Just Cuz We Like It

Monday, September 20, 2010

Foodventure #2 - D'Italiane Kitchen

People tell me Sunway Giza is a Food Haven and I heartily agree!
Haven't tried all the makan places there since there are so many, so I'll just take it one step at a time :)
Merv's back in KL for the weekend and we decided to check out D'Italiane Kitchen since Karin recommended it. And for starters we had:

Di Mare soup - a tomato-ey soup with prawns, calamari, mussels and fish fillet. It wasn't fantastic but their fresh mushroom soup, which we also tried, was pretty good.

Stuffed Portabello Mushrooms. Not the best I've had but still not bad, plus the mushrooms were big.

The mains included: Sicilian Seafood pizza. The taste so-so only la but the crusts were thin, just the way I like it. Yellow Cab pizzas are so much better though :)

And salmon with shallot sauce. This was probably the best out of all the food we ordered that day.

My post-meal drink: Cranberry mojito. I generally prefer my cocktails strong and less sweet. This was super mild and super sweet so... thumbs down for me :/

Overall, the ambience of this place is nice and the food is not bad but not really worth the price imho. If I ever do come back it'll be for this, their bailey's Latte which is the only awesome thing I had that day.

Cheese :)

Friday, September 17, 2010

Foodventure #1 - Rakuzen

Our beloved Marsha is leaving us for good so we decided to have a farewell lunch for her at one of our favourite haunts: Rakuzen.

Cuz We. Love. Japanese. Food. :)

And also because Rakuzen has a wide selection of Jap food with pretty good lunch sets and fresh sashimi. Although its on the pricier side, me thinks its value worthy ;p

This is my all time fave --> Yakiniku Zen (Grilled beef set) RM28

I always always order this at Rakuzen :)

And Sab's fave --> Chirashidon set RM30

She orders chirashidon at almost every jap restaurant she visits :D

Some group pics with Dear Marsha. We're gonna miss you babe!!

Before leaving the waitress told us Rakuzen Chulan Square is gonna be relocating to "G-tower" down the road in October 2010. And apparently it'll have a garden in the front and everything so we can't wait!

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Kitchen DIY #1: Jeruk Petai (Preserved Bitter Beans)

Parkia speciosa (petai, bitter bean, sataw, twisted cluster bean, yongchaa, yongchaak, zawngtah or stink bean) is a plant which bears long, flat edible beans with bright green seeds the size and shape of plump almonds which have a rather peculiar smell, characterised by some as being similar to that added to methane gas.

~Wikipedia

I just felt like sharing a random recipe today. Not everyone can tolerate the nasty smell of petai. The whiff of it when it's been cooked in the kitchen, the smell of it in your mouth while you're eating it, and the aftermath bloat (for certain people) and how the toilet smells like after you do your business few hours after.

However, since it's Malaysia Day and all..lets appreciate what our country has in its forests and what our nenek moyangs like to eat, be it any race at all- malay, chinese or indian. Got this recipe from my mom who got it from her nenek (who is my moyang) all the way from Perak. it's a malay dish, eaten with rice. some may find it smelly but it's yummy anyways. kalau takut, makan la activated charcoal right after. helps absorb the smell somehow:P

You'll need:

some petai (choose nicer ones please. these were given to me by ma-in-law the day before. forgot to put in fridge:)

some chilli padi, to be smashed/ketuk/lenyek

some garam kasar, to be rinsed and set aside

a container to preserve your beans in. preferably a nice glass jar cuz it will look prettier when it's done.

Since this recipe is age old, there's no precise measurement of all the ingredients. add more chillis if you want it spicier, more salt if u think it's too little. orang melayu kate, agak-agak je.

Step 1: Peel away skin, set the beans aside.

Step 2: Combine all ingredients in container, add water and stir with spoon to mix everything up.

Level enough to rendam all the beans.

Step 3: Put on the container cover and set aside (~2 weeks..the longer the better).

So that's 3 easy steps and you're done! best eaten with rice and your favourite masak asam or masak kicap or steam fish or curry or everything else:)

After 2 weeks the colour of the beans might change to a dirtier green but no worries...they r meant to be like that. nama pun preserved. right?:)

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

The Hammam & Gommage experience.

Last time i went to spa wasnt exactly the best experience for me. got some superb discount at this Girls Day Out event. the masseus was practically climbing all over me, yes, on the massage bed and i can feel it even with my head down buried into the pillow. painful weh. and they made me bathe with just a frickin pair of disposable underpants in a bathtub. then i thought, NEVER again.

But this place totally changed my perspective about the spa. the so called pampered luxurious feeling they raved about. no more so called now, it's the greatest feeling! The Hammam Spa is located in Bangsar Village II. It's a traditional moroccan version of a turkish bath. it was decorated fancy-shmancily with gorgeous turkey-moroccan deco. The catch was Hammam and Gommage (Hammam means bath in arabic and gommage=exfoliation/scrub) and along with massages and everything else a spa has to offer.

The entrance of the spa. 3rd floor.

I went for their Ramadhan promotion which seems worth it for the price. for RM250 u get a foot scrub, hammam&gommage, 1hr massage, face massage and foot massage, and a hibiscus&lemon tea.

First i was brought to the locker room and given an electronic key bracelet. asked to change into my bikini and wrap myself in a robe. i brought my own bikini. otherwise, they have a pair of black disposable ones for you.

pretty moroccan locker/changing room floor

lockers with electronic locks

yours truly cant help but do this.

So the catch about hammam and gommage is that, you're being bathed just like a moroccan queen. or think cleopatra. lol. nah actually to me it felt like mama giving me a bath when i was tinyy. they scooped water and pour on you. then comes the exfoliation part. you lay on the tile bench, face down. the girl in charge put on a pair of gloves. rough ones. and began scrubbing u up. some say it felt like being skinned alive. all your dead skin came out like the black rubber bits u get when you use your eraser on a paper. yucks right. but the outcome was great man. smooth skin. here...feel mine. dont get jealous!muahaha.


the area where they serve you tea and baklava after your hammam and gommage session.

my hibiscus-lemon tea and baklava

All in all i love the service they offered here. the staffs were all friendly, they even have 1 or 2 moroccan workers here for originality. the massage was marvelous (i went ooh-ahh-sigh-wow-thats-nice in my heart the whole time) and the ambience was awesome (that's why i went thickfaced to ask photography permission before i took all these photos).price also awesome tapi at least the service was worth it la. i wud definitely recommend u guys to come after a hard day's work. or future brides. to get bathed by people and massaged into oblivion. hehe. in my experience, memang instant softer skin after your scaling session. they open from 10am-10pm everyday. for more info go to www.hammambaths.com and make your appointments:)

after spa, muke bangun tido. the girls r even friendly enough to offer take photo for me!

Monday, September 13, 2010

Baking Attempt #2 - Strawberry Muffins!

Yes we did go on a baking supply shopping spree. I'm sorry you guys have to see that bake tin i was holding cuz there ain't no full cake just yet! but every girl needs a cake tin for future use:) we'll come up with a cake together and post it up here soon!

Anyways, in order not to disappoint u guys, i really made those strawberry muffins from the mix i bought:) usually i made my cupcakes from scratch but this is the first time i found a mix sold in a baking store. we both went all excited and got it to try it out. so..outcome, u ask?

muffins cooling on the rack

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Baking Attempt #1 - Getting the Necessities

Ok so we decided to embark on a baking journey too, i mean, which girl doesn't like desserts right? :)

So... step 1: to get the necessary tools

So far I've only been to Chang Tung Baking Goods to get the occasional pizza base, but Sabby here brought me to Bagus bakery this time around and I tell you, we were spoilt for choice! Took ages just to choose that cake tin Sabby's holding.

Check out Bagus' items here : http://www.bagus.com.my/

Our basket of goodies :) They even have crushed Oreo bits! Saves me the hassle of crushing the oreos myself yays!

Baking isn't cheap.

Total damage of shopping spree: RM100.13!

Sabby bought some muffin mix from Bagus this time around so she's gonna bake 'em muffins and we'll check out the results next time around :)

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Hoop Vocab #7 - Continuation From The Starfish

A pretty easy one to accomplish. From the starfish roll downwards with both hands on the hoop and feet flexed to support body weight. This is followed by pushing bum outwards and slowly slide down till back of knees are resting on hoop. Like this!