Vietnam Kitchen
Mom's been too busy to cook lately, so we've been eating out for dinner. On Sunday, after class, we went to One Utama to have our dinner at Vietnam Kitchen. I'm not fanatical about Vietnam food, but since the restaurant's always crowded everytime I pass by, I suggested that place.
I believe they had a branch at SS2, but I wasn't impressed that time (which was years ago).
Just the right texture, not too soft, not too hard.
Uh, seafood salad, vVetnamese style. Shredded sour mango, cucumber, prawn, cuttlefish, chilli, etc on spicy, er, prawn or fish cracker (keropol) I think. Yah, that weird looking orange thing is the keropok.
Pork in caramel sauce (I can't remember the exact name). Supposed to be famous. It was delicious, no regrets :D
Duck in mango sauce. Really tasty. The sauce was nice, not the cordial syrupy type.
Sour Seafood Soup. It's not like Tom Yam Soup. It's sour but not spicy, I quite like it. I've actually ordered their Vietnamese Fried Spring Roll, but as usual, my tummy was faster than my brain.
At the old wing of One Utama, Shiseido was promoting their Suncare products:
An almost life-sized yacht on real water! Expensive promotion! But then again, their products are expensive too, so I don't think it's a problem at all.
I wanted to take pics with it, but I'm pretty sure it's only for customers who bought their products:
See the cameraman and his equipments? Haih. Oi, I'm also your customer mah!
Labels: Food-Snacks-Beverages, Misc
Fong Lye Tea House
Today, my class ended an hour earlier than intended (we had shorter breaks!), so I took the KTM down to Midvalley Megamall to meet up with my parents for dinner. I suggested eating at Fong Lye Tea House, because whenever I pass by that "tea house" I always see a long queue outside. We didn't have to wait for a table as we were early.
The decor's really nice, I wish I was, er...brave enough to go around snapping their decors. Unfortunately, I'm a coward, the most I could do was take not-so-sneaky pictures of our dishes with Fei!
This is the only "decor" pic I took. Peony flower seems to be their main theme. Well, I THINK it was supposed to be peony.
Pretty teapot set, crysanthemum tea for two.
My apple milk juice.
Until now, I'm still not sure what this is supposed to be. I thought it was meatball something, but... Anyway, it's like a starchy pie with mushroom and meat filling.
Seafood and meat dish. This dish was really value for money at RM26++. There were two big prawns, a few shellfish (lala), fake crabmeat, REAL crabmeat (they gave us the claws) and assorted steamboat stuff. On the hotplate, it was mostly chicken meat, or was it pork? And taufu.
Mee suah (didn't take pic of it) and pork meat. Frankly, I didn't really like this dish very much.
Seafood noodles. Really like this dish. Our bill came up to about RM95.00.
Hmmm...looks like we didn't order much, but I was really full after dinner! As we left, the queue outside Fong Lye Tea House got longer and longer...
Alright, all about Fong Lye Tea House:
Lot T-208, Level 3, The Gardens, Midvalley
(just opposite Borders and Zanmai Sushi)
Tel: 03-2282 8699
Labels: Food-Snacks-Beverages
Learning Chinese from TV Shows
This was what happened at the washroom at The Gardens:
My sis and I were preening in front of the mirror when...
Mom: You both look like
tong zhi men...
Steffi: Is it? Haha...(wonders why her mom suddenly said that)
Mom: People will think that you are
tong zhi men from Japan or Korea
Steffi: Haha...
Steffi: Do I really look like my Elaine's boyfriend ah? I mean, girlfriend.
Mom: Huh?
Steffi: You said we look like
tong zhi men...
Mom: I'm not talking about that
tong zhi men! Your mind is so corrupted.
Tong zhi men means fellow countrymen!
Steffi: How am I supposed to know?! Everytime I hear that word, they refer to "gay/lesbian"! Like how Jiro's character calls himself "tong zhi men" in the Taiwanese drama Hana Kimi when he thought that he fell in love with a boy! Entertainment news also always use that word!
When words have double/hidden meaning...*sigh*
Update: I was told that a more accurate meaning of "tong zhi men" is "comrade". Also, I have finally remembered that I didn't hear that word from Hana Kimi (they used the word "gay" instead), but possibly from another show called "Go Go G-boys - Movie" where there were a bunch of them, and that is probably why they used "tong zhi men" to indicated that they are "comrades". Forgive this banana *bows deeply*Labels: Numbnut Smacks Head, Numbnutting...
Happy Mother's Day!!!
First of all, Happy Mothers Day to all the mommies in the world! YAY! Don't forget to take this opportunity to squeeze out a few diamonds from your hubby!
My sis and I decided to celebrate Mother's day one day earlier to avoid the crowd on the actual day. We ate at Din Tai Fung, well known for its xiu long bao. The first time we ate at Din Tai Fung was at the Junction 8 branch, Singapore.
Appetizer. I think it's made out of tung fun, chilli, preserved vege, carrot and other unknowns (to me). Not bad.
We ordered Combo A which consisted of 6 normal pork meat xiu long bao + 6 crab meat and pork meat xiu long bao. The skin was just nice, didn't break when I picked it up. Juicy enough too. These are the small xiu long baos, the restaurant has bigger versions which are called Xiao Long Bao (er, isn't one in Cantonese and the other in Mandarin?)
Spicy Prawn La Mian. Ahaha, as usual, I tend to eat before I take the picture. What to do? My stomach thinks faster than my brain. Delicious. Quite spicy, but won't kill.
Braised Beef La Mian. This was the first dish I ate at Singapore's Din Tai Fung. Same chunky beef, quite chewy, a proof that no tenderizer was used.
Signature Tau Fu dish! I think the top part is seaweed, servedd with mushroom. Since there are four of us, we were given four pieces of taufu and four halves of mushroom. Ate it with rice, yum!
Shanghainese Smoked Fish. This is something different, quite interesting. They use dory fish to come up with this dish. It's like a fish version of Taiwan's beef jerky. Quite tasty and not too hard.
Another unique and excellent dish. Salted Egg Yolk Prawn. Prawn coated with salted egg yolk and then deep fried. Love this dish!
Had to take a walk after that...tummy was bursting!
Bridges here, bridges there, zig zagging, criss crossing...
In case you still don't know where Din Tai Fung is, it's at...
The Gardens Mall, Midvalley, Lot LG-207, Lower Ground Level. Tel: 03-2283 2292
We were given seats upon arrival because...
Guy Customer to girlfriend: Eh? Can book wan ah?
Caaaaaaaaaaaan...can reserve seats =D So if you don't wanna queue, just pick up the phone and give them a ring.
Labels: Food-Snacks-Beverages
Peach Jam Milk
Sometimes I wonder what's wrong with me...
St. Dalfour Golden Peach Jam
You would think that after the last experiment, I would have learnt my lesson...
Farmhouse Fresh MilkBut noooooooooooo, it looks like I didn't.
Voila! Peach Jam Milk!I don't regret it though. My mom might...when she sees the bottle of jam tomorrow :DLabels: Food-Snacks-Beverages
Redoxon + Farmhouse Milk = ?
I wanted to drink milk. I also wanted to take my Vitamin C (Redoxon). Being the lazy person I am, I came up with a harebrain idea of combining the two so that I didn't have to go to the kitchen twice.
The ingredients:
Redoxon and Farmhouse Milk (low in fat)
First, a cup of milk.
Then, plop the tablet in.
Then watch it froth...
and froth...like a mad cow...
still frothing...epilepsy?
Finally, after HALF an hour, it has fully dissolved.
Looks like baby's porridge, right? So I sipped a bit. These were what came to mind:
1) The salty orange concotion that the doctor gives you (in powder mix) when you have diarrhea
2)Yoghurt
The milk brought out the saltiness of the Redoxon to the maximum! It's like natto. It's not god awful but it's not nice either. I skimmed the top part (the porridge looking part) as I'm not a yoghurt fan in the first place. I drank half. The kitchen sink drank the other half.
Next time, Steffi won't be so lazy. She'll go twice to the kitchen -_-
Labels: Food-Snacks-Beverages, Numbnutting...
From Fei, with love ^-^
Here are some pictures taken by Fei Long.
Normal mode, daytime outside.
I was trying to take picture of the baby grasshopper on the window but it wasn't focusing on the baby.
This one was taken in the house, my study lamp was too bright. 2MP picture.
VERSUS
VGA mode. It's only in VGA mode that I can zoom...
And then, there's the special effects:
1) Black and White
2) Negative
3) Sepia
I was attempting to take picture of my abused keyboard at office...just to show how dangerous fingernails can be.
A normal close up image of the keyboard. As you can see, Fei's not made for close up shots. The key circled is the "A" key...Look hard and you'll be able to see the indentations and deep scratches, courtesy of my ring finger.
A "Negative" version. Might be easier to spot the result of more-than-a-year abuse.
And lastly, Sepia's similar to black and white except that it's in brown tones.
Oh, and regarding the post before this, ignore it. Or don't. whichever you prefer. I was testing mobile blogging, looks like I'll be able to blog from Fei Long now. ^o^v
Labels: Misc, Moi
Welcome...
to Steffi the numbnut @ mobile blogging. Er...won't be posting much here cause i'm too poor!
Singapore 2008 - Inconsiderate Fellow Passenger, Clarke Quay
As I've mentioned before, I took the bus to and from Singapore on my last trip. Before the highlight of the trip, I managed to get myself lost in Novena Square. I didn't know how that happened, but yes, I lost my family while walking to the bus. I couldn't call them and I could only sms them, which I mispelled Burger King due to the dictionary function and I was running out of battery. It was early in the morning so many shops weren't open yet. Finally they managed to contact me before my handphone died off and I found them. My mom thought that it was hilarious how Steffi the adventurer who goes exploring Singapore could get lost in a MALL.
And then, in the bus, I sat next to the window so the luggage rack was right above my head. I was daydreaming and didn't realized that we had reached the immigration dept of Singapore. I got up abruptly when my dad called out to me - and smack my head really hard against the luggage rack - and ended up keeling over on the chair while holding my head, sans anime style. That was the first time I saw stars. That day just wasn't my day.
And now, the highlight:
I have never met anyone as annoying as this lady who was sitting in front of my sister (who's on my left). It started off when we left Novena Square. I love watching the scenery outside the bus, but suddenly this lady (the snobbish
tai tai type) approached me and requested that I pull the curtains as the sun was too bright. What are you? Vampire?! Ok, fine, I just looked at her and pull the curtains shut. After a while, I decided to nap, but nooooooooo, someone was being too noisy. If she wants to talk to her friend, she could do so quietly, but instead, she was complaining loudly. I don't know what she has to complain about, but she has A LOT of complaining to do to her friend. If it's not this, it's that.
I hate being disturbed when:
1) I want to sleep (I'm sure most of you too)
2) I'm watching anime
3) I'm reading manga/book
4) I'm daydreaming
She even went to the bus driver to complain/ask about stuff a few times, eg. "Why are we stopping at this rest stop and not that rest stop?" or "That rest stop has so many flies!" and God knows what else.
The last straw was when we alighted the bus after a rest stop, she actually came over to my sister's and my side and stared blatantly at our footspace without even acknowledging us. On top of that she looked as if she was checking whether we had foot disease which could possible spread to the front where she sits.
Steffi, when on tour/trip, normally lacks of sleep. Steffi who lacks of sleep also lacks patience and adopts a don't care attitude...Steffi is also irritable especially when confined in small spaces such as a bus. So Steffi decided to take her revenge. >=D
Steffi noticed that Annoying Lady is, besides annoying, also very vain (always smoothing down her short hair and applying cosmetics) and is afraid of cold (she shut off her air vents). So after lunch, at another rest stop when we alighted the bus, we (sister and I
lah)noticed that she wasn't in the bus yet. >=D OPPORTUNITY TIME! I told my sister to sit at that Annoying Lady's place while I directed both our air-con blowers to her (it was pretty cold in the bus, so we didn't need them). At full blast of course :D I don't know if the other passengers saw, but they sure didn't say anything if they did.
Finally, the bus left the rest stop. And the fun begins. Annoying Lady does not know why her hair kept on swaying about like the
lalang at our roadside, or Autumn in My Heart, which ever you prefer, but she kept on flattening down her hair. Every few minutes. :D With a smirk on my face, I settled down to sleep but this time I was disturbed by my sister. It was funny to see her laughing silently, shoulders shaking, face all red and fist stuffed to her mouth to prevent herself from laughing out loud everytime the Annoying Lady's hair swayed. Mom probably realized what I did but didn't say anything
at first. Dad on the other hand, needed my sister to explain to him what was going on :D He, of course, didn't like that Annoying Lady too.
Mom: Ok lah, push the blower back to yourself, later she scold you.
Me(stubborn): Then I'll scold her back. Politely.
Mom: Haih.
I wasn't kidding when I said I'll scold her back. Remember, Steffi who lacks of sleep also lacks rational thinking. I mean, geez, if she was so fussy, why doesn't she hire a limousine or take the aeroplane? Sheesh.
OK, so here are some pictures of Clarke Quay, a reward for listening to my rants :D
Labels: Numbnut Explores the World, Ranting and Raving Numbnut
All Hail Lord YS!
Firstly, I should properly introduce you to my new beau. Ladies and gentleman, please meet Fei Long.
Before you start wondering, no, I never intended to name my mobile phone. I thought naming items should be left to people like Darke. Well, my desktop (Errol, after the owl in Harry Potter) and external hard disk (Shikamaru, after the character in Naruto anime) are the only two items I have given name to. However, I didn't realize that SOFTWARES encourage you to name your item too! I was caught by surprise when the Sony Ericsson (hereinafter known as SonyE) PC Suite asked for my mobile phone's name! Well, since SonyE asked for it, I shall have to come up with one.
I named Fei Long after a Hong Kong triad boss in the manga,
Finder Series, by Yamane Ayano. It's not a manga to be read by the general public, so if you know what I mean,
click at your own risk. =D I thought my Fei Long (yes, can't you see that he's wearing my chain?), although delicate, is dark and dangerous like Ms Yamane Ayano's Fei Long.
So naturally, Fei, being a triad boss, he needs protection. I got this for him:
It's to prevent his beautiful face from getting scratched.
Fei needs to be pampered too, you know, being a triad boss and all.
He even has a pet pig to sit on his lap. Btw, that belongs to my sister but I'll just borrow it meanwhile.
Fei Long: WHAT'S WITH THE SISSY ACCESSORIES?! I'm a triad boss, not a kindergarten kid!
Steffi: Yes, and your master is me. Well, if you want something more manly, take this!
(Rocking chair made by my aunt in Johor)
Steffi: A hard wooden rocking chair for a grouchy old man like you! BWAHAHAHA!!!
Fei Long: ...butt sore *pouts*
Steffi: *scratches head* Well, I suppose I could get you a cushion...
I wanted to get Fei Long a Stereo Bluetooth Headset HBH-DS970 but it took my all to stop my jaw from hitting the floor when the salesman quoted me the price. RM280! Fei dear, with that price, I could get you a henchman to be your bodyguard.
Uh, anyway, I also have another person to introduce to you. ALL HAIL
LORD YS!!! My mobile phone guru! Thanks to him, Fei Long now can play my videos smoothly...
Oh, and I've finally managed to send a video MMS and make a video call to Singapore! Had to do that in Cyberjaya though. That was the only place I could get the 3G signal so far. -_- The video call only lasted for 2 minutes, naturally, since I only have RM2.00 credit left. Video calls to other countries are more expensive though, at RM5 per minute. Luckily my aunt is staying in Singapore =D
I have yet to master Maxis 3G's services fully. I tried getting into the Maxis Wap Portal but ended up surfing? the internet and got 50 cents deducted for about 5 minutes or less. I WANNA TRY OUT THE MAXIS TV!!! Er, but I guess I'll have to go to Cyberjaya for that. Or hunt for a place with 3G coverage. Pugs...your place supposedly has 3G coverage, so do not be surprised to see me camping outside your house :D
Labels: Misc
I believe they had a branch at SS2, but I wasn't impressed that time (which was years ago).
Just the right texture, not too soft, not too hard. 
Uh, seafood salad, vVetnamese style. Shredded sour mango, cucumber, prawn, cuttlefish, chilli, etc on spicy, er, prawn or fish cracker (keropol) I think. Yah, that weird looking orange thing is the keropok.
Pork in caramel sauce (I can't remember the exact name). Supposed to be famous. It was delicious, no regrets :D
Duck in mango sauce. Really tasty. The sauce was nice, not the cordial syrupy type. 
Sour Seafood Soup. It's not like Tom Yam Soup. It's sour but not spicy, I quite like it. I've actually ordered their Vietnamese Fried Spring Roll, but as usual, my tummy was faster than my brain. 
An almost life-sized yacht on real water! Expensive promotion! But then again, their products are expensive too, so I don't think it's a problem at all. 
See the cameraman and his equipments? Haih. Oi, I'm also your customer mah!
