Jin Yuan Restaurant @ Charming Hotel, Zhuhai

A few nights back Eric and I were in Zhuhai to have dinner with his colleague.
Charming Hotel is located right outside the Gongbei Bordergate...once you get out of the China immigration, you'll see the hotel on the left.
Take the elevator up to Jin Yuan Restaurant.

Appetizer tasted like pig's stomach soup. The lotus roots has a nice bite to it and it's yummy.

First time I'm trying a corn drink. It's hot and tasted like well...corn. The texture is smooth and not too thick which is quite nice.

One fish for each person at the table...

...'cause the fish is only as big as my bowl

Mantis prawn with lots of fried garlic

Mui choy kau yuk (pork belly with mushy vege)

One crab per person too as it's only as big as my fist.

Not much meat but lots of eggs in the crab and it's yellow. Normally I don't eat crab eggs but this one is pretty yummy.

Looks like normal stir fry vege but the secret is...it's fried using pork oil =P This is how a healthy dish become super sinful.

Deep fried carrot cake stuffed with meat dessert which was too chewy for my liking.

Mango pudding with evaporated milk. Me likey mango =)

Deep fried durian ball turned out pretty good. The skin was oily but the durian filling has a creamy bitter after taste.

Recently, Eric's sister was in Macau and she was craving for some exotic dish.

We went searching for the shop and found it near St. Paul's Ruin.

It's a tiny shop with just a few tables and that's the chef in the one man kitchen.

Guess what's in this bowl of dark starchy soup?

This is snake meat soup =D

The taste of ginger overwhelmed my tastebuds and it made me wonder if it's to mask some weird smell of snake meat. The snake meat itself didn't taste weird ('cause all I could taste and smell was the ginger lar) but the texture was extremely rough and dry. Kinda like overnight chilled old chicken breast meat. If you're in Macau and feel like having some snake for snack time...this is the place.

Meet Goofy the toy Poodle. He's so cute isn't he? Goofy is Joe's doggy and we met him when Joe invited us over to his house for dinner last night.

So much food for just 5 people. I almost fell asleep on the couch after dinner...

Goofy joined Eric and I on the couch and took a liking to Eric's hand...*lick lick lick*

He even held on to Eric's thumb to to keep it steady...so cute <3

And more cuteness....

Braxton at 5 months old! He's so heavy already and so friendly*hugs*

The weather in Macau is super depressing.

Cold and wet the whole day =(

Will be super duper busy for the next few days and the I shall be in shorts again!

Mezza9 @ Hyatt Macau

Macau is humid, misty and foggy at this moment.
Tiles in the house has water drops on them...don't be surprised if you find puddles of water on the floor.
Stairs are wet from the humidity.
Same for the windows.
No rain.
The problem with such humidity is MOLD!!!
They're starting their invasion =(

Anyways, had been busy these past few days.
Eating too much yummy food and piling on the weight.
And I've yet to lose the weight I gained in Sitiawan...sigh

Celebrated Chad's birthday at Mezza9 at the new Grand Hyatt yesterday.
The restaurant has a nice ambiance and it reminds me alot of Rossio.
We had a table tucked between the open kitchen which provided a clear view of chefs cooking. 

Mezza9 serves Macanese, grill, sushi & sashimi with a cellar and bar too. 

I was entranced with the shiny balls hanging above our table.

Assorted sushi & sashimi platter to start...spot the melt-in-your-mouth toro (tuna belly)

Raw sweet prawn with fish roe

Crab cake

Mixed seafood platter with lobster, oyster, scallops, tuna, prawns and some fish.

Mixed grill with lamb, beef, chicken and sausage

Red and white wine for me

Beautiful pool just outside the restaurant.

Birthday boy blowing out his candle.

Bailey's souffle with ice cream...yummilicious

More desserts =)

I was the only person on our table who wasn't a chef.

So obviously the topic of the night is about food...how the melon is oh so sweet and they had to find out where mezza9 got them from.

About the texture of sushi  rice, the tuna sashimi, the sauce, the wine....you get the drift.

While the chefs went on and on about the food and kitchen...I was happily stuffing myself with food =P

The best thing about eating with chefs...you get to try all the yummy stuffs!

Oh...it doesn't hurt that they know the Mezza9 chefs too =)

Had a great time last night and it continues tonight.

Will be heading to Rossio for dinner which no doubt I'll stuff myself silly again.

Oh...how pampered my tummy is...

Klang Wedding and Bak Kut Teh

Yesterday was a super early day for us gals.
Got up before 6am O_O...haven't done that since OBC days.
Joverse stayed over at my house so both of us could make our way to Klang together gether la.
Klang is still a very foreign place to me so we made arrangements to meet Regina and trailed her to Shey Imm's house =)
No point trying to be smart aleck and get lost in Klang at an ungodly hour isn't it?
We got there safe and sound and the bride was just about ready....so obviously must camwhore lar before the bridegroom arrive with the angpows =P

Me, Joverse, Regina, Yann Mei and Shey Imm the bride.

After much "hardship" and lots of angpows...Lai managed to get his bride from the clutches of her "chee muis". Congratulations you two!

Ahem...Charlie's Angels in Klang...this is Regina, Yann Mei and me camwhoring again by the road. Me trying to show my artistic side with the camera...not bad right? =P

After Shey Imm left with Lai for Johor...I can't wait to go breakfast.

I was so hungry and also sleepy.

So Regina took us for some Klang bak kut teh.

Since in Klang already...sure must have some bak kut teh lar.

This bak kut teh place was recommended to Regina by her friend.

It's located at the back of the Klang Hokkien Association which was said to be pretty famous.

Since it was a first visit for all 3 of us...we kinda had a little trouble finding the place.

It's quite secluded okay.

Luckily there's an arrow at a signboard at the association's entrance pointing the way.

See....I didn't bluff...secluded right? Who would've guessed there's a restaurant at the back lorong?

Yeoh's Bah Kut Teh...only open for business during breakfast and lunch. Closed on Monday and got website somemore =D

Here, you're given a packet of tea leaves and a teapot with a few little teacups to brew your own Chinese tea. There are kettles with boiling water stationed nearby just for this purpose so it's quite dangerous if you're bringing kids to this place.

Yau char kuai came first and the portion so small leh.

Our pot of bah kut teh...looks yummy doesn't it? Luckily the bak kut teh soup got colour and not those clear type. Whenever I see clear bak kut teh, it makes me feel kinda cheated...it's as if they never put enough herbs and ingredients mar.

We also ordered some organic golden needle mushrooms. Damn little also lor =(

A plate of vege which I didn't even touch =P

What surprised me the most was the fact that they have a branch in Hong Kong.

Check out their website for their menu and more pics. 

So...would I go back to Yeoh's when I have bak kut teh cravings?

Probably yes if I'm in the area.

But I won't be driving there all the way from Subang just for it.

It's not that yummilicious to make the journey.

Somehow, I still think my usual leng chai bak kut teh shop in SS14 Subang is the best =P

"Si Lai" to the max

In case anyone is wondering..."si lai" refers to 'housewive aunty' in Cantonese.

I'm almost a fullfledge "si lai" minus the aunty part =P

Finally went to Sunway Pyramid today to get a whole load of stuffs on my list.
Jusco is having member's sale so it's a good bargain hunting time, especially since it's pharmacy is giving 15% off to members.
And the bucket load of what I needed are to be found in pharmacies anyway.

I love shopping for beauty and health stuffs in Pyramid for one reason, all the major pharmacies are located close to each other and on the same floor somemore!

Damn convenient for price comparison!

So first, we went to Caring 'cause they normally have some really good bargains for supplements and contact lens solutions. Can get Bonuslink points also =)
Next up was Jusco just to have a look. I've no doubt they would be the best grab with 15% off everything.
Watson's and Guardian have little gems here and there so bought whatever was cheapest among all the pharmacies.
Then we headed back to Jusco to get everything else.
I've already said I'm damn si lai =P

And being si lai saves lots of money in the long run okay.

An example of how my si lainess help save almost RM20 for a bottle of vitamin C...
There's this brand of vit C that we've been taking for years now...I like it because it's the slow release kind.

Anyways, the price had always been approx. RM90+-/bottle depending where you go.

Among Caring(whom we always bought it from), Guardian(is having a RM10 discount for a bottle), Watson's(no discount) and Jusco pharmacy, Jusco was still the cheapest at RM82.90.
And that is BEFORE the 15% discount!!!
So...you can do the math yourself.

Obviously it was a good buy lar...and I'm super happy with my effort today *pat on the back*

Little things like this brings a smile to my face 'cause it sux when you feel like you've been con by retailers.

I hate it when I buy something which I thought was a good deal to find it selling cheaper just a few doors away.
Even a few dollars cheaper also makes me feel cheated lar =P
But these things happen irregardless which country you're in.
Have encountered the same thing everywhere.
Just gotta be smart when buying something...especially when you need to bargain for it.
And I HATE bargaining. It's so fucking tiring.

Not that I'm not good at it, shopping in China will make you a bargain expert, but it's super annoying that you have to bargain non-stop.

Can die okay.

Aiyoh...I'm going off topic again.
Back to today's outing in Pyramid.
Again...we went to try out this little cafe looking place because of Mum.
Apparently her friend told her the laksa is to-die-for.
And I almost did...literally.

Toast Box is located at the Marrakesh if I'm not wrong next to a bakery which name I can't recall. Just look for Kenny Rogers and you'll find it...but don't waste your energy lar.

They have this set promo thingy that for RM7.50, you can have a laksa, mee siam or nasi lemak special with a glass of ice lemon tea.

It was 1pm...obviously it's lunch hour...and they ran out of chicken for the nasi lemak -_-
Cannot cook more is it?
Vomits blood.
So we decided on laksa ('cause it's the reason we're there in the 1st place!) and mee siam (as if got any other choice).

The supposedly awesome laksa.

And it came with lou shi fun (mouse noodles) instead of normal laksa noodles. It was a letdown bigtime. The serving was so small and lack ingredients...doubt a child would be full after eating one bowl. Not to mention the soup was kinda tasteless to me. Not worth it at all.

My mee siam which was a bigger disappointment. It was sourish and frankly, tasted weird. First time I'm having such mee siam and only managed to eat half of it with Mum's help.

I'm never going back to Toast Box...even for plain harmless toast.

And never again trusting Mum's friend for food recommendation.

Anyways, I'm still happy with our loot today even with the unfortunate lunch adventure.

My face is still swollen and I'm not feeling too good.

Hope I'm not falling sick...there's bootcamp tomorrow and I wanna go mamak after that to gossip =P

Oh..and I almost forgot...my sweet pretty face is in a magazine!

A super small one lar but it's still ME!!!

It's in a article for Bootcamp in Health and Beauty magazine November issue.

That's me in the bottom pic =)

Thank goodness I was in a nice pose and not doing some not-so-flattering moves on the padang.

I was so excited and showed it to Mum...and guessed what she said...

Mum : Why you look so fierce? Must be more "ke ai" mar...*putting her hands to her face to show me the pose*

Me : Ma...where got people pose cute cute for bootcamp picture one lar? -_-

Mum : Aiyah...ke ai only nice lar...you don't know how to pose.

I just hope Eric's reaction would be better!