds Bread

This is a gluten free and sugar free bread made out of desperation for dinner one day. We ran out of bread flour, which is usually a mixture of all purpose flour and gluten. Gluten is nothing bad as it adds protein (its derived from wheat or grains). However, the flour are usually processed and bleached, and then with added nutrient back into them - which often questions the suitability of these post processing nutrition addictive into the flour again.

Hot Out of Oven

The absence of ready mix bread flour present a pressing and immediate need to obtain an alternative. There is an organic shop near my home and a quick visit present me with 3 types of flour being sold. The all purpose flour, the high protein flour and the wholemeal flour; of which all are organic.
Each 1kg pack are sold at RM7.90. They are expensive when compared to normal flour at RM1.50/kg. it cost almost 4 times more. Eating healthy is expensive in Malaysia.

Germs, husk and endosperms all in

base caloric value

Here is the recipe for the bread. I improvise by changing a few items to ensure a power packed end product. Taste is secondary but a bonus if it is good. ;). Bread maker from Kenwood is used.
Ingredients (1 cup is 250ml Approx)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup milk (low fat works too)
1 egg, any size.
2tablespoon (tbsp) butter, of which SCS was used.
1 tbsp rice malt syrup or molasses (honey, unless manuka, i won't encourage as they are processed with sugar added)
1 teaspoon salt, which i use sea salt
3 3/4 cups or about 500grams of organic wholewheat flour
1 pack (11grams) instant dry yeast
2tbsp of chia, flax and sesame seeds.
2-3tbsp of raisins and/or sultanas

More boring healthy food

SCS is still the best

Directions

1. Place (in this order) water, milk, egg, butter, rice malt/molasses, sea salt, wholemeal flour and yeast in the pan of the bread machine.
2. Select according to preset menu on bread maker (i chose Gluten Free). My setting is usually to make 1kg or bread with slight browning. It will take 2:40 for this setting. It i went for basic, the bread maker will allow for an extra 30mins for the bread to rise further - which i should had opted for.
3. While the machine is mixing the dough, throw in the 3 seeds and raisins.
4. Let the bread maker do its work and in less than 3 hours, you will be treated to a home infused with fresh bake bread smell.

OK, nevermind...

Muccchhh better ;-)

A bit flat though...heavy dough

Nutritional content:
At 2700kcal for a 1kg bread, it could be sliced to your liking. I managed to slice the bread into 14 slices which average each slice to be about 190kcal of power packed serving with enough protein, carbs and fat to carry you for the better part of the morning.

With the spread of butter...that's 200kcal/slice.

It is Raining We Are Sinking

The recent torrential heavy rain has been creating havoc in the country. Mother Nature ain't too happy with all the destruction we been doing to Her and this is her own kind way of reminding us who is the boss. Some of these incidents that was caused by the flood irritates us, like the traffic jam and having your car submerged. If we look at it objectively, they are good for laugh too. Here are reasons why:

Evidence 1: Your Father Road Flood

Photo from NST.com.my

Why Is this funny : Not everyday someone can claim that "My Father's Road Flood", let alone say "It is my Father's road".

Evidence 2: The "Water" Way

Photo from NST.com.my

Why is this funny: Water to the Chinese meant money. When someone place a water feature in their house (outside or inside), it usually signifies that "money will come". Sungai Wang or Money River (loosely translated, not meant literally) was flooded. I foresee a very prosperous 2012 for the building tenants. Money Come. ONG ah!

Evidence 3: Floating Sate

Photo from enveeus.com

Why is this funny : Kajang, a town known for Sate, was heavily flooded and many were effected. What took the icing was someone took the trouble to (possibly?) photoshop a crocodile into the photo.

From "Only In Malaysia" Facebook page

Evidence 4 : Powerboat Collection

From James Hong Facebook Sharing. Photo credit unknown.

Why is this funny : Gotta love these expensive cars floating down the road. All is missing is a propulsion system and we can use Jalan Tun Razak (Evidence Number 1) as the race track.

Evidence 5: Elevator Road

Photo from Bernama.com.my

Why is this funny : Someone forgot to press the "up button" after going one floor down. However, someone else will make a lot of money just rectifying this and will be laughing all the way to the bank. That's funny for him/her too ;-)

Evidence 6 : A Work Of Art

From YouTube Here

Why is this funny: Serious, it looked like a work of art. Someone took the trouble to "plant" the car there. Full video evidence here:

Evidence 7: AliDaud&Son Motorboat

Why is this funny: We heard of Harley Davidson. Malaysia's version equivalent would be Ali Daud & Son. While this is an old video from 2007 from the flood in Pekan (gasp! It's the PM's kampung, where can? Father road flood, kampung also flood...it is an omen!). The car involved is proudly made in Malaysia Proton Saga, maybe customised by Ali Daud & Son Motorboat. Evidence 4 can make use of this video for R&D purposes.. Now lets see an Inspira do this in KL City.

Evidence 8: Submarines?

From Malaysia Media Facebook

Why is this funny : Who need any kick ass submarine when a simply Myvi at RM60K max does the job?

Hope this entry lighten up an otherwise rainy day!!!

No Post On Sundays

There will be no post for Sundays unless there is something interesting to be shared. It is also a way to give the reader a "time off" from my incoherent babbling. Furthermore Readers can use Sunday to catch up on the week's posting.
However, please come visit Every Sunday too, for there would be a surprise posting!
Many thanks for visiting and appreciate the support given!

Lot Umah Am

FILM ON THE STRUGGLE OF THE INDIGENOUS ORANG SELETAR IN JOHOR IS NOW ONLINE
“Lot Umah Am” or “The Sea is My Home”, one of the 2 films produced for the FreedomFilmFest 2011 film competition is now online.
Its a documentary about the Indigenous Orang Seletar living on the Straits of Johor whose livelihood and way of life is threatened by the development process in the area. This documentary was screened in many states throughout Malaysia as part of the FFF premiere roadshow including screenings in Johor Bharu and also in the community musuem of the Orang Seletar in Kg Temun recently.
It generated a lot of discussion amongst the community and also it gave the orang Seletar an outlet to voice their concerns.
On December 15, 2011 a group of about 500 Orang Seletar made a historic protest outside the Johor state assembly in Kota Iskandar, Johor, to voice their anger over the transfer of their ancestral land to developers of the Iskandar Malaysia project along the Johor Straits.
Links to related news:
Free Malaysia Today
Malaysiakini
The Star, 15 December 2011
This is a historic event as this is the first time the Orang Seletar has made know their unhappiness in such a manner. Till now, they have been quietly suffering the brunt of pollution and displacement caused by huge development projects on their ancestral areas that didn’t take into consideration their voices and welfare.
You can show your support by sharing this video with as many friends as possible and organising private screenings in your circle of friends and family.
Here is the video for sharing with my blog readers.

Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2012

Kuala Lumpur’s iconic sporting event, the Standard Chartered KL Marathon, returns for another four years from 2012 – 2015 through an official agreement marked at a signing ceremony between Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia Berhad and Dirigo Events Sdn. Bhd.

The signing signifies Standard Chartered Bank’s strong commitment as the first international bank for sports in Malaysia, by bringing back the country’s largest marathon for a fourth successive year continuing up to the seventh edition in 2015. Representing Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia as the marathon’s title sponsor was Osman Morad, Managing Director & CEO, and the event’s co-organiser, Rainer Biemans, Director of Dirigo Events.

The next ‘Standard Chartered KL Marathon’ will be held on the 24 June 2012 and expects 27,000 participants from over 45 countries worldwide to participate. The prize package remains the highest amongst marathons in Malaysia, with a total prize money of USD100, 000.

Here is the official Press Release. You read it here first ;-)

Kuala Lumpur's Iconic Sporting Event Runs to 2015 with Standard Chartered Bank

Kuala Lumpur, 1 December 2011 – Kuala Lumpur’s iconic sporting event, the Standard Chartered KL Marathon, returns for another four years from 2012 – 2015 through an official agreement marked at a signing ceremony between Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia Berhad and Dirigo Events Sdn. Bhd. today.

(L-R) Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2012 event’s co-organiser, Rainer Biemans, Director, Dirigo Events and Osman Morad, Managing Director & CEO of Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia signing an official agreement, signifying their collaboration for the next four years.

Osman Morad, Managing Director & CEO of Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia Bhd, said, “The elements of a marathon is a clear representation of the Bank’s brand philosophy – going the distance, persevering for excellence, a positive ‘can-do’ attitude, creativity and passion. Year on year, we at Standard Chartered are encouraged by the enthusiasm as well as the determination and commitment all Malaysian and international runners show during the marathon. Just like a marathon, we are committed to the country for the long run and we are proud to be part of Malaysia’s largest sporting event.”

(L-R) Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2012 event’s co-organiser, Rainer Biemans, Director, Dirigo Events and Osman Morad, Managing Director & CEO of Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia exchanging their signed official agreement at the signing ceremony held on 1 December 2011

Rainer Biemans, Director, Dirigo Events., co-organiser of the ‘Standard Chartered KL Marathon’ added, “We’re overjoyed to be organising the next four Standard Chartered KL Marathons which continues to show exceptional progress each year. The success of the marathon is also a testament of our solid partnership with Standard Chartered Bank as an active and involved title sponsor, and we believe the marathon will continuously grow over the coming years to be one of the largest running events in Asia.”

The ‘Standard Chartered KL Marathon’ also aims to encourage Malaysians to view sports as a way forward towards unity and national development, which is in line with the vision of the Sports Ministry in Malaysia. Additionally, the marathon brings together runners and spectators from various countries, making it a major tourist attraction for the country.

Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2012 event’s co-organiser, Rainer Biemans, Director, Dirigo Events and Osman Morad, Managing Director & CEO of Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia holding up their signed agreement.

Next year's marathon will continue to be a key calendar highlight as organisers continue to secure all aspects of the marathon to make it a positive and exciting running experience for participants. With the introduction of more training programmes, additional incentives, new apparel designs as well as charity partners, the ‘Standard Chartered KL Marathon’ will definitely be an event not to be missed.

(L-R)Gloria Ng, Director, Dirigo Events and Rainer Biemans, Director, Dirigo Events with Osman Morad, Managing Director & CEO of Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia and Norliza Kamaruddin, Country Head, Corporate Affairs, Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia, from Standard Chartered Trust Fund at the signing ceremony held on 1 December 2011.

About the Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2012

Back for the fourth time, the Standard Chartered KL Marathon is scheduled to take place on 24 June 2012. The marathon aims to grow to 27,000 total participants, ranging from elite professionals to first-time amateurs. A truly international event, the Standard Chartered KL Marathon boasts participants from all over Malaysia and 45 countries.

The Standard Charte red KL Marathon 2012 continues as Malaysia’s flagship running event with top runners competing for a total of USD 100,000 prize money.

About the Event Organisers

Dirigo Events Sdn Bhd

Dirigo Events is a Kuala Lumpur based company that provides strategic event management expertise for high scale sporting events. Dirigo is headed by Rainer Biemans and Gloria Ng that collectively have over 30 years in planning international sports events and managed previous Standard Chartered KL Marathons. The company was also recently signed with Standard Chartered Bank to organise Standard Chartered KL Marathons from 2012 to 2015. For more information on Dirigo Events Sdn Bhd, please call +603 7725 0881.

About Standard Chartered Bank

Standard Chartered – leading the way in Asia, Africa and the Middle East

Standard Chartered PLC, listed on both London and Hong Kong stock exchanges, ranks among the top 25 companies in the FTSE-100 by market capitalisation. The London-headquartered Group has operated for over 150 years in some of the world's most dynamic markets, leading the way in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Its income and profits have more than doubled over the last five years primarily as a result of organic growth.

Standard Chartered aspires to be the best international bank for its customers across its markets. The Group earns around 90 per cent of its income and profits in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, from its Wholesale and Consumer Banking businesses. The Group has over 1600 branches and outlets located in over 70 countries. The extraordinary growth of its markets and businesses creates exciting and challenging international career opportunities.

Leading by example to be the right partner for its stakeholders, the Group is committed to building a sustainable business over the long term and is trusted worldwide for upholding high standards of corporate governance, social responsibility, environmental protection and employee diversity. It employs around 70,000 people, nearly half of whom are women. The Group's employees are of 125 nationalities, of which about 70 are represented in the senior management.

For more information on Standard Chartered, please visit www.standardchartered.com

Standard Chartered in Malaysia

Standard Chartered Bank, a member of the Standard Chartered Group was established in Malaysia in 1875 and incorporated as Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia Berhad on 29 February 1984. As Malaysia’s first bank, Standard Chartered leads the way through product innovation, consistent and strong growth performance and sustainability initiatives. The Bank’s two businesses – Wholesale and Consumer Banking – provides a comprehensive range of financial products and services to corporates, institutions, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and individuals through its network of more than 30 branches across Malaysia.

In 2001, Standard Chartered PLC established a global shared service centre named Scope International in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to provide software development, banking operations, IT support services and customer service c apabilities to the Bank in up to 70 countries – the first international bank to do so in Malaysia. It now houses the biggest software development division in the country, International Software Centre Malaysia (ISCM) and has a total workforce of more than 4,000 people. Scope International Malaysia was conferred the ‘ICT Organisation of the year’ Award on 18 November 2011 by The National ICT Association of Malaysia or PIKOM at the PIKOM 25th Anniversary Gala Dinner and ICT Leadership Awards making it the first hub of an international bank to win the prestigious award. Standard Chartered’s two other global shared service centres are in Chennai, India and Tianjin, China.

Price Solutions Sdn Bhd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Standard Chartered Bank UK is also located in Malaysia. The company promotes and markets Standard Chartered’s financial products in Malaysia through a network of direct sales agents.

Standard Chartered Saadiq Berhad, Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia Berhad’s Islamic Banking subsidiary was established in November 2008. It offers a full suite of Shariah-compliant products and services to individuals and corporates through its financial centres.

Standard Chartered employs more than 6,000 employees in all its Malaysian operations.

Project 365 : Day 128 of 365

Like a Midnight Sun. D90. F5.6.2Seconds. ISO100. 105mm. Pop Up Flash.

The moon was huge these couple of nights. Some of you might had missed the full moon that had the eclipse happening on Saturday. I certainly did.
Large moon offers an opportunity to be photographed in greater details especially if you are limited by the tools (or lense). My maximum is a 300mm, which gives a 450mm focal length equivalent on the D90 1.5x crop sensor. Here is a bonus pic of the moon, as is is seen, cropped 100%.

D90. F8. 1/125. ISO100 Cropped 100%

Recycled Oil Used As New

We all love our hawker food. The fried banana, yam, sweet potatoes, chicken, popiah, yau char kuey, yong tau foo and everything else that are fried. Basically everything could be deep fried. Oil is essential to assist with the cooking and if you have not read about food oxidation from deep frying, you might want to read this here first.
While there is nothing really wrong as long a balanced diet are consumed and a certain "sinful food" days are set aside to reward or to allow the taste bud a little of something different, care must be taken on what are actually consumed.
It is already difficult enough to eat clean, now, unscrupulous traders are recycling used oil.
Yeap. The oil that you can buy from supermarket or hypermarket at RM1/kg or less than RM2/kg could potentially be recycled oil.

From Here

You see, the recent hooha about some certain shop that offers cheaper food to help combat rising standard of living, that has caused up to 13 food to be removed from the shelf and re-checked by lab has sort of raised some eye brow. The owner has claimed that the food that they sell were "not in compliance" but does not mean "un-safe" for consumption. While it is a thin fine line, literally and legally speaking, do tell me frankly, what does not in compliance and un-safe meant?
For me, they meant the same. When something is not in compliance, it also meant it breached acceptable standard, which meant it is unsafe to an extend - especially applicable for food that we put into our mouth and system.
Further to the report in the paper above, the National Poison Centre warned about using the same oil even twice. Oil, exposed to heat, changes in constituent and that is how MARGARINE and all SPREADABLE VEGETABLE FATS are made. While something can sound as healthy as OLIVE OIL Spread, truth is the oil has been exposed to prolonged heat to "solidify" it up. Same way how Transfat are made. There are the same artery clogging, cancer causing properties that we potentially takes in everyday.

From Here

Now, do you all see why i am a proponent of healthy eating? Think twice of eating those fried stuff by the road side or in some establishment. Just take a peep at the oil they use to fry these food and you will be instantly turned off. If it doesn't - then i guess you are just asking for it!

Review : Twenty.One Christmas Set Menu

I wrote about the set menu offering at Twenty.One about a month ago and yesterday, we visited the outlet in Bangsar Shopping Centre for a catch up session with the Marketing Manager, Ms. Janet Lam and also to sample the scrumptious meal that was created and prepared throughout December to celebrate Christmas and New Year 2012.

This is my second time to Twenty.One, first when i reviewed the Mother's Day Special where the food left m wanting more. Moreover, i have wifey with me this time around. She has wanted to visit the place since my last review, but never had the chances or time.

The interesting thing about this review was that i am given the teaser before the actual review - which will allow me to verify the authenticity of the photo during the teaser against what will be served on the table. Often, like some fast food restaurant, what you see on the advert are often NOT what you will get.
We arrived at the restaurant by 7pm. By then, many tables has been reserved and there was already a crowd trickling into the place. Granted that it was Friday night and there was a party happening later that night with guest DJ from Joey G and Patricia K, the general crowd was there to celebrate anything from birthday (there were 3 birthdays!) to hen's night (someone getting married).

Reserved for a Bride-To-Be

We started the dinner with a Lycheemartini (for wifey) and a glass of Guinness Draught for myself. I do not take to drinking that well, but circumstances requires me to learn to hold my drink - at least a glass. I apparently came at the right time as my glass of "Black Gold" was fresh from a new barrel. It was clearly evident with the ultra smoothness of the bitter stout with the characteristic bitterness.

Stirred and Sweet

It's Good For You!

Before i go on, it might be good to let all of you know that Twenty.One is actually conceptualised by the same people that brought you the good ol' Telawi Street Bistro where drinks and food are of about the same expected standard for the money that you will spend on. This is important as my observation of some of these establishment is either you get good drinks or good food - never both together. Occurrence of both good food and good drinks are not impossible to find, but difficult to chance upon.
We were told by Janet that the servings will be enough for sharing if we wanted to. We decided to go with one starter each as they are "manageable". When we received the first course, we were surprised with the consistency of the food presentation. You can cross check the photos given by Janet against the photos i have taken of the food below.
Here is the first starter that is asparagus salad with duck prosciutto with poached quail eggs in hollandaise sauce tasted as good as it looked. It was the first time i ate the duck prosciutto or air cured duck ham. I must say that the duck taste/smell is very subtle and the air dried ham gives a very nice chewy texture to compliment the crunchy asparagus and the hollandaise sauce. While we had poached eggs before, no one took the trouble to poach something as small as the quail eggs. I must say they are rather nicely paired with the whole meal.

Hmm...the presentation looked good!

A Wife that don't forget you and gives you the first bite.

I had my Brussels sprout soup with turkey meatball. The greenish soup tasted better than it looked. Some people are wary about eating something because of the color or how they look, let me assure you that if green turns you off, just eat with your eyes closed and let your tongue savour the savoury sweetness of the soup. The meat ball made from turkey was good too. It is a out the size of an average fish ball and the portion is just right without filling up the tummy before the main course.

Photo did not do justice to the serving

One spoon, or thereabout, for size comparison.

Between the two starters, i will go for the soup. It provides a warm feeling to the tummy and you do have your vegetable and soup at one go. A winner in my opinion.

While waiting for the mains to come, the conversation obviously drifted to Twenty.One schedule for year end. I was informed that the outlets have been kept busy with a lot of year end functions and booking has been flying in on a daily basis. As they say, if the food is good, the drink is reasonable and the ambiance is close to perfect, the promotion of the place will be by word of mouth. Three functions back to back in a day prove just how popular the place has grown to be. So, do book in advance to avoid disappointment.
Not long after that, the main arrived and the portion sort of taunt me in a virtual way if i can finish it.

The plate was big, so was the portion

Slices of Oven baked turkey breast with chicken sausages, edamane beans and caramelised cranberries was a mixture of meatiness and fusion at one go. To start with, people usually cook potato croquette and not YAM croquette. The texture and taste would remind you of the yam basket. Secondly, who would have taken the trouble to pair up edamane (soya bean) with something this western? IN that sense, this is Fusion in not a very confusing way (like a spaghetti wan tan mee, for example?) One thing that still impressed me was how the chef keeps the turkey keel (lesson learnt, my blog was blocked off because of the word br3ast) meat juicy and tasty. Keel meat are known to be dry and with very little fat, making the cut a challenge to be cooked perfectly. I suspect the keel was cooked sous vide, just like the chicken that was served in the previous review.

Told you it was a large serving

The mains filled me up and the Guinness just made the food go down with pleasure. It is like turkey agrees that the Stout was good for it too! Needless to say, the plate was cleaned - short of me embarrassing myself by licking up the sauce; though Janet allowed me to.

With the main done, it was time to walk about to allow the food to settle a little bit while waiting for the dessert to be served. We went for the Chrissy Pudding as the Banana Pudding sounded very filling. Janet did warn us that the dessert is dense - many could not finish it alone and has to be shared by two person.
I took that as a challenge. I have sweet tooth and it has been months since i had a proper dessert. Secretly, i was telling myself that "i will burn this off, somehow".

Vanilla reduction, blueberries and crumbles...sinful

If you idea is to have dessert as your main, i say go ahead, this one is a filler. It was not too sweet (even after my "sweetness meter has been recalibrated after months of abstaining from sugar laden food). It gives a just nice feeling with the vanilla reduction (i.e. cream) and the sourness of the blueberries gives the dish a bit of punch to it.

Feeling Christmas-y already!

The meal came up to about RM75++ each pax, which is ain't too bad if you are looking to splurge a little to reward yourself for that "job well done" or to use up a small portion of that year end bonus being dished out at this time of the year. Add in the happy hour drink (buy 1, free 1), it will be about RM100++/pax/meal.
with good sunset view such as the KL city skyline thrown in, you can sit all night to soak up the party atmosphere when the night grow older (usually party starts at 11pm) and the crowd starts to pack in.

Perfect location for 2012 Countdown???

They could be contacted at the addresses and phone number below for inquiries or reservation purposes. Open for both Lunch (12 noon onwards) and Dinner! They gladly takes catering for functions (F&B and events) with the location easily able to cater to 100pax or possibly more.

twenty.one kitchen+bar

20-1, Changkat Bukit Bintang

Tel : +603 2142 0021

twenty.one tables+terrace

T1, Level 3, Bangsar Shopping Centre

Tel: +603 2287 0021

twenty.one outlets are brainchild of Dan and Richy and they started the business back about four years ago as DR.Bar. Having won at least two HORECA awards (that's Hotel/Restaurant/Cafe if you wonder what that is) and mentions in the local TimeOut KL and Juice magazine certainly hold volume for a humble four years old establishment. You can also find them in Facebook here and here or follow them on twitter @twentyone_tweet.

The Strawberry Park Resort Family Getaway Day 2 Part 2

Day 2 was activity filled and the previous entry has documented the morning activities until lunch time. As promised, this is Part 2 of Day 2 and this separate entry is to serve justice to the scrumptious F&B spread available in Strawberry Park Resort's Jim Thompson Terrace.
We were tired after coming back from the tea plantation, the butterfly farm and the vegetable garden. As we have lunch date at the resort, we decided to head back there for food. The children though are not picky about food, they have their funny preferences. We intend to do the best we could to train them to eat anything available outside that is not fastfood.

What Should I Eat Today?

We were served by the staffs in Jim Thompson Terrace and we had the choice of Western, Asian or Ala Carte. We decided to go for Ala Carte menu for flexibility.
Scanning through the menu, we were spoilt for choices. We decided to go for something familiar and not too adventurous.
For myself, i settled for the Sizzling Chicken Chop. Priced at RM30, it comes with saute vegetable and two potato jacket, topped with mushroom sauce. It came with a basket of fries as well, which i resisted from eating for health reasons. I should had asked for more vegetable if i knew to reduce wastage.
The chicken chop was above average. I have eaten chicken chop and some are made badly that it is dry and burnt. The Jim Thompson Terrace cook has managed to cooked the chicken while retaining the moist succulent meat of the de-boned thigh. The mushroom sauce was not too overwhelming and compliment the chicken well. Vegetable was sauteed to perfection while the potato was as expected.

Sizzling Tender Succulent RM30

Wifey went for the New Zealand Tenderloin Steak cooked to medium well. It comes with saute vegetable and a basket of fries with black pepper topping. Costing RM48, the tenderloin was superbly cooked to (requested) perfection with minimal fats. The meat was tender and juicy while the black pepper lend a tinge of spiciness to every bite. The portion was good as shown below and what surprises me was it will cost just as much if you order them from the usual western food chain in Kuala Lumpur. The quality wasn't compromised. This one deserved a two thumbs up.

Cooked to preference and big portion RM48

We decided to go a bit adventurous with Nadia as she likes noodle. We opted for the Fried Noodle (Mee Goreng) RM18 with seafood, chicken and vegetable. You have a choice to replace the noodle with meehoon or kuey teow. The portion is huge as you can see and there will be enough to share for two person. The seafood that went into this noodle includes two large prawns, squids, fishballs and fishcakes. It was not oily unlike the typical mamak fare (little oil residue on the plate after finished) and satisfy the urge for a plate of "mamak delight". Nadia was choosy as she skipped all the seafood and gobbled up the noodles. We supposed it was good since she almost ate the whole plate by herself. Perhaps she was hungry.

Fried Noodle RM18

Ryan requested for Pizza initially (which is also on the menu) but we played it safe as he like his pizza plain with tomato base only. As he love sandwiches made from cheese and eggs, we ordered half a dozen of the Cheese and Eggs sandwiches (RM15) for him. They have choices of either Cheese, eggs or tuna filling but the kitchen would be most understanding if you want to mix them up. Do check with them in advance should you want more than two combination. The set comes with fries, which we limit the children's intake of this golden irresistible snack. The sandwiches comes with freshly cut tomatoes and lettuce between the fillings and a serving of salad to complete the meal.

Big portion actually. At RM15, this is value for money.

The lunch was good and leave us with a bit more room for dessert. Being in Cameron and famed for their scones, we decided to order the Freshly Baked Scones with Strawberry Jam and Fresh Cream. At RM18, they are really a candy for the eye and appetite. We felt hungry already. Warning though, it will take 20-25 minutes to prepare this as Strawberry Park believes in freshness of their food. Don't expect reheated stuff here. Remember the freshly made chicken pie and strawberry pie in Day 1 write up? If the photos below don't make you want to already wish you have two in front of you now - it is most probably due to my bad photography. :)

Came hot to the centre of the scone.

How it should be eaten. Broken into halves, spread the fresh cream and the strawberry jam. Fresh strawberry optional but makes the visual better!

Say aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!

OK, after this i go run down the hill...4km to and fro.

Lunch was great and it is a whole different experience altogether. This is a free plug to Strawberry Park and both myself and wifey are still impressed with the F&B quality served over Day 1 and till Lunch today. Needless to say, for that little bit more that we can afford to pay, lunch was more enjoyable. Eating in a tourist laden place like Cameron Highland, expect a simple meal for 2 adults and two children to rake up to RM80 at least. Lunch was seriously an indulgence in Strawberry Park and did live up to the "A Resort Above It All" tagline per the coaster.

Scones wiped clean. Fresh cream included.

With lunch done, we went back to the room to rest. As the meal slowly digest in the system, we had an afternoon nap and woke up ready for dinner. We were invited by the Resort General Manager, Mr. Lim, to join him and some of his crews for a BBQ dinner. BBQ is ongoing for November and December only on Saturday night. It will cost RM52 for adult and RM36.40 for children below 12 years old. The BBQ was buffet style and had a huge variety of choices should those meat on skewer doesn't appeal to you much. There was a spaghetti counter available to make the typical tomato, pesto or cream base pasta. You will not be short of choices with seafood, meat and vegetable being offered to be cooked by the chef manning the counter.

Carbo-loading came early for SCMS (back then).

The chef at work

The pasta was cooked el-dente and comes in serving or combination as you requested them. I had a tomato based seafood spaghetti.

It was a good starter!

The spread and selection for the other food was good as well. Appetizer in the form of salad of various type were available. They are all freshly made and not leftovers from lunch. Bear in mind that lunch has no buffet served, so there is no risk of "carried over" food.

Salad Selection

If you are someone that love cheese, they have a variety too. Can you name the three types shown below? Kitchen baked bread are available as well should you want to dip them into the fresh mushroom soup (not made from canned soup ya) or just to eat with different dressings available at the salad counter.

Wifey had a few of each above. She love her cheese.

Dessert spread was good as well with a hot bread pudding under the pot at the bottom right. Pastries and cakes were beautifully made together with creme brulee and the more predictable egg tarts. If you can eat one serving of each below, you will already exceed your daily caloric needs and sugar level. But we are on a holiday, aren't we?

Dessert Spread. Spoilt for choice again!

Steaming hot bread pudding!

Moving over to the grill, one has the choice of different meat cut to begin with. Lamb, chicken, duck and beef are offered which the chef behind the counter will slice the meat and send it over to the grill for further cooking to your liking. You can request for beef medium well or well done here!

Go on you Carnivore!

The BBQ pit is set out on the balcony of the terrace to minimize smoke coming into the eating area. More so, it lend some outdoorsy feel to the whole setup. On the grill was a variety of BBQ dishes ranging from Otak-Otak to Seafood.

Sate was in abundance too!

The food was carefully grilled over charcoal amber to allow it to be cooked without charring. My personal favorite would be the seafood on the grill and the sate (both beef and chicken).

Careful don't burn them. The earth pot holds the peanut sauce for the sate.

I complimented the chef for the well marinated tender and icy beef sate. They were wonderful even without the sauce. I lost count of the sticks i have but suffice to say i had my fair share - including standing near the grill while eating a few sticks as they cook. I asked for the secret to the sate and was told that they only uses tenderloin for their beef sate.
Tenderloin for beef sate? WOW! That explained it! No guess how many more sticks i took after that. The chicken sate was equally well marinated and if there are chicken tenderloin, i am very sure they will use it!

Beef Sate with no fat on them. Otak-otak and some seafood grilled on stick. A cut of meat made medium well. All this just as my first round.

The Chef clearly enjoyed his time over the grill. He was seen smiling most of the time.

Dinner was fantastic with great company when the General Manager joined us for dinner. Along with some of his staffs manning the front desk and even the outdoor manager Mr. Maniam. We had our fair share of dessert with the kids and it was really a sinful experience eating what was offered on the buffet spread. Suffice to say, Day 2 was an eating adventure with the tea plantation and other activities to justify the caloric intake!

Wonderful cakes.

We went back to the room full and in the coolness of the night, snuggled up in bed and calling the day early. I am not sure if I dream of the food again that night, but i know i went to sleep like a baby with my tummy full!
I hope you enjoyed this write up as much as i enjoyed describing it (and eating them)! Till the next entry, Eat well and rest well!

*The family trip is courtesy of Strawberry Park Resort, Cameron Highland. Our family would like to record our utmost gratitude to the management and staffs for the hospitality given. We would also like to thank Rouge Communication, Petaling Jaya for the opportunity to be here.