BREAKFAST WITH RAJU..

I had a date with Raju...NOT! Well, I was meeting an old friend. I was thinking where to go. Raju came to my mind. So here we go: So, I arrived at Raju around 9:15am. My friend asked me whether we were in the right place or not because the customers' cars that parked there were consist of Jaguars and BMWs! Well, I told them that as shady as the place might seem, the people who go there regularly were some rich a** who love Raju's cooking :-)
Most of the "Kedai Mamak Daun Pisang" will have this curry container around the table. I think this is a brilliant concept of great service.

I had "Roti Telur Bawang". They were amazingly delish! I was so close to have second serving but I had to pace myself. I was reserving for lunch which I ended up not going for eating too much with eh at Raju's...Just look at the gravy...yum yum...



I then indulged in this "Vadeh". This supposed to be a snack, but I got carried away by having a few of these. Breakfast became another exquisite experience.


I realised that I spent a longer time than I should just to have a breakfast meeting. I must remove myself from this place before I got carried away with the variety of food in this place.

TOAST BOX

After that incident in Bangsar, I was incommunicado. No phone. No way to contact me unless I was on the net. I had to renew my SIM card. I waited for a good friend to pick me up for afternoon tea so that I could get a new SIM card and indulged in Food Therapy at the same time (yeah yeah, excuses, excuses to just eat..). So guess what? Bwahh hah hah hah! We went to MidValley! Evil Plan! So after the SIM card recovered from the Maxis Centre there, we both had the SAME idea; KOPITIAM (coffee shop)! There, we could smoke until we die and eat until we choked to death to put it mildly. Well, this Kopitiam is called TOAST BOX. When we reached Toasbox, I saw a couple were already ordering some food and drinks. I saw this drink and quickly told the Cashier that I wanted that one. The main ingredient was MILO. So what the heck coz it looked so cool and nasty. I ordered that and my friend chose the cold Barley drink for a hot day. I slurped this funky looking drink;

Wow! This drink rocks! If you like chocolaty and malty taste of MILO, you will dig this one. The fact that they poured the undissolved MILO over a cold icy water gave this drink a childish greedy sensation over drinking the rocky looking awesome tasting beverage.
I just could not get enough of this new discovery. I might want to try this at home. Well, we could not survive on drinks alone so while were at it slurping away, we ordered some munchies. Yes! The thick toasts again!
The thick toast is to die for. This one is filled with scrumptious peanut butter. Describing this makes my mouth water. It was better than "Grobber". It was better than any peanut butter you ever tasted.


Checkout how the peanut butter melted on to the toast and dropping by the edge of the toast and you saved the butter by putting them into your mouth..yahoooooooo!

This is another thick toast with pineapple jam on it. Again, the pineapple jam was totally different from any jarred pineapple you ever had.
The texture of this pineapple jam was different. Darn, it is hard to describe some good things.

We finally called it quits when it looked like it's going to be dark soon...This was another set of food and beverage later. I reluctantly went back to the office to actually do work.

UNFORTUNATE

The whole day I was updating and updating files on the computer and then transfered to the external hard disc that I bought in Sg Wang recently. All my photographs are nicely transfered to the external hardisc.

I was pretty happy with the day's work. I even transfered all the pictures from my mobile to the disc. I was pretty tired and packed my things up and ready to go. I was supposed to meet some friends but it was cancelled.

So I made my way to Bangsar to get something to eat. I was so darn fortunate to find a nice parking spot right on that Telawi Street which on any day was the hardest place to park. Yay! I got one. I was pretty impressed. In the car, my sister messaged me if I wanted anything to eat so she can order some take-outs for me. I replied to her stating how great it was to find a parking spot in the hardest part of the city..She sounded annoyed with me. I asked her to join me for dinner. She didn't sound to keen. So I walked around Bangsar....by myself...

Oh great! Blook's having Sale! This is great! I bought a couple of Jackets and Blouses and it only cost me RM40.00 phoarrr a real bargain! I was happy as Larry...still feeling a little tired which I hadn't have my dinner yet. So I paved through...
"Ahhh Bangsar", I thought. It's never the same anymore. The memories on this street were phenomenal. Over 10 years I partied here...now it looked so dead. I walked further...passing through...I remembered this street, even on a weekday, it was packed with avid party goers. Every one was having such a ball...these were a long time ago but they seemed like they were just happened yesterday. I was feeling a little dead inside. But the memories made me smile. I walked a little further..trying to ignore some shady looking man making a pass at me. I thought to myself, "What a d****ss.."..ahhh forget about it..

I saw Guardian was having Sales as well! This is even better, but no one went there. Bangsar must be losing it. I was also looking for Burger King which. It was no longer there! Darn, I hadn't been here for a while so I just realised that it was no longer there...bummer...Yes, I walked even further down the road....
I passed by Finnegan and I didn't dare to look in. I was too afraid it will depress me even more. Even the 'Happy Hour' crowd didn't look too happy. Wow, time has changed and I am glad that I didn't miss out on those happy days. I decided to stop by Pelita and got something to eat. I bought some Nasi Kandar with 'Ayam Kicap' and some vegies. The attendant was being a bit funny with me especially when I could decide what gravy to have with my nasi kandar. I murmured, "Tak da Kuah..." (no gravy) and he pointed to the displays and said, "Tak da kuah? Ini banyak ni.." (No gravy? There are a lot of gravies here..). I didn't know whether to laugh or sulk at that remark. After that, yes, I began to walk back to my car.

I passed by some interesting shops before I reached my ever 'lucky' parking spot. I passed by "Touches de Siam". I could smell the massage oil coming out of the door..very tempting...I almost walked in, but at the same time I was pretty hungry. So, I moved on...

I looked at the restaurant next to me...never been in here but it looked good. I had this little plan in my head that I will make my trip here... Hmm palace of India...sounds like good food....oh I remembered I had my food packed. I smiled...Quickly I reached my mobile from inside my bag...Hmmm...I should text my sister since she was so sweet wanted to get me some food...
As I saw a few lines of her message...vaguely I could hear a faint motor bike sound from behind me which I did not suspect ANY thing at all...My hand bag was almost wide open which I didn't zip it up after getting my mobile from it...Inside...my Sony Cybershot T-20, my purse, the Hard Disc, Gucci Perfume, Mac Makeup...bla, bla, bla...

As soon as slid up the LG phone to text my sister.....BAM! The bikers took the handphone off my hand! Just like that! I screamt! But not loud enough I guess when no one even bother to look...I was not even that further away from Pelita, I am sure I was pretty loud. No, unfortunately, I was ignored. No one heard me, no one gives a shit. I could see the Bike went off...fast...I couldn't see the license number, rather didn't have time to see...My heart pounded so fast. For the first time after a long time, I could feel my adrenalin was pumping. I wasn't even mad. That was strange..I..felt sorry for the fellas, had to snatch my new phone away...I am grateful they didn't attack me. I am grateful they didn't drag my handbag which to me would have been a real bummer. I felt so sorry for the 2 poor souls. They have to steal? What have we become? Human can be so evil huh..Ahhh the phone..I can always get a new one..I am just darn glad nothing bad happened.. I was thinking of making a police report. But in my head, I could see the officer's face making fun of me or even insinuate that I was the one at fault..So I couldn't be bothered. I took my car keys and left BANGSAR. I went straight home. Changed my shoes into slippers and walked to the pay phone to bar my SIM card. The maxis guy was courteous enough to say,"Is there anything else I can do for you maam?" Yeah...get me a new phone dammit he he..No I didn't sat that...

I ate the nasi kandar only I lost my appetite. My sister reached home and I told her the story. She felt so sorry for me and she quickly called mum and dad. They were concerned and that was the point when I really realised that I was darn lucky that I wasn't hurt at all....Thank god for that.

CRAVING FOR MEATBALLS

Today, I saw IKEA advertisement on the paper. I was not intrigued with the 'Sales' but rather diverted the imagination to the Swedish Meatballs that kept on appearing in my brain these past few days. Yes, I am a sucker for food. The whole afternoon I was thinking about this dish. So, I texted my sister whether she could get away a little earlier than usual from work. She immediately called me up and said 'yes'. I was counting time..
At around 5:30pm I became restless and all I could think about IKEA, IKEA, IKEA...I quickly packed my things up and made the attempt to shoot off. Some of my colleagues insinuated that I stayed a little longer in the office. I quickly made the slugging remarks saying that I too want to have a life. If that was ever true....
Then I drove off home so that I could pick my sister up only to be caught in a traffic Jam. I became restless and of course I was hungry as hell. My sister called me, she was home earlier. Her office was in the heart of the City, but she made it home before me! Life is not fair at all. I was impatiently waited in the car that I almost hit a car in front of me while in the crawl. Suffice to say that I was dead close...God must love me. I reached home safely and I saw my sister was waiting as well and she complained that I was slow. We took off at around 7:30pm. We were then caught in another crawl near Taman Tun Dr Ismail. O Dear, there were way too many cars in this city.
As I made that turn to IKEA, while my sister was busy on the phone with mom, I asked her briefly, "Which way?", She indicated ,"Left! left!" and I immediately (felt that I took a wrong turn) turned into a junction and ended up it was the wrong way. My sister, immediately hung the phone and said, "This is wrong!". I brushed her off,"Well young lady, it was your freaking idea to turn left, genius!". We were in a circle for a little while and I must say it was pretty frustrating considering how hungry and tired I was.

We finally made it to IKEA, heck I don't know what time it was but I guess we barely made it for a little shopping and voila! ..to the IKEA restaurant! Woo hoo! My sister said she wanted the chicken and when we reached the counter and thank Almighty God, even though the food was almost gone, we were left with 2 servings of 10s Swedish Meatballs! Yipee!

We also got ourselves some Swedish Cake for dessert. The meatballs were probably not as great as they should be early during the day. The plus part was we got extra 2 meatballs on my sister plates. The cashier was making a snotty remark but we couldn't be bothered about that. I told her we did not 'take' the 2 extras on our own. They did. So, do not ever freaking charge us for the 2 miserable meatballs. They didn't charge us. Phew, that saved us from unnecessary commotion...considering how irritable I was..the situation was under control.

We ate and ate and it was great to see my sister ate as much. She must enjoyed the meatballs. I enjoyed the meatballs as well. We both got soft drinks and coffee. As many people know the drinks and coffee were refillable at no charge. We were planning on being bloated but fortunately there was simply not enough time.

A few hours went by just like that. IKEA was preparing to call it a night. We were nicely 'kicked out' by the announcement. I paid the bills of the things that I bought and headed to the car-park. We reached home and went straight to bed. It was worth it....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

SOME SUSHI?

I love Sushi. I am not Japanese, but I love Sushi. I get cravings for Sushi every week. So, I have to have Sushi at least once a week. Sometimes I will scout for places to go in town or just go to Jusco to get some ready made Sushi over the counter. Today, I did just that. I went over to Mid Valley Mega Mall and voila! all my prayers were answered. I got quite greedy by getting the whole set of eight salmon shushi (sake sushi) and some Eels (Unagi). The funny part was, my sister, she thought that Unagi was just some fish so she literally 'whacked' a whole lot of them a few weeks ago. Then when she learned that it was eel she almost fainted. Duh! Now I think she wouldn't even want to look at them ha ha.

I turned the TV on and watched ST-the next generation while enjoying my salmon sushi then I realized that I bought a little bit too much sushis. Pretty ambitious eh! Well, I ended up saving the Unagi for another day. The salmon sushi were marvellous.
I cheated a little, I took a little bite off the Unagi. They were delish as well. But I was too full. So, there you go, another addition to my collection in that bachelor fridge.

IT IS TIME TO RE EVALUATE LOVE

Valentine's day is here! I am sure some couples are busy planning the evening and reviving dull love live and re-living sexy moments. It's been a while since I last celebrate V day. Even when I was in a relationship, V-day didn't really do much for me at the time. Now, that I am single, I thought I was missing out..But love can be in many forms; Love for god, Love for parents, Love for children, Love for the unfortunates, Love for life, the list can go on. So, I am NOT missing out. I still have my parents to say Happy V-day to. I still have my brothers and sister to say Happy V-day to...I am all for love, for love is this 'sacred' thing. People need love to survive. People need love to get through the day. Those who claimed need no love to live, they are obviously BS-ing. If we don't have love, we are not human. V-day is not part of my culture and far from my religion. But, I have come to appreciate the 'good' intention it brings. To appreciate love will make me a better person. I hope it will make the better people throughout the entire planet earth. I read in the newspaper, some people in India was demonstrating to boycott V-day. Some people in Thailand was giving -ve feedback on V-day..I am sad for them, for what I can do is to wish them well. Those who read this, cherish the love you have around you. Appreciate the good things. We are still the most fortunate people in the world because we have this funny thing call LOVE. Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

RICK'S CAFE - CASABLANCA

ENTER!!!!!

We had a meeting in the office and my boss decided to adjourn the meeting into a nice dinner gathering with some of the staffs. He decided to take us to Rick's Cafe in Bangsar. We did not make any reservation but apparently one of the Share holders of this place is his friend. So, our arrival was anticipated with a great welcome. I took 3 of my colleagues in my car and all in there were 16 of us. Big group huh and apparently we have great appetite as well.

AMBIANCE:
The decor was very nice. Well, I watched this "Casablanca" movie anyway and of course it was no where near the real thing. I was expecting the black singer playing piano in the middle of the crowd and that was not the case in Rick's Cafe the Malaysian version but suffice the experience was not disappointing to us.
This table tea light candle lamp was one of the decors that I find really interesting in here. I saw this type of lamp in many other restaurants but they did not sit well with the rest of the decor. Anyway, this did the trick somehow..

CHICKEN LIVER PATE:

This was my appetizer. The chicken liver pate with port orange. The texture was really smooth and went down really smoothly especially when paired with the port orange.


Chicken and Moroccan Rice. I didn't get to taste the chicken so no comment. It looked good though. My colleague made a good remark, so I guess it must be alright.

GRILLED SALMON WITH UDON:

I ordered the Salmon with Udon. Simply delish! Only one comment, on the menu it said Trout. This is by far a Salmon. The guy made a mistake. Just admit your mistakes. Some customers do know about food my friends..do not simply BS your customers....
The Lamb Chops. Underneath the succulent Meat, there was this amazing mashed potatoes. The gravy was a little bitter but this suits most 'Malaysian' palate.

MANGO SORBET:

One of my colleagues ordered this Mango Sorbet. It's delicious and refreshing. Yes, as kepo as I am, I tasted some of it. I then ordered this dessert.

COFFEE CREME BRULEE:

The Coffee Creme Brulee. The caramelized sugar was done nicely and it did sit nicely with the bitterness of the Coffee.

This dessert is really out of this world. The Banana Souffle and Chocolate Ice Cream did go well together. My friend had this and I had a little tasting. Too bad I had mine. They say if you want to test a real Chef, you should ask him/her to make Souffle. If it's perfect, he/she is a great chef. I do not know how far this is true for I am not a Chef connoisseur. We went home with stomach filled with joy. It's pretty pricy for average Malaysian but I must say it was worth it especially when someone else foot the bills ha ha!

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As of 2009, Rick's Cafe has closed down.