Etude House Early 2011 Haul

Finally I've succumbed to the pink frilly Korean drama based brand o.O"

And I regret not having fallen earlier.

Hainanese Chicken Rice

Ben trying his hand involuntarily to be a photographer after me pestering him for about 10 mins to take my picture NICELY! What do you think?

Moving on to the food.

The location we'll be dining in today is the ever so rustic family run restaurant in Penang called Hainanese Delights located in 1926 Heritage Hotel Penang.

1st started by their father who was trained as a cook and served the British colony back in the hey days, 3 brothers in their golden years are in charge now.

Each with no official culinary training except growing up with good food, fond memories and secret family recipes passed down from their father.

A unique blend of Hainanese and western culture to suit the delicate palettes of the folks from across the pond, one can find a peaceful blend of east meets west.

Fret not, the Hainanse identity still runs strong in this little jem.

Let's begin with our entree,

This is not just a chicken pot pie.

Covered with a delicate layered puff pastry lies hidden...

generous portions of egg and chicken in a sweet and savoury gravy.

This picture looks pale in comparison with the flavors.

Next up,

This is no ordinary spring roll

or as we Malaysian like to call it, poh piah.

Using a special homemade pastry as the shell, this piece of crispy heaven is amazing.

Guided by the ever friendly Mr George Wong,

we were told of the right way to eat this.

Trust me these steps are no hindrance and well worth it.

See the special sauce? No ordinary sauce here.

If you dip it just like that, then the structural integrity of the crispy goodness will give way.

We wouldn't want that now would we.

So instead.

Pop the piece of bad boy in it's side and and pepper the fella from the inside, ensuring the outer crispiness is intact. Genius right?

At 1st crunch, the filling explodes in your mouth

along with the tangy sauce igniting your tongue, in a good way.

This piece of Hainanese Spring Roll is certainly the bomb!

Okay enough with the ammunition puns.

One of the dishes that Hainanese is most famous for is of course, the Hainanese chicken rice.

Smooth tender chicken, succulent to the bite.

Adorned with a side of chicken innards and cool cucumber and to top it off

fresh coriander and ginger.

This is how we do it in the old days, inards babeh!

Ben of course being the more refined palete refused to eat any of this chicken entrails.

Fine more for me then. Waste not want not right?

Oh and the rice. Not your ordinary chicken rice either.

This is one secret that Mr George is kind enough to share with us.

The rice, prior to being coked in a bath of chicken stock and secret blend of spices,

has to go trough a baptism of fire.

No these aren't christian rice,

they are 1st stir fried in a wok to heat things up a little before the bath and when they are done, set aside for a good 10-15 minutes in the sauna of stock steam to the grains to recollect themselves.

The extra measure to ensure that when you eat these little morsels,

the taste and texture is at it's best.

All in all it was an enjoyable time for Ben and I chatting with Mr George.

A nice friendly chap ever willing to share a piece of delicious history with you.

Thank you so much for a great time. And next time I'll be sure to bring back more mouths so that I can order a wider variety of dishes for my tummy.

Yes, I am selfish that way.

Quick, call in to make reservations especially for some of their not so ordinary dishes:

Lunch: 11am

Dinner: 6pm

Telephone: 604 226 1926

1926 Heritage Hotel

227, Jalan Burma, 10050 Penang, Malaysia

Closed on Mondays

Facebookhttp://www.hainanesedelights.com
P/S: Any restaurants or dishes you like recently? Do share in the comments below.

FTW to be different!

I recently learnt to use the FTW. Don't worry I'm still not cursing here. FTW actually means For The Win which is pretty well...not crass compared to what I had originally had in mind.

So this blog entry is to chronicle a new pattern I've been noticing while joining competition on twitter and Facebook FTW

I present to you exhibit A

Q: What you would do to escape from someone obsessed about you.

Instead of the usual answers of elimination the problems by being honest Abe, gore of killing or spinning webs of lies, I took the road less traveled. By embracing the problem.

A:Hmm... obsession.

I would make that person as my number one fan and hire that person to handle all my blogging and PR related headaches^^.

then I'll work that person to the bone which he/she will as they are obsessed with me.

So much so that they will either stop obsessing or die working o.O" whoa new level of narcissism...

either that or I'll intro a new obsession to them^^ Go stalk Nuffnang^^

Prize: 2 Free tickets to catch a movie.

Managed to add an element of polishing at the end too.

Exhibit B:

Q: "What does MANJA mean to you?"

I must admit. This came as a surprise to me. I was on one of those days where my moods were as predictable as the degrees of which the tides were moving in shore.

Instead of taking the all lovey dovey honey coated diabetic cavity inducing route, I took the darker ebil and well, more feminine choice.

A: subliminal brainwashing to bring men to do our biding using as little effort and as much mind manipulation as possible...

Prize: 2D 1 N stay at Holiday Villa Subang.

I suspect the judge may have been a female and possibly going through the same tides as me.

Moral of the story.

Being different FTW! *works either way.

P/S: Have you won anything online recently? Do share.

RIP Bob

These are my cats. The princess to the left is Kitten (it was named by a wee toddler) and the one to the right is Bob. They are brothers and sisters from different litters, Bob being the youngest.

Both born on the year of the dragon so that makes them 11 year old in human years.

Thats pretty old for a cat, at most they live to about 15 years.

Both of them stay back in my hometown.

Whenever I go back, for a visit, back from shopping or school.

Bob would always be the 1st to greet me within the hour.

While Kitten being the princess would only grace us with her presence when she deemed it timely.

Yeah they are very different and I love them both to bits.

My mom phoned me to tell me he's been sent to the vet to remove some kidney stones and is expected to be back the day after.

Sadly Bob has passed away.

2 days have passed and I knew deep inside that Bob had passed.

True enough I called my mom and she told me.

Bob had passed on the day Prince William married Ms Catherine.

I was surprised I didn't cry.

Memories of Bob snuggling in bed with me when ever I slept in late in Seremban,

his always flight rather then fight stance,

bathing him as he slinks around the bathroom while I tell him resistance is futile

rushed through my brain.

Bob even self trained himself to pee and poo in the toilet bowl.

Rest in piece my dearest Bob. You will be missed and continued to be loved.