On my first trip to Melbourne last April, I tried to avoid food that are available here in Malaysia. I sorta ran out of options rather quickly, so on the second trip, I was ready and more than willing to have some of the meals usually associated with students living here instead.

In a way, instead of having a traditional holiday to Melbourne, I spent the 10 days I was there like a typical student would. I ate the same food, watched a bit of TV series, and even went to a lecture with Mellissa!

Ying Thai 2, rather authentic and very tasty

So when Mell and I were meeting Pinky and Kah Kit, we had it at Ying Thai 2 instead of a place that serves “western” or Australian food. The last we met was April, at Notturno (which happens to be just across the same street), and at Supper Inn for, well, supper.

Ying Thai 2 is a Thai restaurant run by, at the face of it, mostly Thai people. When we got there at around 8pm on a weekday, it was still fully packed. We had to wait for some 30 minutes before securing an alfresco style table. Luckily the outdoor heater was on.

tomyam, green curry, and minced pork with basil

We quickly made our orders, and as usual, being the least picky eater in the group, I let the others do the honor. This also means that I get to enjoy different tastes most of the time, instead of always ordering something I am familiar with.

We asked for 4 dishes: seafood tomyam, green curry chicken, minced pork with basil, and chicken in pandan leave. We also ordered coconut rice instead of normal steamed rice to go with them.

coconut rice and chicken in pandan leaves

It took quite a bit to get our food as the place was extremely busy, to make matter worse, we had to deal with the smell that comes off from the restaurant with our empty stomach. It was a torture, but it was also well worth it.

The green curry chicken and the seafood tomyam was no different from those you get at any good Thai restaurants. The curry rich in coconut milk and come with all the ingredients you expect, while the tomyam is not overly spicy, it was full of seafood ingredients and still manage to provide a small kick.

Mell, KY, Pinky, Kah Kit

The pandan chicken was even better, on par with some of the bests I’ve had. Soft and very flavorful, they go well with the extra fragrant coconut rice, I like the rice a lot more than normal steamed rice or even sticky rice.

However, the best dish of the day had to be the minced pork with basil. It was spicy, it had the flavor of pork, basil (one of my favorite herbs), red chilli, and whatever sauce the chef put in. The result was something with a kick, it was spicy, it was tasty, and it was very addictive.

It was a good dinner session, with great food and of course, Pinky is one of my favorite persons whom I got to know via Nuffnang over a year ago. Incidentally, Mell worked with Pinky during her internship and that was how we got to know each other.

Address:
Ying Thai 2
110 Lygon St,
Carlton VIC 3053,
Australia
GPS: -37.804329,144.966424
Tel: 03-9639 1697‎

p/s: I have a few more Melbourne food posts to complete before the memory escapes my mind, so bear with me.

Tags:  kah kit,  lygon,  melbourne,  mellissa,  pinky,  pork,  thai-food,  tomyam

Posted by KY | 27 Comments »

The most important reason I am now writing this post all the way from Melbourne is to attend Mellissa’s 21st birthday. She has one of the easiest to remember birthday of anyone I know, on 8.8.88, you can’t get any more auspicious than that.

Just a night after I arrived, on the eve of her birthday, we had dinner at Vialetto, a little restaurant at Hardware Lane serving Italian food. The food was very pedestrian and nothing to shout about, so despite taking a tonnes of photos from the restaurant, I shall refrain from writing about a place that I wouldn’t return.

Charlie’s bar is located at the quaint Hardware Lane

Right after dinner, we adjourned to Charlie’s bar a couple doors down the lane. The bar itself is located at the basement level with some tables outdoor (not exactly very awesome to be outdoor in winter, though heater is provided). The service was really good, our server made sure the reserved area is vacated as soon as we arrived and took orders in very efficient and professional manner.

The guys arrived soon enough and by 11pm the group grew to some 30 people, including all of Mellissa’s housemates, university friends, and other friends from KL including Zehan, Pinky and her bf Kah Kit too.

Zehan, KY, Mell, Kah Kit, Sam, Pinky, Mell,
JW, Harvey, Singz, Graeme, Mark, Ian, Mrina, and more!

At the end of the night Mellissa got quite tipsy, though luckily still quite manageable. The guys love the drinks at Charlie’s bar, the cocktails were made just right with enough amount of proper alcohol. The place was quaint and comfortable, even the music too was good. Everyone had a great time, and of course, the no indoor smoking policy in the city always help.

Minor set back of the whole evening was the lack of a cake but oh well, Mell did bake a chocolate cake 2 days later, heehee. Happy Birthday darling!

p/s: Going skiing at Mt. Buller in less than 12 hours, I’m very anxious for my first ski trip in 8 years, gonna be Mell’s first heehee.

Tags:  birthday,  graeme,  jun,  jun wei,  kah kit,  mrina,  pinky,  singz,  zehan

Posted by KY | 16 Comments »

I thought of Supper Inn just as I was reading Lainie’s latest post on Shanghai Dumpling, both are bargain basement old fashion Chinese restaurants (as in oversea Chinese restaurant) in Chinatown at Melbourne CBD.

As I am heading to Melbourne again in some two weeks time, I suppose it is wise to post the remaining food entries from the city before my second trip. The Melbourne food map is slowly shaping up. *beams*

Supper Inn is located at a dodgy alley by the name of Celestial Ave

Supper Inn is located right in the middle of Chinatown, a little alley by the name of Celestial Avenue (can’t get a more Chinese name than that) just off Little Burke Street. The restaurant operates from 5:30pm till 2:30am daily, hence it is one of the only places to eat in CBD after midnight.

The dining area is located on first floor, with really old school interior deco and even older waiters. The place is, however, air conditioned and generally quite clean. Business seemed to be brisk even though it was past midnight in midweek when Pinky, Mellissa and I went there last April.

Chinese tea, yau char kuai, century egg congee

The menu at Supper Inn isn’t exactly very extensive for a Chinese restaurant, but you do get to choose from over a dozen types of soup and porridge, a few appetizers, and entrees. From duck and mushroom soup, sharks fin soup, the venerable hot and sour soup, and more exotic items like duck’s tongue, abalone porridge, and coagulated pork’s blood porridge, they do have most of the essentials.

coagulated pork blood porridge, minced chicken with sweet corn soup

I knew what I had to order the moment I looked at the menu, the coagulated pork blood porridge ($6.50)! Mell had the minced chicken with sweet corn soup ($6.00) while Pinky ordered the century egg porridge ($6.50). We also shared a pretty large serving of yau char kuai ($6.00) to share.

KY, Mell, and Pinky at Supper Inn

The porridge were very good, cooked to the point where individual grain is indistinguishable like how Cantonese porridge should be. And of course, coagulated pork blood never disappoint, it is something that is not easy to find even in KL (I usually get my fix from lorong seratus 100, ss2), and I wouldn’t have thought I’d get them in Melbourne, bliss!

Sweet corn soup was pretty good too, but the yau char kuai (some might call it Chinese donut..) was a bit of a let down by being soft and slightly oily though still edible. However, Pinky said that this is an exception rather than rule, they are usually crispy and tasty, I guess I’ll just have to take her words for it.

Supper Inn is located right in the middle of Chinatown

Bill came to about $25 for the three of us. Chinese tea, as with ice/warm water in other restaurants, are usually free in Melbourne. So if you are craving for some chewing optional supper in Melbourne, this is the place to go.

Address:
Supper Inn Chinese Restaurant
15 Celestial Ave,
Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia
GPS: -37.811873, 144.968091
Tel: +603 9663 4759‎

Tags:  chinatown,  melbourne,  mellissa,  pinky,  porridge

Posted by KY | 34 Comments »

About a gazillion years ago (which means slightly less than half a year in late January), a bunch of us decided to give Pinky a farewell dinner at Xiao Fei Yang steamboat restaurant prior to her departure to Melbourne for further study.

The restaurant is located just behind Berjaya Times Square on Lorong Thambi Dua, not far from the best roasted pork in town at Wong Mei Kee.

the condiments and two types of soup, spicy!

Though located in the older part of KL with horrible parking situation, Xiao Fei Yang benefits from having an empty lot just right next to the restaurant. If you’re willing to part with RM 1-2, there shouldn’t be a problem.

While not decorated with fancy furniture and design, the restaurant is clean, air conditioned, and pretty comfortable. But as with most Chinese buffet that is in air conditioned area, you risk smelling like what you just ate since Korean-style ventilation is non existent.

lamb, beef, fishballs, mushroom, noodle, fu chuk (tofu skin), etc

Steamboat at Xiao Feing Yang is closer to Sichuan (like the one at Jin Shan Cheng, Sunway) and Mongolian (check out Inner Mongolia steamboat at Pudu) style. The restaurant claims that the soup is boiled for 12 hours with some 30 different Chinese herb, it is supposed to have beautifying and healthy effect on you.. but I only worry if it’s tasty anyway.

Mell, KY, Pinky, Tim, Audrey

The ten of us ordered lamb, beef, and possibly pork. There were also fish ball, meat ball, two types of tofu skin, cuttle fish, mushroom, vegetable, seaweed, and noodle. There were other more exotic ingredients but I guess some of these guys aren’t exactly the most adventurous when it comes to food.

As for the soup, we had both the herbal and the spicy version. Basically the spicy version is just the herbal soup with chili oil added. They come with quite a lot of herbs I can’t name (I remember seeing green onion and red dates), and they add up to give the soup a very sweet and rather sumptuous taste.

Firdy, Robb, Zach, Vernice, Carol

The thing that I like most about the steamboat is the condiments. Chili paste and fermented tofu paste with freshly boiled lamb or beef can be very addictive. A word of advice though, always start with the clear soup and work your way to spicy but not the other way around.

It was a pretty satisfying dinner even though we didn’t order anything luxurious (ie: more meat, maybe seafood too?). The bill came to be around RM 20 per person if memory serves me correct. Xiao Fei Yang is not very different from the other two steamboat places mentioned, a place that is worth going if you’re into spicy steamboat with plenty of meat.

Address:
Xiao Fei Yang restaurant,
18, Lorong Thambi Dua,
Pudu, Kuala Lumpur 55100
GPS: 3.139616,101.713185
Tel: 03-2142-6789‎

Tags:  audrey,  firdy,  mellissa,  pinky,  robb,  sichuan,  Steamboat,  tim,  timothy,  vernice,  zach

Posted by KY | 25 Comments »

Hello ladies and gentlemen, today’s lesson is how to be a a standout in life.

According to my very handy WordWeb dictionary, Standout means

1. Be highly noticeable
2. Distinguish oneself
3. Steer away from shore, of ships
4. Be stubborn in resolution or resistance

In today’s lesson, we’re going to concentrate on the first two definitions of the word.

flipping myself into the water of Krabi

Well, one way to be highly noticeable is to do something crazy or daring, like doing a highly untrained somersault dive from a rather high speed boat deck. It was a sure way to capture anyone’s attention, especially if you manage to land (bad pun) on your back creating a very loud SPLASH, and end up with very red and painful back.

wanna be rock stars Ginny, KY, and Robb

Another way to be a standout is to be performers, or more specifically, rock stars!

Even though I basically can’t sing nor play the guitar (except for guitar hero on Wii) , I did not give up the dream to be a rock star for well, 10 minutes. I lip synced my way with Ginny and Robb at the Nuffnang Music Bash and had a small group of people wondering what we were doing, but it was a moment to standout, no?

Pinky was my partner in crime on this competition

To be a standout is to not back down from any challenges. Late last year, there was a call for volunteer at the Kakiis’ event at MOS. I went up the stage, and discovered that it was actually a dancing competition. No matter, Pinky was made victim of the day but at the end of the day, I won a 16GB thumb drive.

Being a standout sometimes gets you prizes, yey!

Can you do this cycling thing?

Last but not least, it helps to be able to do some tricks that no one (or almost no one can). One of my most awesome tricks in my bag would be tis finger cycling thing. Check out the video above. Can you do it?

Mellissa was impressed (don’t let her response in the video fooled you ok?!), and I am sure if you have an ability like that, you’d be able to impress lotsa people and be a stand out too!

Stand Out with Tiger & Nuffnang

So, this bring us to the message of the day that is the Stand Out party with Tiger & Nuffnang. This is an exclusive event for outstanding bloggers only.

To get an exclusive invite, follow these instructions (detailed instructions on the minisite)

• Write a blog post about how you are a standout in life (ability to lick your own elbow perhaps?)
• Once posted, send permanent link to standout@nuffnang.com
• Embed the picture above (optional) to stand a chance to win a Nintendo DS Lite
• First 100 bloggers win an exclusive invite (priority to Glitterati members), invites will be sent out via email from 1st to 3rd of June, 2009.

There are prices to be won too! Head to the minisite to find out how you can win a HP Notebook, DS Lite, Coach Bag, Xbox 360, and more!

See you there.

Tags:  ginny,  mellissa,  pinky,  robb,  standout,  tiger,  video

Posted by KY | 37 Comments »