pigging out at el cerdo

cam, mei yin, soon wei, alvin and i celebrated jin min's bday at el cerdo on changkat bukit bintang on sat night, recommended by soon wei.



a very animated soon wei

i was told it was a spanish restaurant so, naturally, i was expecting tapas, paella and sangrias. so shoot me for having stereotyped all spanish restaurants. how was i to know it would be a pork affair?

the first thing i noticed were pig statues greeting me at the entrance. how cute. i found myself suddenly wondering whether i had stumbled upon a chinese restaurant instead. after all, show me a malaysian chinese whose face doesn't light up at the mere mention of 'pork'.

i felt like a kid in a candy store as i looked at all the pork dishes available on the menu.

pork! pork! oh look, more pork!!

i kept forgetting to take pics of the dishes coz i was ravenous and scoffed everything down before i realised. oops.

our menu:

green pea soup with smoked kassler ham

boquerones

hickory smoked pork soft ribs

paella


roasted suckling pig

rum & raisin pancake

complimentary dessert

bottle of red wine


by the time the suckling pig came, i was rather over-porked and salad started to look more appealing.

the bill came up to rm880+ between six people. O_O my jaw dropped.

i have to say my favourite part was definitely the ribs. it was lip smackingly awesome. not to mention the injection of spanish customs like breaking plates for good luck and serving dessert by order of age/importance.

mei yin obliging me with a half-smile

soon wei, JM & mei yin

what an uncanny resemblance

"who should i give it to first?"

happy & well fed birthday boy

el cerdo is definitely an experience.

little miss turquoise

i was playing around with polyvore again. *big grin*


this is something along the lines of the colour theme i wanted to decorate my room by. a touch of romanticism with a hint glam, yet maintaining a cosy feel.

i'm going to be immensely broke next month. ok, so what's new?

i didn't realise my insurance renewal would be due so soon. and of course, it collides with my bangkok trip, causing my bank account to plummet like a suicidal skydiver jumping off the plane head first.

bah. time to get back to work. will be posting up a few pics from jin min's birthday dinner at el cerdo soon. =) and i have yet to steal the xLive pics from TY.

let's play dress-ups!!

warning: for bimbos only.

i've just discovered this awesome site - polyvore

you get to do up your own styling moodboard, publish it, see other people's work and the choices are almost seemingly endless. it's like having a fantasy wardrobe at your disposal!!

bliss.

this is my first attempt. and of course, i decided on a colour theme none other than.... yellow!! if you guessed correctly, it just shows how well you know me.



i foresee many many hours spent lying here playing dress-ups. *big grin*

from industry to industry

i never thought i'd say it but...

i miss advertising.

or at least, certain aspects of it:

• waltzing in anytime before 10.30am without feeling guilty
• running around the office like maniacs barefooted
• sneaking off to tea time with my boss and colleagues any time of the day
• extended lunches anywhere and everywhere
• being surrounded by party animals including the BIG BOSS
• having a family-like group of people to work with
• brainstorming and freedom to conceptualise (within certain restrictions)
• yelling at servicing for no real reason (but they know it's just a bit of fun)

but i certainly don't miss:

• working ungodly hours
• being chucked job briefs at 6pm and having to stay back all of a sudden
• having servicing calling me up and saying, "i'm coming over now!"
• stupid clients with shit for brains giving dumbass feedback
• being caught up in a net of politics
• running around like a headless chicken trying to complete mock-ups which were due an hour ago

well... every job has its ups and downs. but in the end, i realise being happy with your work environment really makes a shitty job that much more tolerable.

i miss my y&r family!!

of the cute and the awesome

first of all, i just HAVE to share this with you. it is just absolutely adorable!


his name is pito and he travels around carrying a backpack with his owner. isn't he absolutely adorable? too cool for felines.

i wonder what's inside the backpack though. food? ipod? or maybe it's his own pet! like a hamster or something. haha.
____________________

eddie, charlotte, alvin and i went up to genting for xlive. i didn't expect much out of it. the thing that i was most excited about were the free rides all night long!

it turns out i wasn't the only one. the number of people queuing up and giggling like small kids for the rides just proves that everyone wants to be a kid again.

met up with foong and TY at the scene. a bunch of my ex-colleagues were there too. the music was awesome. it brought back memories of our partying days back in melbourne.

i thought i'd gotten over the stage of being able to listen to dance music without any 'substances'. the music was so good, i felt like indulging and bringing myself back to uni days. but i didn't.

then came missy elliots performance. one word.

AWESOME.

she was great with the crowd and totally down to earth. one of the best performers i have seen so far. despite having had her flight delayed, flying 23 hours, travelling from KLIA to genting AND got a punctured tyre on the way up, she was all bouncy and energetic.

a true pro performer.

after everything closed, we headed down to mcDs on the way back to the hotel. a bunch of people were yelling, singing and dancing. only after awhile, we realised it was missy elliott and her troop.

R E S P E C T to missy E.

i'm waiting to leech pics from TY so i can post them up. =D

two and a half more days til the weekend. YES!!

then it's time to start moving house. urgh.

edit :: the thing about missy e's flight being delayed and the tyre puncture were lies. alvin conned all our asses... except i only just found out. -_-

and running running and running running

this morning, i received a call from my stepmum.

"hey, your dad is thinking of painting your room light yellow."
"NOOOOO!! no no no!! i want to buy my own colours!"
*yells off into a distance* "see!! i told you she wouldn't want yellow!"
"can i just buy my own paint and pass it to the painters?"
"i guess so. but you have to give them the colours today."
"today?!?!" -_-

they love doing this last minute shit to me.

eddie and charlotte picked me up for lunch in ss2 and i dragged them off to the paint shop. had to rush because charlotte had an appointment to get her feet nibbled by fish in bangsar.

finally found the light mocha & light blue i wanted and got the guy to mix the colours for me. i dragged alvin to the new house so i could test the paint colour on the walls.

the blue turned out okay. the mocha... was a total failure. it looked more like the colour of lao sai!! instead of a nice cool mocha, it came out slightly yellow ochre-ish. totally out. so i gave the painter a colour swatch and told him to match the colour.

i'm crossing all my toes and fingers now hoping it will turn out alright. or else my dad's never going to let me live it down. he'll be taunting me with "see? you should have just let me paint it yellow."

speaking of lao sai... alvin's extended family booked 3 tables for jap buffet at kin no uma (palace of the golden horses). i think i got a little greedy and had one too many oysters. i'm paying the price now through my asshole. literally.

i witnessed the worst proposal in history. lizi's fiance had to propose to her in front of the entire family at dinner. talk about pressure. it took him about 10 minutes of everyone taunting and teasing him.

"faster la heng tong! get it over and done with so we can eat!"
"shy a? what's so hard? faster put the ring on her finger!"

lizi eventually got tired of waiting.

"oi! faster la. i want to show my aunties the ring."
"which hand do i put it on?"
"this one!" she puts out her left hand.
"you sure a?"
"this hand la. are you going to propose or not?"
heng tong opens his mouth, "lizi, you have to marry me."
"yea la, i have no choice," she replied.

-_- i thought patrick's proposal was bad.

i poked alvin.

"you'd better not propose like that." *killer glare*

it's 1.23am and alvin is running in the mock night marathon to train for singapore's sundown marathon end of the month. damn semangat.

and while he's busy doing that, i'm off to bed. muahaha.

the lady joiner returns!!

oh yeah baby... i'm off to bangkok again! it's become a yearly tradition now.

well, i guess there's no better way to learn lady joiner skills than learn it from the country of its origin. this time it'll be cam, hunter soon and myself. a fraction of the old melbourne crew.

there's room for one more, if anyone wants to join.

here are some photos from my last trip...


awesome thai & italian restaurant which served yummy mojitos


me and my lovelies - ally & cam


anti-pasto at zanotti


the DFSes at Vertigo Sky Bar (Banyan Tree)


partying at slims in costume

places i MUST visit:
pratunam market
suan lum night market
zanotti for awesome italian food
thong lor

things to eat:
larb gai (mince chicken salad)
som tam (green papaya salad)
tom kha gai
red duck curry
lime minced pork noodles
beef noodles

a taste of thai

i can't wait for the new house to be ready and hopefully be able to do some cooking. it's been awhile and i really miss it. nothing gets my mouth watering like thai food, so just for future reference, i'm posting up my self-made menu for a thai dinner.

managed to dig out a recipe for tom kha (tom yum with coconut milk) from way way back. definitely authentic and super yummy.

Tom Kha Gai


one stick lemongrass
5-6 kaffir lime leaves (fresh ones are better than dried, more flavour)
2-3 limes
3-5 chillis (depending on where the chilli is from and how hot it is i guess)
a quarter head galangal (ginger is ok if you can't find galangal)
4-5 cloves garlic
fish sauce (to taste)
sugar (to taste)
chicken stock
one can coconut milk/cream
500g chicken

• cut up the lemongrass into 1 inch pieces and smash them. peel and smash the garlic. cut the lime. slit and smash the chillies. peel the galangal and slice.
• bring the chicken stock to boil. when it starts boiling, put in the lemongrass, garlic, lime and galangal. but you can leave the chillies til later.
  
• abuse the kaffir lime leaves and put them in.. all of them..
• leave to boil for about 5 mins so all the flavour from the herbs come out. then simmer and add lime. add fish sauce and sugar to taste... you may want to add more.
  
• put in the chicken and put in the chillies. simmer everything for about 5 mins. then slowly add the coconut milk/cream. but make sure there are no lumps so you might need to turn up the heat and stir it a bit.
• have a taste and make sure it's yummy... and the chicken is cooked. then serve and impress your guests.
  

Moo Pad Gra Pow (Stir-fried minced pork with basil)


2 tbspns vegetable oil
chilli flakes
1 tspn sugar
a handful of basil
500g minced pork (can be substituted with chicken or beef)
3-4 cloves of garlic minced
a few dashes of fish sauce

• Fry the garlic in oil over high heat. When garlic starts to turn brown, drop the minced pork in. Stir constantly. The juice will start to come out.
  
• Keep stirring until all the juice is gone. It might take a couple of minutes.
• Add chilli flakes, sugar and fish sauce. Then add Thai basil.
  
• Quickly turn it over a few times to mix the leaves with the meat and then remove from the fire.

Roasted Duck Red Curry (Kaeng Phed Ped Yang)


a whole roasted duck, deboned and cut into strips
2 and a half cups of coconut milk
10 cherry tomatoes
half an eggplant cut into cubes
6 canned rambutans or pineapple slices, cut into bite-sizes
4 fresh kaffir lime leaves
pinch of sugar
pinch of salt
few dashes of fish sauce
half cup of chicken stock
1 tbspn cooking oil
3 heaped tbspns of red curry paste (the cheating way)

• Put vegetable oil into wok over medium heat and add the red curry paste. Fry til the paste becomes fragrant.
• Add 3/4 cups coconut milk and stir to mix thoroughly.
• Add the duck and stir well. Next pour the mixture into a pot, add the remaining coconut milk, water, tomatoes, rambutans/pineapples, eggplants, kaffir lime leaves, sugar, salt, and fish sauce. Bring to a boil then let
  
• it simmer for about 15-20 mins.

this is not helping my hunger at all. -_-

food, glorious food!! i live for thee.