Limited Editions

My Photo
Name:

Oft misunderstood soul. Shy, reserved, likes to stay in the background, but inevitably mistaken as not shy, extrovert etc. Originally meant to be a culinary blog, but in due course discovered man does not live on cake alone..hence the waffle.

Monday, August 21, 2006

One Night In Bangkok Makes A Lard Man Crumble


One of the major things that struck me about the food courts in Bangkok, is the abundance of that very haram meat. There's virtually no escape!!! I wonder where the Jewish people eat.

That aside, Bangkok is really quite a culinary paradise. Lots of good food, and very cheap too, wherever you turn. A lot like here really, people seem to live to eat. My kinda place. Thanks to air asia's free ticket giveaway sometime last year, we managed to get to and from bangkok for a total of RM356, airport taxes, for two, return!!! Now if that is not a steal, I don't know what is. And, accommodation courtesy of dear old friends, Bangkok Lawyer working for Swiss company, made it a really economical holiday. Food, glorious food, and lots of it. The only BAD meal we had was the "buffet" lunch on board the barge which was part of the tour package for our trip to historical Ayuthayya.

Evil Twin happened to be in town on Thursday, so met up for dinner with him, together with Mrs Bangkok Lawyer, and other half, in some restaurant in Emporium. Leon Lai had suggested I buy local prepaid phone card for cheaper sms-es, but it still worked out to nearly RM1 per pop, for a thai to msian number. But at least the prepaid card made me mindful of the unnecessary sms-es and the accumulated sms bill, unlike when we were in Hong Kong last year, and spent RM200 on sms-es alone. (each was RM1.60 per pop, on roaming).

Evil Twin and Me


This is an embarrasing confession, but the first night, after dinner, we hungout at Carrefour....check out the humongous durians...nice to look at only, but Thais eat theirs really dry and hard.




Day 2 saw us waking up yet again at some ungodly hour, to catch the tour to the historical capital, Ayuthayya. It's actually quite a good tour, coz it covers a bit of everything, the usual mandatory WAT, (temple), which housed supposedly one of the largest bronze Buddhas in Thailand, 12m high. Then there was the ruins, of the old capital, which was well worth seeing, and finally the modern Summer Palace.




WAT chamayacallit

Stupa -fied

Pimping the Pachyderms

Historical Ayuthaya



The tree trunks that have grown around this old water tower

Spectacular old ruins

Took this because of the interesting name of the Princess, which means something intriguing in Malay. "Dara Rasmi - Official Virgin"

The scenic summer palace....part of the grounds.


That was day 2 gone. Dinner again with Mrs Bangkok Llawyer, as Mr was still overseas. To work of the heavy dinner, we walked a bit.....

DAY 3, Bangkok Lawyer had arrived earlier in the morning, from Beijing. Headed for our favourite breakfast joint, Au Bon Pain, which sells the loveliest bagels, with bacon and eggs. Their adorable little girl came along too. Shopped a bit in Emporium, had vietnamese beef noodles for lunch, yummy, followed by ice cream, followed by massage.....(the third in the trip).
Another scrumptious dinner in Chinatown....courtesy of Bangkok Lawyer. Feel really bad doing a "Sponge Bob...." (ie, sponging off Bangkok Lawyer). I did offer to bake him something.

After dinner, we went jalan jalan in Patpong. The range of fakes isn't as good, I feel, compared with our petaling street. Pimps abounded, selling tiger shows, etc etc...

By this time, the rest were tired, so dropped me off to meet my Nestle friend, in this pub called the Dubliner. Alas, Nestle friend was nearly an hour late, but it was worth waiting, coz after that, he and his friend, the L of YSL, whisked us off to Q Bar on Soi 11, very very happening place, packed like sardines, predominantly with Europeans. Apparently all the "local" girls there were available...talk about your proverbial meat market. I found it a bit demeaning, but nevertheless, it was a great experience. I expected a bar brawl to ensue when a russian prost threw a drink at one of the swiss guys in our group. He was surprisingly gentlemanly about it, and didn't retaliate.....


Got back at 3.30am!!! (not before L brought us around to see if there were any other spots opened...apparently Q bar has to shut at 2am coz they don't pay the police enough).

DAY 4 - Breakfast with hangover...... and back home!!!!

Monday, August 07, 2006

Ta Ta For Now, Our New American Hero

My first memory of talking to this huge, strong, wholesome American was in church, asking him if he was a missionary. He has that clean cut look, the type that would appear in show like "Married to the Kellys", or "Everybody Loves Raymond", but not in "Friends" or "Sex and the City".

Anyway, his 3 year tenure in this country has finally come to an end, after several few false starts. (We had earlier on hosted a farewell for him a few months ago). Anyway, this time, it was more organised, with proper agenda, etc, and it was an added bonus that the Lees from Amherst were also in town.


Mushroom & Zuchinni Pie

Roast Leg of Lamb with rosemary, garlic and honey mustard glaze

Mango and Tomato Salsa For The Fajitas

Salad With quails eggs

Fajitas, with Roast Chicken, Avocado, Caramelised Onions, Sour Cream


Pasta With Deep Fried Aubergine

The Cookie Cutters I got from The Lees of Amherst

Signature Flourless Chocolate Cakes


Lemon Meringue Pie

Silicone Bakeware, given by Mr & Mrs Tiger Chin,
which I've been meaning to put up, but forgot earlier on.



Anyway, the night progressed fairly well, with light hearted banter, and a game on HOW WELL DO WE KNOW SF!! Planned by Mrs Lee, basically we were asked questions about him, with 3 multiple choice answers to choose from, and if we got it right, he gets to do something, and if we got it wrong, he gets something from us, as can be seen from the pic below, where all those below 35 had to give him a 1 minute massage.

We ended by praying for him, God Speed be on his way.


Well, we'll miss you, and I'm sure the kids will miss you loads, but I'm sure we'll meet again sometime soon, so take care, buddy, and see you soon.

Thursday, August 03, 2006

Fatboybakes Goes Commercial



Was at the Lake Club introduction night, with Director of Investment Banking, Famous Merchant Bank in town, and lovely wife, when I got a "distress" call from friend of a friend who runs a restaurant in suburbia. She urgently needed two types of dessert for today, and being a sucker for a damsel in distress, I obliged, although I was wondering HOW I could accomplish the task, given that I was half intoxicated on cheap plonk, and it was almost 10pm.

Anyway, I promised her my orange mocha chocolate brownie, and a lemon tart....since I had the ingredients on hand, at home. Had to stop over at 7-11 to pick up some eggs, and actually, by 11.30pm, had completed the task. Applause please, thank you. This MIGHT be the birth of fatboybakes into the commercial arena.

Then again, she or her customers might pan it, and it may herald the premature death of a baking career.

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Out Partying On Monday Night

I got an sms on Monday night asking me to join some friends at Zeta Bar, KL Hilton. Truth be told, I am morphing into a couch potato, especially on Monday nights, coz usually after bringing the kids for our routine jalan jalan in the mall, and after body pump, I'm pooped, and want to watch Seinfeld.

But when the next sms came, saying, "do come, it's my birthday", well, that about closes the door on any plausible excuse, and really, I didn't have any, apart from the fact that I was waiting for a cake to bake in the oven. Literally. Not an euphemism for pregnancy. Anyway, Zeta Bar is quite quiet on a Monday night, so it appears. Wife actually commented that it was nice and relaxing. Was a very pleasant evening, talking about wedding plans, etc.....
R of ELR group had a bottle of vodka leftover from Young Lawyer's Wedding, so drinks were kinda on the house....thanks Mr R.


So now, I was looking to couch potato on Tuesday instead, but get YET another sms from gym friend whom I havent caught up with in a while. He said to join him for drinks at the newly opened Jarrod & Rawlins outlet, a nicely renovated bungalow in Lrg Dungun. It's a pretty cool concept, a deli and wine shop, where you can order stuff and eat there, and drink there. The range of delicatessen is quite interesting, although I didn't eat this time. Well, it's non halal, and one of their claim to fame is real bacon and eggs breakfasts.

Had a fascinating conversation with the people present. One of them sells this contraption for the total well being and health, using aqua therapy. The other was an Indonesian (Chinese) who's lived in San Francisco for a long time, and is now living in Singapore. Had a good time. Nice place to chill out.....