Boon Tong Kee @ Bukit Timah, Singapore

During a dinner conversation, someone mentioned that she was going to fly down to Singapore for a trip, which reminds me now that i am at home, not in front of the television watching football for a change that i still haven't talked about the chicken rice i had at Boon Tong Kee.

Now with absolutely no knowledge of the hawker scene in Singapore, to say that chicken rice is a big thing among the Singaporeans is an understatement. Heck, i was surfing around a top Singaporean food blog to see 35 reviews of chicken rice places! To be honest, it would be hard to even name 5 places in Kuala Lumpur because chicken rice has always been a stomach filler to me, not a dish to enjoy and worship.

So when two of my friends proclaimed that this had to one of the best (can't say the best, if not i would be murdered, if otherwise) chicken rice, you had to try it.

Not exactly your SGD 2.80 chicken rice but more of a SGD 15 meal, lets take a look at the chicken.

So smooth and so white. It seems to be almost glowing. Again, it could have been a simple case of starving that caused the immediate love to (not with) the chicken. Cooked to almost perfection, no blood yet very smooth, everything was so tender. Imagine putting pieces of de-boned and chunks of thigh and breast meat in your mouth. I just can't figure out how come people don't sell huge chickens like these in Malaysia for chicken rice. It makes our chickens look anorexic, but wait, aren't these chickens imported from Malaysia? If i am not mistaken though, a whole bird will set you back a good SGD 25-30.

Again its another Singaporean thing, the minced ginger sauce and chilli is very pungent and on the strong sauce, use sparingly and not like how we pour the chilli all over the rice in Malaysia, doesn't exactly work that way.

Add a vegetable for almost SGD10.

Which to be honest serves not much purpose other than making the dish abit greener.

The rice which is fragrant but not as good as the one at Chatterbox is still good enough to accompany the chicken. Like the pyramid shape!

Quench your thirst with Barley Ice.

And there you have it, indeed one of the best Singaporean chicken rice for SGD 15 per pax, which could have bought alot of chicken rice in Malaysia.

Since Boon Tong Kee is a chain of outlets, there have been different qualities and i have been told the one at Bukit Timah is one of the better ones, abit like the Ipoh Chicken Rice at Jalan Gasing and Sri Petaling.

Address and contact details:

18, Cheong Chin Nam Road,
Singapore, 599742

Telephone: 64632289

I understand it opens till late and sadly it should be non halal.

Verdict: The first time was a 4 stars out of 5 stars and when we left and had another meal there, it just wasn't the same, the meat wasn't superbly tender like the first so maybe a 3.5 star rating would be suitable. Basically a chain restaurant who still serves a pretty damn good chicken rice, so give it a try if you are down in Singapore.

Il Lido @ Jalan Mayang, Kuala Lumpur

Housed in a anonymous bungalow with a very fresh looking coat of white paint, one would not know where this is unless you have perfect clear instructions from the Queen herself (i seem to be asking for noble help quite frequently nowadays). Some say they could see the clear logo shining brightly to tell you that is where "Il Lido" sits but all i could see was that the bungalow itself is called "the Mayang Club". If you find the corner bungalow just before the traffic light (coming from KLCC) on your right, you have hit the spot.


Drive right through and the mysteriously good service continues, from the friendly guards who directs you where you should park the car to opening the door for you. The pleasant surprise continues when you bump into the maître d’ at the lift and you are greeted and led upstairs by him.

Il Lido creates a nice balance of ambience; sleek, posh, comfortable (not the chairs unfortunately, didn't have a sufficient arm rest) with dim lighting. With a spotlight at each table though, the lighting is sufficient for photographs.

Service is good especially with a ratio of probably 2 staff to per table, well that night was a pretty empty weekday night. Matter of fact, service was probably too attentive and we encountered a staff that probably tried too hard to settle us down.

Too hard? Is that even possible? To mince no more words, our waiter was very convinced to sell us pre-drinks; from repeating Bellini's, Champagne, Prosecco, Moscato and trying somewhat his very best and virtually stop short of insisting. Throughout our dinner when we were having conversations, three different personnel came to ask how was our dinner when we were in the middle of our conversations, from the maître d’, wine sommelier and presumably one of the management staff.

That aside, i couldn't wait to dig into the food.

Complimentary focaccia with a slice of onion in the middle for extra flavour. However, too oily to even dip into the olive oil and vinegar.

Our amuse bouche that night was a cheese panna cotta in melon soup which as nice as it sounds and looks, didn't work for us. The sweet cold soup did nothing to bring out the bland panna cotta. If this was to tempt us into our mains, it didn't do the job.

The appetisers on the menu is somewhat generic Italian and nothing really popped up at you. Yes, i would have liked foie gras but the wallet wasn't really gaining any weight like i have been for the last few years.

So we went straight to pasta, a wide range from hand made to gourmet pasta, didn't really notice the difference between the prices though, everything was around RM40-60.

Pappardelle with goose liver, duck confit & truffle sauce (RM59). Now that i am looking back at the name of the dish, i was sadly disappointed with the glaringly omission of the foie gras. I half expected them to say that it was in the sauce but i suppose i should have asked but the dish was surprisingly good without it and i didn't want them to take it back to the kitchen.

Rich and hearty, the well cooked pasta, juicy duck meat and generous slices of truffles did the job for me.

I think this is the tagliatelle but i maybe wrong, cooked with lobster in a spicy herb olive oil sauce (RM59). I had a strand, well cooked again but didn't quite like the heat.

Veal agnolotti with porcini mushrooms. Similar to the ravioli, this was another very hearty and rich pasta. The filling is a veal mousse which can be putting off depending on personal preference. It is almost like eating pate, its either a love it or hate it experience.

Instead of having appetisers, we shared the talked about Sardinian suckling pig (RM85).

I think the pork does deserve a special mention. Yes its fatty, with a crisp layer of skin and fats in between the skin and meat but the meat is tender and juicy, separating with a nudge from the fork. The shallots braised or roasted with honey complimented the meat well.

Here again, the waiter needs to polish up on his way of recommending without looking too "hard sell". We again felt that he was trying very hard to get us to order a salad together with the pork which is a good choice actually but it reminded me of direct selling marketing.

We did oblige with the spinach and endive salad with golden fried egg topped with some sweet red onions. Have it alone would have been a tad plain but the raw crunchy vegetables was a perfect antidote for the rich meat we had. Although at RM29, a tad too expensive?

All that, accompanied with a glass of Chardonnay (RM22), which i must say for a house wine, was incredibly good, no surprises with the acidity and sweetness and well chilled when it arrived.

Desserts; the meal was just a week before the race and my stomach couldn't afford the extra calories, although i did steal a bite or two.

The molten chocolate cake is almost like any you can get out there. The ice-cream wasn't creamy enough and i don't see how the price of RM30 is justified, especially i have seen how easy it can be to make these molten cakes!

The ricotta cheesecake is mild and fluffy and presented in a thin pastry topped with pistachios. This was a better choice but it again didn't have the wow factor to it.

Ended the night with petit fours; dark chocolate, white chocolate and an amaretti biscuit. Petit indeed but a nice way to finish off the meal along with my coffee.

Il Lido has my vote if you want a sophisticated looking place for a romantic date. I like how the lights are dimmed at the right areas and almost mysterious like. However, the waiters could do with more practice and shouldn't appear to be too aggressive in recommending. Foodwise, there are some good things and some ok things, with prices not exactly the most affordable, i might just be able to afford one more round before i fly down under. Dinner was close to RM150 per pax, along with RM18 bottles of water.

Address and contact details:

Lot 183 Jalan Mayang (located directly opposite the Australian Embassy)
Off Jalan Yap Kwan Seng
50450 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: 03-2161 2291

Verdict: 3 stars out of 5 stars. Nothing really wowed me compared to the final bill except of the glimpses of hope. I sincerely do hope the stars will go up when (if i do) i visit them in the near future. By the way, the lounge bar is opened as you read this!

A tragic end to this year Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2010

What was suppose to be another good reason to congratulating myself for finishing 10km albeit at a probably slower pace, if not the same as last year was ruined by a sad piece of news that is currently all over on Twitter and Facebook.

A young man in his 20s collapsed between the 8km - 9km mark and started having seizures, before losing his pulse. The sad thing was that he didn't get the necessary help on time so that he could be alive like the rest of us in crossing the finishing line. It is understood that the ambulance took close to 20 minutes to arrive and at which point, despite all the help he got from participating runners, he sadly passed away on the way to the hospital.

Worse still, it only made me realise that i might have jogged past the pour soul, although i can't confirm. I did indeed saw a male runner lying down on the pavement with a few runners beside him. He had a shoe and sock taken out from his foot and he looked like he was in pain. My first instinct was that he probably injured his ankle. It definitely didn't come across to me that i was at such close proximity to a dying person.

Throughout the day, the saddening fact sat on my mind and that is probably one of the reasons why i am typing away at 3.40am after given up watching the World Cup. I hope that the loss of the pour soul will not be in vain as there are plenty of reasons to bring home.

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1. Collapsing from exercise can affect anyone, regardless of age, medical condition and do not differentiate between gender or race. So much so, whether you deem yourself fit or not, please know where your limit is and don't play god and push it as hard as you can. Listen to your body. There's a difference between pushing within your limits and pushing out of your limits. It was only last year at the Adidas run held in Shah Alam that dehydration and fatigue took a life of a teenager as he collapsed at a quiet area.

That being said, after finishing 10km race last year and this year, would i be brave enough to go for another run next year?

2. I think from now on, people have to be careful of the reputation of the organisers for such marathons. If what is being circulated is true, where were all the necessary help when one needed it? Volunteers out there, you are not there just to look good and gain good karma, you are out there to ensure that everyone is to have a safe race. If you can't do so, don't volunteer.

3. Everyone who takes part in a race plays a part in the race. Kudos to the participating runners who spotted the mishap. I think this year at least they got the tag line right "Run As One". I feel sorry that i didn't get a chance to help.

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Despite all that, i am glad i am still alive from 10km, which for some might be easy but for an overweight 20 odd year old, is still a great challenge.

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Food post probably continues tomorrow.

Whos running this Sunday? Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2010

Foodies aren't just about eating all the time. What comes in, must go out in one form or another and i am not talking about the natural cause of going out from the other end. I am talking about calories.

What you put in your body, you must burn, if not even your primary school kid might tell you, it simply turns into fats, stored in your body like a nice tyre around your waist.

It is easier said than done, because in the years of blogging about food coupled with other factors, i have put on weight, bluntly put, simple as that.

Last year i participated in the 10km run and so am i this year.

Hopefully the few hundred calories i burn throughout the 10km will be put into good use.

For those running as well, look out for number 15003!

See you on Sunday, 7am.

Village Park Nasi Lemak @ Damansara Uptown

Once upon a time, when i first got to know the Queen of DSLR and food blogging (which must have been at least 3 years ago), i received an invite from her to have this particular nasi lemak at Damansara Uptown at an insanely hour of 8am on a Saturday, may i add. Sad to say, when she texted me a friendly reminder of the group "date", i was sound asleep, barely having enough energy to lift the phone over and texted blindly "sorry, no can do la".

Maybe its retribution because since then i never had the opportunity to breakfast with the Queen at such an ungodly hour and worse still, this elusive meal only came to the ways of the Wife and I, just last week after 3 years of knowing of its existence. Talk about procrastination. If this was treasure, the treasure map would have been as worthless as toilet paper, probably worse since it may scratch your ass if you try to wipe with it.

So after finding ourselves hungry (i mean the Wife was still hungry), we decided we will finally go out to seek this treasure.

So we circled around Damansara Uptown and miraculously found a carpark spot right in front of the shop lot too.

Now you can either choose to order from the staff that are forever running around or queue up and be served almost on the spot. I reckon the waiting time is probably the same, or queuing up might be faster if you have alot of requests.

Even before it was my turn to be served, i knew something good was leading on, at 2pm, the place was packed like sardines and the queue had been a constant 10 people from the time i ate till i left.

This time, the Wife had this to say.

"Now, this would bring out the full hoard of “oohs, aahs and mmms”. This is what I call
a REAL MEAL. The ayam rempah is excellent and sambal with lots of onions, just my
type."

Just look at the gorgeous chick, i mean chicken and you know you have found yourself a gem in disguise. It did not die in vain. Although i would have liked them to serve it with more "rempah" for that extra shiokness. She of course didn't say that the rice was fragant with coconut and she happily devoured 3/4 of the rice, leaving me a spoonful or two to "taste".

Delicious i tell you, if i had calories to waste, it has to be here.

Address and contact details:

5, Jalan SS 21/37
Damansara Utama
47400 Selangor

Tel: +60 3 7710 7860

This my friend is Halal! Although i did notice the cashier was chinese, opened by chinese as well, i wonder? Who cares, the nasi lemak is good.

Opening Hours: 7 am to 8pm daily

7 am to 6 pm on Sunday/Public Holiday

Verdict: 4 stars out of 5 stars. The nasi lemak is good but you do pay a price, with the huge drumstick (equivalent to 2 normal sized chicken), prepare to part with RM6.50. Add sotong as well and the plate of nasi lemak is RM11, 11 times more expensive their RM1 packets you ate during mornings before work.

Wife ended her comment by saying "Sayang,sayang, i love you!"

Not sure whether she is referring to the nasi lemak or me, oh well.

Vary Pasta @ Damansara Jaya

I am leaving the "Dear Diary" to rest for awhile now. I think you guys might have enough and want to read something about food. So it was absolutely well timing when last weekend we were eating out in some new places and guess what? I think the Wife is getting addicted to writing because she wants to guest star again! Or either that she is obviously having a lot of free time at work. So here she is again, back in action! [With the red comments as my input]

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The Husband loves pork, especially knuckles. Not too long ago, he had the “cravings” and we had a lovely meal at Leonardo’s. Personally, I prefer the Chinese-style version of pork knuckle with Thai spicy-and-sour sauce served at a humble Chinese restaurant in Klang. The one at TTDI’s Deutsches Gasthaus 2 falls short compared to Leonardo’s. [I need her to take me to the one in Klang and make sure i have a camera]

So when The Star featured this article “Vary Good Food” by K.W. Wong on Saturday, June 5, 2010 where the writer explicitly details the pork knuckle as “The roasted skin — bits of blistered, charred, caramelised goodness — had the crispness and flavour expected of it. The meat was largely devoid of extra fat, unlike braised pork knuckles, and a bit dry (we did take five minutes to photograph that plate beforehand). There were more oohs, aahs and mmms as we dipped skin and meat into the brown sauce and ate… The pork knuckle was wonderful. It had flavour. It had texture. It had us at “Hello”.… I knew we had to try it. [I think she meant she wanted me to try it]

After stopping at Atria Shopping Mall to get my antique winding watch re-sized, we had lunch at Vary Pasta. The restaurant was a bit small, but not “cosy” as the smell of grease was prevalent in the air even with air conditioning. Over the course of the meal, the restaurant filled up pretty quickly from 2 occupied tables at 12.30pm to full-house (approximately 10 tables) by 1.15pm. However, I don’t think the staffs were too happy with the influx of customers as they were pulling sour faces when passing out menus and serving food. Maybe the recent promotion gave them extra work to do…. Suckie Service! Husband said the place reminded him of the small eateries opposite Taylor’s College in Subang.

Potato Crepe (RM7.50) Two thin layers of over-burnt shredded potatoes with sautéed mushrooms sandwiched inside – definitely not a good start

Mushroom soup, not from the can, but pretty tasteless – is there such a thing as too little cream? Husband added salt and pepper. [It was probably the only item that was "ok", just needed simple seasoning]

Disappointment! The moment the plate landed on the table, the “tu-bee” (Hokkien for pork smell) emitted from the knuckle. I know I know… of course pork has “tu-bee” but when you have eaten pork in Australia, you know how apprehensive we are to the smell and we have internal standards of acceptable degrees of “tu-bee” in our pork dishes!

The roasted skin was alright albeit slightly charred. Yes, the meat was devoid of fat but that also meant less tender? And yes, it was dry - oh well, people make excuses like taking photos dries out the food? Don’t even get me started on the accompanying sauerkraut – only a few “meng” (Hokkien for strands of “hair”) and the negligible cuts of potatoes were burnt.

[I totally agree as i had to stuff it all in as well because i don't waste food]

Address and contact details:

No.21G, Jalan SS22/23,
Damansara Jaya,
47400 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor.
Tel : 03-7710 6100

[Non halal, obviously]

Verdict: Using Husband’s rating scale, this would be a 2 out of 5. I don’t know if Husband has ever rated a 2, but I’m the one doing the review and I say it’s a 2. :P [I kind of agree with her rating too because seriously the pork knuckle was sub-par BUT we didn't try what the other people said were good; the simple chicken and pork chops with pasta, maybe you guys want to give it a try? I mean it is full house for a reason right?]

We were still hungry [She was, i was stuffed with smelly pork] and wanted to order some pasta but were told by the waitress that it would take a VERY LONG TIME [Oh well, after all they called themselves vary pasta, so pasta would have been a safer bet?]. Oh well, your loss.

But someone else’s gain because Husband obliged and took me to Village Park Nasi Lemak right after! [That should be up next!]

The Afternoon at the Garuda Training Centre

Dear Diary,

It's me again. This time i am probably going to try staying sober while writing this entry. Although the mere thought of the 3 hour ride getting there in a weather that can fry eggs on the roadside without fire and an air-con that can't exactly blow much wind out (hot or cold, it does not matter) makes me want to reach for a glass of single malt whisky.

Of course who can predict the Jakarta traffic or (machet in Bahasa Indon) would have also struck lottery and probably fly more often than drive in Indonesia.

I need to only take one picture to show you how bad it is. Other pictures are just repetitive and serve the same course.

When we finally did arrive though, thank god they prepared us with some refreshments.

Have you seen this fruit before? Its called a "Salak". Tastewise, it is rather crunchy, dry and sweet. Saw it for sale the other day at Jaya Grocer (I have been spending way too much time there).

Luckily, they didn't ask us to take a dip in the rather murky green pool since we complained about the heat from the minute we got in. Interestingly, we managed to catch the final seconds of a demonstration where the trainees had jumped in the pool and were cam-whoring with their towels. Hope one of them reads my blog and send me photos.

The first stop of the "tour" was straight to the training ground for the air-stewardess and air stewards. Its quite cool, their standard is apparently quite good and other airlines send their staff over here for training too.

The air-con for the training room was rather refreshing and cooling. So we barged in, snap photos like the paparazzi, stayed awhile giving them extra pressure and for the guys, a bit of sight seeing too. Well i don't know but the girls weren't that "hot". Nowadays, the hot ones rather go into modelling or just become an old man's mistress.

Dear Diary, in some ways i actually appreciate the fact that i am married and i don't have to think about chasing girls anymore.

"Damn stressing, this bunch of fellows here"
"Aiyoh, what was the first line again? Good morning sir, can i see your passport first or your ticket first ar?"

From the classroom we went into a life size plane segment to see them train!

Too bad they didn't let us sit down and be served.

Their accommodation isn't too shabby either. Its on a twin sharing basis and looked pretty clean and decent too!

We also caught a live demo as to how one should react when there's a need for evacuation. I was hoping i get hold of the two videos; one courtesy of the bloggers and one of the original. Remind me because it was darn funny i tell ya.

Do we have to slide down from up here? Thankfully no. Phew.

After the sight seeing, we were bought into the stimulator room. Er, i mean simulator room. At one point, some of us couldn't really figure out whether it was simulator or stimulator. Dear Diary, these days ar, the people england really powderful.

Oh, its simulator la.

At first we thought flying the simulator would be as easy as ABC and we would be having a chance to fly the thing.

Look at the buttons. Everything also have to press as if you were a pilot, you know. Sadly it was a demo too but we requested for a crash and the cockpit did shake quite violently. No injuries or deaths though.

Hey, is this how you fly this thing? Aiyah, on auto pilot already? Cheh. Cis Bedabah.

Before you knew it, it was time to go home, i mean back to hotel. Time to relax and have a good dinner.

Off we go back home. Another priceless experience that only dear diary can read and see, not available to the public live viewing!

While leaving the place, we spotted another aeroplane! An old Air-Force One used by one of the ex Presidents. I wonder how does the Malaysian one looks like?

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Dear Diary, i got to say it is not easy to become a food blogger covering this kind of events you know. Always thought how hard could it be to write like a lifestyle blogger, just vomit out lots of pictures, make sure got girls and abit of skin, write abit here and there then should be alright. Sigh, my pictures all no girls, got girls but all clothed from head to toe, quite the failure.

Looks like i will stick back to food blogging from now on.

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Nevertheless, one should always learn to innovate, so Garuda if you are reading this, i am still game for another trip ok?

Thanks to Garuda Indonesia Malaysia (meaning the Garuda Indonesia office in Malaysia) for hosting us there and of course all the friendly people at Garuda Indonesia, Jakarta for bearing with us crazy camera clicking bloggers!

Awesome morning at the Garuda Headquarters @ Jakarta

It is funny how a food blogger is or even contemplating to blog about things other than food. To look through all the pictures i took without having to think of how it tasted and whether it was worth the calories, it was always going to be very hard to jog up the memory but after a glass or two of 18 year old single malt, lets give it a go.

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Dear Diary,

I have never written a diary post but since i am in Indonesia and you never know when the next bombing will come around or the next earthquake will shiver the grounds, i better write something so that there is a piece of my legacy around.

It is Day 3 of our trip and we are finally put to work. Although the itinerary says it is a trip to the Garuda Headquarters and the Training Grounds, i doubt it would be much fun, especially since i have to wake up earlier than i usually do when i go to work.

Traffic in Jakarta is horrible as usual, what takes you 15 minutes on the weekend will take you 45 minutes in Malaysia and multiply by another 2, is the estimated time wasted in Jakarta.

Or maybe it is because the car doesn't work.

You see it doesn't move but notice the RPM meter is not at 0. I maybe sleepy but i am not pissed drunk to know that we were not moving at 0km/hr!

Similarly where our MAS headquarters is at Subang where the old airport is, Garuda headquarters is nearby the Jakarta International Airport (Soekarno-Hatta). However look at the IATA code it is CGK, short form for Cengkareng, the word that the Indonesians used. Sure is confusing to me, diary.

The aircraft that greets us at the entrance, thankfully these are near antique and are not part of the flying planes (well i hope so, for my dear life).

Security is pretty tight, almost as if i am checking into the airport. Hope they don't start to probing.

An awesome replica of the current or was it future fleet of airplanes used by Garuda, unfortunately a little too big to sneak into my bag.

Now i have been into one of the MAS Office buildings before, all i can is that it is seriously old and creaky, however this place is spanking clean and new. It even has a cafeteria that serves quite a decent coffee too!

Cappuccino? With caffeine, i am finally awake.

Actually, we have the whole lot, comes with coffee art too! At this point, i am confused with whether to use amazed or amused.

While we were sipping our coffee, a briefing started that went to the rather mundane details that even my hands will fall asleep while writing to you diary. In short, we were told that in no time Garuda would become from zero to hero and soon they would be joining the other airlines in flying into Europe, beginning from Amsterdam! Not only that, they are going to list on the Indonesian Stock Exchange, so those with some spare cash, this IPO might be gold! Maybe i should highlight this on you, diary so that i can start saving some money.

With the coffee and briefing finished, we entered their Engine Maintenance Warehouse, to be greeted with engines that we could not eat but if sold, would provide for all the meals i need to eat for the rest of my life! Now i know why someone went to steal some Malaysian engines recently, can really make some big bucks.

So where is the engine, eh?

Next stop: the Aeroplanes!

Not just only from the outside, but we were allowed to go in and out of the plane too! Usually when you fly Air Asia, you are not allowed to take pictures. Here, you take as much as you please!

I don't think i ever want to sit in Economy Class, look at these oh so beautiful Business Class seats. So spacious. Life is too short for sitting in something too tight. Seriously much more comfortable than even the pilot seats. How would you know?

Its damn tight la, trust me. Just enough space to squeeze in and take a picture.

They even have to take a break by opening up the windows.

The whole morning was like a kid going into a candy store, a woman let loose with their husband's credit card or simply us onto an aeroplane! I must say i was in awe by the end of it all. Dear Diary, how i wish the aeroplane was like in my backyard instead of it being far far away.

Once we were done, we were even fetched in their logo Toyota Avanza!

Sad to say though, the experience of wondering around the plane is of course priceless, even if you have a Visa or a Mastercard.

Dear Diary, i am about to embark on a 3 hour car ride journey that would make me so nauseous that the idea to continue writing will probably make me puke my breakfast out. So till then. Adios.

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The headquarters, of course, is not open to the public either but oh well, at least i gave you a glimpse of what's it like. Security is pretty tough so don't think you can just casually walk in and ask to be taken into the planes!

Well after the headquarters, what was installed for us next?

That's tomorrow.