Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!~

Wishing all of you lovely bloggers and followers of my blog a very blessed and wonderful Christmas and holiday season!:)

The holidays started a little earlier, as you may have noticed for this blog; as I did not manage to update for the past three days.

Anyway, I will be away for the next one week and will be back Next year; yes, after the New Year's Day with TONs of goodies to update from the festive season and my vacation!!:)

Yes, Pickyeater will be away for her vacation and will be back in 2012 with exciting updates :D

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of you!!
I am going to miss you guys for a week, but I WILL be BACK!! :)

**There may be sporadic updates if I am able to, so don't leave my blog, yea *winks*


GOD BLESS EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU!!~ :D

Look Mummy, I cooked soup!~

You know when the mother is away from home, when you have to check the fridge for what's left and make something out of it.
For someone like me, who's never really cooked in her whole entire life, the only thing that came to my mind is, SOUP.

Yeah, Soup is synonymous to Simple, Off the fridge, Useful, and Plentiful or even Pot works :)

That's what I made, with the help of my hubby who cuts the vegetables and takes the pot off the stove

Dump the vegetables after cutting them, ALL of them into a pot of boiling water and just let it boil!


My favorite vegetables for soup has got to be cabbage, Napa cabbage, and Chinese cabbage!


I cannot do without my favorite squid balls and chikuma (the long seafood thingy with the brown ring)


Sometimes I throw in carrots, anchovies, wolfberries, a pinch of salt (yes, I've learnt the measurement for a pinch!:), and sprinkle some pepper over it.


I am thinking of tomatoes, sweet corn and maybe onions the next round, what do you think?
My mummy is going to be so proud of me :D

Cranberry Chiffon Cake

I like the light, soft and fluffy texture of chiffon cakes, and it is a great thing that they come in so many different flavors and available almost everywhere.
I have gotten used to the usual flavors; such as pandan and orange, and they now have coffee too.
These are the common flavors for chiffon cakes found almost everywhere; in markets and bakeries; except in Singapore, where I fell in love with the mini healthy chiffon cakes with a selection of lovely flavors. I promise to take a photo and blog about them when I go to Singapore again ;)

Anyway, I was recently delighted with the discovery of a new flavor of chiffon cake, and the bakery is just like near my place! In fact, they have branches around everywhere, but I think this flavor of chiffon cake is only found in certain branches.

Yup, that's the Cranberry Chiffon cake (MYR5.90), which I found in the fridge in Bread History (they are a chain of bakeries with outlets all over Malaysia and Singapore)



Now, first of all, I already like chiffon cakes and then cranberry, oh my gosh, I just could not resist this!:)
I am the biggest fan of anything berry-related, really!:)

The chiffon cake was filled with cranberry bits, but too bad it was quite limited. I wished they were more generous though.

The chiffon cake was pretty simple; and just a plainly made of eggs and the cranberries adorned the whole cake.

I was kind of expecting a cranberry flavored cake; like it was made of cranberry flavor or fruit/juice or something like that, then it would be oozing with cranberry goodness.
I thought it was supposed to be like that, that's what they did with the pandan, orange and coffee chiffon cakes, right?

Anyway, this is not really that way, but it still tastes good and fresh!

Maybe they did use a tinge of cranberry in the baking, but it was quite faint, in my opinion.


It was still a really nice chiffon cake nevertheless, honestly, and I really liked it :)
It's a change, from the usual flavors of chiffon cakes.


Oh, they even have oat/wholemeal chiffon cakes, maybe I will try it someday?

A slice of cranberry chiffon cake, anyone? :)

Kaya Puff from Taiping

On our road trip to attend a friend's wedding in Taiping a fortnight ago, we were recommended this local produce which is quite famous in the little town.

Kaya puff; or also known as Kaya Kok in the local language is basically a type of crispy pastry stuffed with sweet kaya paste.
(Kaya is a type of jam made of coconut, eggs and sugar and is basically known to the locals as Coconut Egg jam. It is used as a bread spread too; and is an alternative to the fruit jam or butter)

It is best consumed when it was fresh from the oven!

I took photos of the house where this was produced, but as they told me not to take any photo after that, I will not be posting the photo of the place to protect their privacy:)


I forgot to take a photo of the filling, as hubby already took a bite and then finished it off :p

Kaya puff can be found locally in the markets, but they are famous in the state of Perak and two places that I know where you can get really good kaya puffs are in Ipoh and the above, Taiping.
Any other place you know?

Farewell Dinner with 8 courses

Wow, I think this must be like the 4th or 5th Chinese eight course dinner I've had, in less than two months? (yes, including my own wedding dinner)

This time was a treat from hubby's aunt, to bid farewell to my brother and sister-in-law and the kids who will be relocating for work overseas.
We went to this Chinese restaurant; Coconut Palms


Braised groundnuts served as appetizers


Starters: Ye Lin Selected Four Season

Top left: Deep fried sweet and sour pork meatballs, braised rolls with egg white, breaded meat rolls, spicy green apple and pineapple kerabu salad with top shells.

Soup: Braised shark's fin soup with crab meat

I am not a fan of this, ever :P


Chicken: Served two styles; deep fried with black pepper sauce and braised with herbs





Prawns: Fried prawns with cheese and salad cream

This turned out to be good, and the prawns were just so succulent :)

Vegetables: Braised broccoli with fish maw and mushrooms


Fish: Steamed red snapper with mint style

This is a rather unusual way to serve a fish, if you ask me, but it was surprisingly quite tasty and the aroma of the mint leaves were just subtle and not too overwhelming.


Noodles: Served two styles


Dessert: Honeydew Ice-cream with sago

There is a scoop of ice-cream for each person at the table; that meant there were 10 scoops in this bowl!


Served with Purple Cassava net spring roll (pretty much yam paste as its stuffing ingredient)


Overall dinner took about 2-3 hours with food and laughing over jokes and just enjoying time with each other.
We have sent them off to the airport on Monday, and it was an emotional affair that I simply could not help a tear or two as I watch them leave.

We will be meeting very soon, and I am looking forward to visiting them a lot too :)

“Don’t be dismayed at goodbyes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetime, is certain for those who are friends.”
- Richard Bach -

(From my Tumblr, follow me :)

Teppanyaki and Bento

Japanese food is one of my favorite, I must say, and this year, I am sad that I didn't get to enjoy much Japanese dining as I was just so busy with my wedding planning, and we ate simple meals or at home most of the time.

I was walking in the mall; Gurney Plaza last week when the promotional poster of a flat rate for sushi, eat all you can, caught my eye.
I made up my mind that if I am here in the mall, I must tell hubby to dine there.

It was just so fortunate that it was the next day that we dined there!:)
However, the promotion for the sushi buffet is no longer valid but we are still interested in trying the food offered at this seemingly modern and stylish Japanese restaurant; Koi Japanese Restaurant


They pride in serving one of a kind Japanese food, as they thrive on several in house specialties which they promote to potential diners.

Premium green tea (MYR2.50)

Whenever I go for Japanese food, it's like a rule that I must have green tea to go with it. Anything else does not seem appropriate; or rather, Japanese, I must say ;)

This is by far one of the most expensive green tea I've had in a Japanese restaurant, and though they mentioned free refills, no one seems to be around to help with the refills :-(
Anyway, when I took a sip of the tea, I understood the price tag as it was truly premium and the green tea is of higher quality and more condensed in its taste.
Look at how green the tea appears in the cup?

Salmon Teppanyaki (MYR17.80)

Option to add MYR4.00 to add rice, fruits and a bowl of soup.
There are two slices of salmon, and at first glance, the portion seems slightly smaller compared to other Japanese restaurants.

This is not like the other versions I have tried, and the unique version is that the salmon was breaded before served with the slightly sweet and spicy sauce.

The salmon tasted really good complemented by the sauce, even though I am never a fan of deep fried or breaded stuffs.
Side serving of yasai (vegetables)


This definitely got my vote as one of the best teppanyaki I have tried so far ;)


This is the only Japanese restaurants which allow one to choose the types of dishes for the bento sets rather than restricting one to the pre-set bento dishes.
There are various selections and prices for the bento; depending on your categories of the dishes selected. (i.e.: 1 vege with two carnivourous dishes, 1 carnivourous dishes with 2 vege, or all 3 carnivourous dishes, or just all vege)

Bento with ebi teriyaki, unagi, and takoyaki

There's just something good about Japanese rice, hehe, or does rice just taste especially good when you are dining outside? :)




The whole bento set (MYR26.00)


I foresee more upcoming trips to Koi; as this seemed like a rather uptown restaurant to me and food is good here too ;) I guess it will be listed as one of my favorite Japanese restaurants in Penang?

Scrumptious Desserts at Scholar Tong's Place

I have found a new place for refreshing fruity drinks and desserts; and I am really happy about it!
The weather has been pretty hot lately, and left me with not much of an appetite.
When we were feeling a little hungry in the afternoon, hubby and me decided to drive out to this place which have been opened for a while now.


Tong Pak Fu, yes, that is the name of the cafe in Chinese and it is named after a very famous Chinese scholar during the Ming Dynasty.
An excerpt about this scholar from Wikipedia
Tang Yin (Chinese: 唐寅; Pinyin: Táng Yín; Yale: Tong Yan; 1470–1524), better known by his courtesy name Tang Bohu (唐伯虎, though it is usually not the custom to address an individual by both surname and courtesy name), was a Chinese scholar, painter, calligrapher, and poet of the Ming Dynasty period whose life story has become a part of popular lore. Even though he was born during Ming Dynasty, Many of his paintings (especially paintings of people) were illustrated with elements from Pre-Tang to Song Dynasty (12th centuries).[1][2].
Tang Yin (1470–1523) is one of the most notable painters in Chinese art history. He is one of the painting elite “the Four Masters of Ming Dynasty” (Ming Si Jia), which also includes Shen Zhou (1427–1509), Wen Zhengming (1470–1559) and Qiu Ying (ca. 1495-1552). Tang is also a talented poet. Together with his contemporaries Wen Zhengming (1470–1559), Zhu Yunming (1460–1526), and Xu Zhenqing, known as the “Four Literary Masters of the Wuzhong Region.”

Suzhou is famous for producing many talented and well-known scholars; and most of them are renowned for their own specialties which range from poetry, paintings, writing, calligraphy, and even martial arts. Some of the scholars are probably skilled in a specialized field while there could be those who are just simply good in a few fields.
Tong Pak Fu, is easily one of the latter, as he was not just reputed to possess good looks and a rather affluent background, but he was skilled in poetry and painting and is one of the most prolific scholars of his time.
There are many movies and tv series that paid homage to this reputable and historical character; mostly Chinese versions.

The name of the shop caught our attention and I am sure of many others too, as I was wondering what they could possibly be offering with a 'scholarly' name like this; nevertheless, a rather well-known and also playful character.

Everything in the cafe was in contemporary style of design and boasted of minimal chic, but the menu and the names of the items, gave away the signs of the Chinese influence.


There was just so much on the menu that we find it so hard to decide!
They offer a lot of cool desserts, and most of the items are just so creative.
They pride on using New Zealand Natural in most of the iced desserts.

Strawberry Black Pearl (MYR7.80)

I wanted something else initially, but they were out, and I chose this instead.
I did NOT regret it, as it was just bursting with colors and flavors!
I am a strawberry fan, as most of you know it, and this, is just BERRY BERRY-LICIOUS!:)

I believed it was strawberry sorbet, and it tasted sweet with a little of the natural sour taste of the strawberries.

I love the chewy texture of the black pearls as well!:D

Honey Sea Coconut with black glutinous rice (MYR5.80)


It was just as good!

What amazed us was the prices initially, but when we saw the portion served in the big bowls, we were appeased and further after tasting the desserts, it was well worth the price!:)


Service was prompt and good here, and the staff are quite attentive.
I am definitely coming back to try more stuffs on their menu, can't wait!:)