Travelogue around Asia Pacific Part II

Petaling Jaya - It has been years since I came to this restaurant.  My first trip was with my family and Donny brought us here for dinner. distinct signboard @ night Soon Hock fish Commonly called Soon Hock or in English would be 'Marble Goby'.   Since the restaurant is having a promotion on this fish, we choose our catch from this bucket. steamed Soon Hock fish Very delicious and the flesh is so succulent and just simply melt in your mouth....yummy.   Cantonese style of steaming with light soya sauce and garnish with spring onions and chinese parsley. steamed prawns Clams stired fried with spring onions dragon vegetable salted egg crab Another ingenious receipe from Malaysia which is the salted egg crab.  Lightly salted and deliciously stir fried to taste the softness of the crab meat. Baked oyster with cheese topping Nicely baked to taste the Canadian oyster with the melted cheese - a perfect blend to top up the...

Petaling Jaya - We brought our Japanese and Korean friends over to eat Southern Indian food as they have never eaten such dishes before.   I was expecting banana leaf which is what Kanna Curry House used to stand for but now it is paper leaf, does not seems so authentic after all. Address:  No 29 Jalan 17/45 , Petaling Jaya 46400 , Malaysia choose your fresh fish You can choose a wide variety of fishes and meat to be deep fried. rice and side dishes The white rice and side dishes are free flowing served on paper leaf. chicken curry This restaurant is on a bit expensive for a Southern Indian restaurant.

Petaling Jaya -  After our morning meeting, Donny brought me to a famous Fish head noodle restaurant in a nondescript row of shophouse.  Some of the shophouse were into car repair and an undertaker shop was next to the restaurant.   By the time we left the restaurant, the place was pack with diners. "mouse tail' noodle The noodle which has a tail that looks like mouse-tail - Malaysians called it 'Loh See Fun'.  It's English name is 'Silver needle noodles".  A very popular noodle variety in Malaysia and Singapore.  In Singapore, we called it 'Mee Tai Bak'. The noodles are made from ground rice flour but sometimes with some added cornstarch to reduce breakage during frying. Fish head noodle  Very tasty and delicious noodle with much more ingredients than in Singapore like yam. pigs stomach and intestines Cheng Tng Cheng Tng is a sweet and cooling dessert of winter melon, red dates, white fungus and dried longans (mata kuching)...

Puchong, Selangor - We brought our Korean friends to dinner at this seafood restaurant in Puchong.  This will be my second time having dinner here - no complaints the food is fresh and tasty.  Unfortunately only cash is accepted. Stir-fried pork with onions, spring oinons vegetables This is stir-fried sweet potato leaves with garlic - one of my favourite dish which is rarely sold in Singapore restaurants. Big head carp with seafood The steamed fish head took up the whole platter and was surrounded with fresh seagood of prawns, clams and squid topped with generous garlic and shallots.   It was kept warm over a solid fuel flame.  The soup can be topped up when requested.

Singapore - It seems this small South Pacific carrier which operates a fleet of 10-seater propeller planes, has taken the first step to charge passengers airfares based on their weight, meaning the heavier you are, the more you pay. This is Samoa Air for you....a kilo is a kilo is a kilo! Passengers declare their body weight while booking online, and are also weighed just before a flight.

Seoul - We ate for dinner at a BBQ Lamb restaurant - this was my second time here.   The lamb is fresh and taste real good.  There was a huge advertisement outside the restaurant. Rack of lamb 4 pieces of the rack of lamb is 2 servings of 200g.  Between the 3 of us, we had 2 servings. lamb cut up to pieces over the hot coal The exhaut hovers of the hot coals to suck up the smoke emitting from the BBQ tray.  It is nice to have a good BBQ under air-conditioning.  We also had 1 serving of spicy lamb on skewers.   Lamb on skewers It is very ingenious to have metal rollers which automatically turn the meat to cook it evenly over the hot coals.  

Seoul - Well I am not talking about the 'rain' that had just been released from military service but heavy downpour in the Seoul city today.   For lunch, we were taken to a Samyetang - Ginseng Chicken Soup restaurant.  It has been a long time since I had Samyetang in Korea. Ginseng Chicken Soup Ginseng Chicken Soup really good for your health.  You can see from the picture that it's very hot and boiling.   Stuffed inside the spring chicken you have sticky rice, a small slice of Ginseng, 1 gingko nut and half of a chestnut with dried pumkin seeds.   You can add salt to the dish for flavour but I like it bland.

Seoul - We went to a tuna specialty restaurant - Aratuna restaurant . Aratuna restaurant all part of the tuna fish fermented tuna This is a delicacy for the Koreans - it smells and is an acquired taste.   Lot so taste of the cartilage and the smell of the fermented tuna can be overpowering. Chef and owner of this restaurant It was fun to see the chef of this restaurant serving us in our presence.  He was carving up the tuna head and is the best part of the tuna besides the stomach. carving up slices of special tuna meat of the Tuna eye socket meat of the Tuna upper jaw carving the eye ball of the tuna The chef will dice the Tuna eye ball into slices, pour some vinegar and then Soju liqour for 6 of us and we have to drink it in one shot. Tuna eyeball liquor Wow, it tasted like ice cream with liquour.  Very nice and never tasted anything like this before in my life. Cold noodles (Soba)    The Soba noodles...

Seoul - For lunch with HanaIT friends, we travelled a distance to eat some bulgogi and it was a good restaurant.  30 years old Bulgogi restaurant Bulgogi Delcious Bulgogi cooking over the stove.  This dish is a sweet mixture of sauces straw mushrooms, leeks, onions, glass noodles and slices of beef.  Once the beef is cooked, there are numerous ways to eat it to savour the taste of the Bulgogi.   You can pick up the beef, add garlic with chilli sauce and wrapped in lettuce or you can eat it with rice. After I pick out the food to be place on my plate it looks like that.  On my plate

Seoul - I just watched latest movies on the flight to Seoul - "Olympus has Fallen" and "The Sapphires".   I was given a room with a kichenette @ The Best Western Guru Hotel.  This is the first time for me in a Hotel but in a service apartment of course there is a kitchen. Kichenette Young Jin joined me for dinner @ a nearby sashimi restaurant.   The fish was so fresh.... raw fish So delicious and fresh dipped into wasabi and soy sauce and wrapped in a lettuce and into my mouth.  Yummy! fried fish head plate of shell fish We had a large platter of steamed shell fish - 6 x Jegu abalones, scallops, cockles and other shell fishes.  So much food for the 2 of us.  

Kowloon  - We were recommeded to this Hong Kong icon restaurant - Spring Deer Restaurant.   This is the only place to eat Peking duck in Hong Kong.  The place was crowded and the ceiling of the restaurant is so low; giving you a claustrophobic feeling. Condiments for the Peking Duck I did not like the taste of the wrap; it left a powdery after taste.  I had to gurgle the tea in my mouth to get rid of that after taste. Peking Duck The Peking duck does not come up to my expectation as compared to the Peking Duck I had tried in Beijing.  This restaurant does not serve the remains of the duck.  Unlike on mainland Beijing, the chef will prepare the remains of the duck into soup and vegetable dishes. My previous blog on Peking Duck Stewed ham & Tientsin cabbage

Hong Kong - First time trying a Michelin graded noodle shop in Hong Kong.  One of the famous restaurant in Hong Kong - Wing Wah Noodle restaurant.   You must try the wan ton noodle and it is the noodle that makes this place so special.   The restaurant is nondescript with simple arrangement of chairs and have been that way for decades.  It gives an atmosphere of bygone years of old Hong Kong. The noodles are still made by hand, kneaded using bamboo upstairs.   Latest news is that this Michelin shop has closed operation on 31st August 2018 after 68 years in busines.   The 3rd generation own Tse Sau-Hong commented that she was 'feeling old and wanted to retire' and the business has fallen after the immigration department moved their offices away from Wan Chai.

Hong Kong island - After watching our movie World War Z, a good movie.  It's already 9pm and time for a late dinner.  We thought of the restaurant that had a queue and so we walked over but realized that it is a fusion restaurant of SE Asia and Hongkong dishes and not our cup of tea.   Looking across, was a seafood restaurant and we sat down to order. We were recommeded by the captain for their promotion of 1 full lobster and 1 steam fish at affordable price of HKD 308.  Extremely surprise when the dish arrive and it was fresh and really good. Steam fish Lobster with cabonara noodles The lobster dish was great - succulent and fresh.  It was cooked together with noodles in carbonara sauce.  I really enjoy this dinner as both the lobster and fish was fresh and also affordable. Restaurant: Charming Cuisine @ G/F 517 Jafe Road, Causeway Bay (walking distance from Time Square)

Hong Kong island  - Resting after our meeting, we walked around Times Square which was running a promotion on the movie 'Monster University'.  Large queues gather to take phots with the monsters... Monster University garden Huge Apple Store @ Causeway Bay We popped into a Desert shop a short walking distance from our hotel and had a Durian cake dessert. Durian cake dessert The Durian cake is bland, no taste and no smell.   Surprise, HK people like Durians. Seasame seed and bean curd This is a mixture dessert of seasame seed and bean curd dish with yellow sugar.  The seasame seed is very fine and smooth.. Tang Yuen Hot desert with glutinous ball in ginger soup