Emperess Lunch at Wan Sin.

Ewwww...What is this???? Gross!!!

Woke up early this morning, Thursday 20 Dec 2012. Am taking a long drive down south to Seremban to pick up 2 good friends and then head to Kuala Pilah (KP), Negeri Sembilan to meet yet another good buddy. We have arranged to meet up for lunch 3 days earlier. We had to pre-book our lunch. WHAT? 2 days notice? Hah! Wait till you see the dishes then you would know why. Worth it? Stay tuned to find out then :)
By 11.30am we were at our KP friend's house. She had a guest with her to join us in our journey to dine like Empresses. We chatted awhile before heading to Batu Kikir. The special lunch is at Wan Sin Restaurant. It is situated on the way from KP towards Bahau, about a kilometer away from the junction to Juasseh. From KP, Wan Sin will be on the right side of the trunk road

Restoran Wan Sin
104-A Jalan Besar
72200 Batu Kikir, Negeri Sembilan
Tel : +606 4981680

Operation hours : 12.30pm - 4pm & 5.30pm- 10.30pm. Closed on Mondays.

(L) : Wendy, Me, Philo & Christina. Camerawoman : Joan (behind : chef's award)

We placed a special order 2 days earlier for their seafood platter which consists of oyster, abalone, scallop, sea cucumber and fish maw. The dish had us all eating in awe with the exquisite taste with each flavourful bite. Each item retains its original taste, cooked to perfection and ohhhh so delectable and best of all, no heavy seafood smell. Yuuuuuumy!! It was definitely the highlight of the entire meal. 'Yat lau"...or No 1 in Cantonese.

Seafood platter that is Superlicious!!!

But before that, we had appetiser, fried cuttle fish with fried macadamian nuts. This was quickly cleaned off. The cuttle fish was thinly sliced, well marinated and fried to crisp. The Macadamian nuts were addictive!!! Verdict = Numero UNO!!!

If you don't know which is nut and cuttlefish...boy, you are in trouble!!!

We also had 'farm fish' meehoon...HUH? Farm fish? What's that? Hehehhe...that is Wendy's direct translation of frog legs cooked in vermicelli. Hahhahaha.... It was 'chopstick licking good'.

 
The frog legs were tender and sweet. And it was flavourful with the meehoon's gravy. Despite it's simple cooking, the meal was worth every bite. 

We were intrigued with the numerous pictures of food framed on both sides of the wall. We insisted on taking a picture of it to remind us that we are only savouring a small portion of it.

(L) : Christina, Blogger, Philo & Wendy from KP

 Next, we had this dish :

This fish is called 'liem fish'. Don't know what it is called in English but it looks ferocious!!! Dish wise, the soya sauce gravy was light and tasty. The fish very fresh and cooked just right. Lots of fleshy meat and the skin was silky and jellyish...lots of collagen, Omega 3 & 6!! After that dish, our faces went 'toing, toing' i.e. full of buoyancy!!! Hehehehe.... 

By now we were bursting in our seams - with the fabulous spread of food and much laughter from Wendy's anecdotes after anecdotes of hilarious incidents. She is just so funny. Our chains of laughters caused major vibration to the restaurant and perhaps Batu Kikir as a whole!!!
The 5 empresses also had this in the menu :

Guess what this is? Read on to know more.

I liked this dish very much. Eel cooked in 'Kung Poh" style i.e. bombay onions & dried chili & tad of honey for sweetness to masked the spiciness. The eel was deep fried then mixed in with the sauce. Spring onions to finish off the dish. AWESOME! The meat was flavourful, tasty and crunchy. I relish this dish very much. The meat tastes like a combo between fish & chicken :)

And then, yes...more food!!! Wendy wanted to dis-stress herself but in the process, she "stressed" us out with the over abundance of glorious mouthful after mouthful of fantastic food. Her warm hospitality sure went HOT with so many servings!!

Yes! Finally, we managed to convince her to cancel the vegy dish as we have wild chicken 'un-clucking' soon in Chinese rice wine and ginger. I love this dish (mainly served during Chinese confinement) but the thick sauce is different from normal but it was just as good as the rest of the other dishes. 

Wild chicken in Chinese Rice Wine & ginger...Good.

 
Are we done yet? Nope! Wendy's hospitality knows no ending...It is 8 dishes loooong....The Empresses are now unbuttoning and unzipping because we need more stomach room to try the next dish....

What is it?

Terrapin cooked in claypot style!!! EWWWW....hey, this dish is supposedly good for the skin & many other uses. I find the meat tender and tastes between beef & chicken mixed, very tasty. The soft shell part was very chewy and tasteless apart from the slight flavors it derived from the stew. I had a good jaw exercise chewing the soft shell part. I think my double chin is smaller after that good 1 minute chewing exercise!!! Consequently, I just ate the flesh - tastier and oh so much easier to eat. 

Frankly, we had over indulged and I regret that I did not get to finish all the dishes. I prefer not to waste but lo and behold, all is not lost when Wendy decided to pack the left overs home - Thank you, Wendy. I dislike having to see good food going to waste when many go hungry across the planet. Now, you know one of the reasons why I've remained plump and chubby apart from the fact that I "live to eat"! Wakakakakaa....

Sooooo, what is the bill like? Well, I seriously cannot tell you because Wendy REFUSE profusely to let us pay!! Accordingly to her, she has a standing instruction with the owner!!! She is such a wonderful host. But, in a small town, the price will definitely not make you fall from your seat...that I can assure you!  

The day isn't over. I will share with you where we went next....follow me on our trail in KP....remember to catch me soon, ya.

Meantime, I will end this wonderful Empress eating experience with a poem created by Philo :

I went to Batu Kikir,
A small town in Negri.
We planned an eating spree,
5 friends including me.
We had a sumptuous meal,
that's worthy of an Emperor.
The bill was such a steal,
It couldn't be any better.
Here's a sample picture,
This fish we had, a monster!
 

Happy Winter Solstice to all Chinese readers!

Anita & KhunThai (Thai Restaurant)

Good way to spend my lunch time today ~ 18 Dec 2012. Knowing that my lunch partner and I will eat till kingdom come, I obviously skipped breakfast except for my daily dose of oats. Hah! Knew what you were thinking...."not good to skip the most important meal of the day"...I know, I know....but as I mentioned, I had OATS! hehehe....

I had a good lunch & something even better...great company in Anita Kaur!  

Lovely Anita with her charming smile....Photo approved by her for publishing! TQ, dear.

If I am the live wire of the party...she is the 'halogen bulb'!!! She is a gem of a company. Her anecdotes was so animated and lively, I bet we sent other patrons packing with our continuous laughter and bantering! Hmmm...come to think of it, we laughed so much, I think we sucked in more air than our food. But, we did justice to our food. OK, OK...back to the food.

Some time ago, a Thai food 'addict' recommended this place to me & a group of girlfriends. I had forgotten all about this place until Anita mentioned that she wanted Thai food. So, I cracked my head and suddenly KhunThai 'popped' into my mind...as they say, the rest is history. And so, I now write the history for your knowledge so that you too can try out this eatery in case you ran out of ideas where to dine.

We ordered : (small servings for all)

• Pandan chicken ~~ marinated chicken meat with herbs & spices wrapped in screwpine leaf and then fried until cooked. RM12.50 for 4 pieces. It was moist & you get to taste the meat and its spices. Perfectly cooked. Good with beer /wine or eaten alone.
• Mixed seafood tomyam ~~ generous servings of squid, prawns, fish slices served in a spicy & sour tomyam soup. RM20 per pot. I love the flavorful tomyam soup. The seafood served was fresh and cooked just right. I would love it even more had it been more spicy and sourish but I guess they had to cater for the general patrons as a whole, so it is just right.
• Green Curry chicken ~~ again generous servings of succulent chicken with egg plant, kaffir lime leaves, thai basil, red chili, long beans, bombay onions cooked in coconut milk. RM15 per bowl. Both Anita and I felt that it was the best dish and we cleaned the entire bowl except the bowl itself! OK, I exaggerated a tad but we did finish 3/4 of the curry and finished every piece of chicken. The chicken was cooked just right, making it succulent and tasty as it had soaked in the green curry. *THUMBS UP*...wished we had some toasted bread to go with the yummy green curry. Hmmm.....
• Claypot Prawn Glass noodle. Good portions of big prawns and huge serving of glass noodle. RM15.00 per claypot. Unfortunately, the noodles were bland. I think the chef forgot to add seasoning... particularly salt. Anita requested for soya sauce but I innovatively poured the green curry over the glass noodle and soon we were taking more spoonfuls of the glass noodle and 'flooded' it with the yummy-licious green curry.
• Dessert - Thub Tim Grob, famed Thai's 'water chestnut / Red ruby'. Served with shredded ice in coconut milk together with slices of jackfruit, dyed red colored water chestnuts, cubes of yam & some other things....Hey...I was focusing on the conversation, OK?? OK! Its RM4.50 per bowl. So into the conversation I forgot to snap a picture of it, my apologies. 

 Somehow, I can't get the pictures below each item...so here you go :

Pandan Chicken

Seafood TomYam, notice the impatient Anita waiting to dish out the soup?!?!

Claypot Prawn Glass Noodles

Yummy-licious Green Chicken Curry

They have both al fresco / air-conditioning dinning for you to choose from. We chose al fresco. Surprisingly, it was cooling despite the heat as it was well ventilated. Check out the facade :

So, what is the damage? Check out the bill.

 

Isn't it great? No? Hey....see correctly, no service charge or GST! So, service must be lousy then. On the contrary, the service was excellent! Waiters were attentive and efficient. Kudos KhunThai. Another plus point....free parking!! Ample parking space. To find out more, check details below :

KhunThai
Authentic Thai Restaurant
6 Jalan 5/44
Petaling Garden
Off Jalan Gasing
46000 Petaling Jaya
Tel : +603 7781 7523

Branches in Butterworth, Penang, Kepong & Klang. For more info, check out www.khunthai.com

I was satiated to the max! So much so I'd to skipped dinner and was still feeling full at 10pm! Amazing what a single meal of the day can do to one's stomach! Not forgetting that I ate like a PIG!!! Oink! Oink! Incidentally, KhunThai does not serve pork, not sure if it is 'halal' though. Please call to confirm.

I shall publish this tomorrow as this little piggy needs some ZZZZZzzzz. Will copy read the contents tomorrow before publishing it. Until my next food expedition in two days....hang in there. Swing by the restaurants I've published and feel free to leave your comments, thanks and....

Eat , Zzzz and be happy! Hey, know what? It is tomorrow already...its 1am! So here you go...
 

What makes me "Click"

I was watching the rerun of "CLICK" the movie in Astro, starring Adam Sandler. Below a short synopsis of the movie : credits to Wikipedia. 

Click is a 2006 American science fiction comedy drama film directed by Frank Coraci, and written by Steve Koren and Mark O'Keefe, and produced by Adam Sandler, and starring Sandler, Kate Beckinsale and Christopher Walken.
Sandler played an overworked architect who neglects his family and misses most of his life when he receives a remote control device that enables him to skip over unpleasant events.

I was wondering what would happen if I had the remote control. Wouldn't you want to get hold of one? I would want to do the following :

STOP : 

1. War! ~ People should live in harmony. Why haven't they learned from all the wars? Why are people still hurting each other in this era & every era? When are we going to stop fighting? Whyyyy????
2. Corruption ~ Can't people just be honest and live their lives with integrity and dignity?? They should be ashamed of themselves for accepting bribes or worse still requesting for one. Shame on you!!!
3. Office politicking ~ People should just do their work and leave the politicking to the politicians? If you want to play politics, go join the politicians, leave the office alone!!! I despise office politics.
4. Brown nosing bosses!!! ~ One should put in one's effort to get a promotion and not through brown nosing one's bosses. Credit should be given when work is put in, not apple polishing one's boss to get one's way. Shame on you bosses who submit to such lowdown tactics!!
5. Abuses ~ whether it is human or animals, no one has the right to abuse another, I mean NO ONE!
6. Suicide bombing ~ hey, if you need/choose to kill yourself....go bomb yourself in the hills, at the beach or at the cliff with NO ONE around.... no one else deserves to die just because you do! Period.
7. Poverty  ~ this should be eradicated.
8. Sickness ~ normal cough & cold is acceptable, to build immune system - that I understand. The others like Cancer, Kidney failures, Heart Attacks, etc should be removed completely from this planet! Totally!! It is disheartening to face, know, hear or see such things.
9. Blindness ~ all mankind deserve to see what mother nature has given us...the colors of things in the sea, up in the sky and on land...endless color contrast that even technology sometimes have difficulty to emulate.
10. Deafness ~ all mankind deserve to hear all the wonderful sounds that nature & technology has made & created for us...Its beautiful and oh so uplifting especially when one is awaken by the chirping of birds or the crowing of the cockerel or even to a song.
11. Disabilities ~ everyone deserves to be able to enjoy their life. 
12. Drug pushers ~ Just STOP them! 

PAUSE :

• Suicide bombers ~ so that we can place him/her in an isolated place in prison or island far away from any human, then detonate the bomb separately. Let them live amongst themselves (suicide bombers) afterall, birds of a feather stay together, isn't it right?
• Random killers ~ stop selling guns/remove the guns from these crazy killers who randomly kill people simply because they are disturbed or troubled. Hey, if you have a problem, go see a shrink or get help. If you seriously need to kill...go work as a helper at the slaughter house, that way, you get to kill daily. But seriously, you need HELP!!!
•  Pimps ~ each time they seal a deal, replace the prostitutes with dolls. That way, the pimps get bashed up by their clients! See whether they can last long in the business...hehehehe....
  

DELETE : 

• DEATH ~ all deaths are deleted, hence no one can recall that part...people just don't have that missing part. It will continue to be a mystery, so no sadness.
• Sadness ~ no one deserves to be sad.
• Pain & sufferings ~ we deserve better!
• INFIDELITY ~ the cause of many break-ups....Stay true to the one you love. If you have lost that loving feeling, sit down and analyse what went wrong and for goodness sake, find a solution to resolve your problem, don't seek comfort elsewhere! Face your problem and take action.

SKIP :

1. EXAMS!! ~no need explanations, right?
2. EXERCISES ~ yet we remain slim / fit & healthy!!! YAY!!!
3. IRONING!!! ~ all clothes should be made from wrinkled-free material. I ABHOR ironing!!!
4. PROTOCOL ~ skip all those royalty & dignitaries protocol. We are all human beings differing only in blood type...no one has blue blood, do they? Ain't all blood...RED??? No?
5. MEETINGS!!! ~ unless it is productive else forget all those boring, draggy, brown nosing meetings!! Have short productive discussions instead!

REWIND :

All things worth keeping / remembering / treasured.









FAST FORWARD :

• SALARY ~ we work 1 month but get 2 months salary...aaahh, wouldn't it be nice?

RECORD :

1. Successes ~ our promotions, children's graduations, etc
2. Break throughs ~ eg innovations, creations, buildings, etc
3. Happy moments ~ birthdays, weddings,trips, etc

MUTE :

• ORATORS ~ Some people should be ban from public speaking...they can really put you to ZZZzzzzz. 
• NAGGERS / People who repeatedly repeat themselves!!! 
• BOSSes ~ especially those dominating and overbearing bosses....Ohhh, just SHUT UP, would you!! (don't you wish you could say that in their face???) *Yup, I saw that smile in your face when you read my last sentence...heheeehhhee*
• Drilling/Renovation works ~ it drives everyone MAD!!
• Firecrackers ~ especially when we need to ZZZZzzz

INCREASE VOLUME :

1. Recovery ~ recovered fully from remission (cancer, for example)
2. Successes ~ children's academic successes, promotion, etc
3. Happiness ~ weddings, anniversaries, newborn, etc
4. Mother Nature ~ all things created by nature.

HOLD :

• ARGUMENTS ~ I dislike confrontations/arguments.
• HATRED ~ learn to forgive and forget. Our little precious heart is too small to hold on to hatred. Learn to let go & free the pain in your heart. Save it for better things. You'll be happier.
• LOVE ONES ~ And don't let go. Hold them close to your heart.
• ANGER ~ hold on to your anger....walk away. Speak again when you have calmed down. In your anger, you may say words that is so hurtful, there is no return. Or worse still, kill someone you love out of anger...so live with no regrets. 

Now, wouldn't it be nice if we have such a remote control? Use it wisely and our world would be perfect, harmonious and joyous. Ahhh, me living in fantasy...but it is good to dream, isn't it?

So, come share with me what you would do had you such a remote control? What would you hold, pause, delete, stop, etc??? Come on, share your thoughts with me....

Until my next blog, take care & Happy Xmas shopping!!!