Last night the infamous #porkgang had our first ever annual dinner at restaurant LYJ. Even though we’ve been having lunches, dinners, and activities like go-karting and such for quite a number of months, it was actually the first time all of us showed up all at the same time.

A little bit of background.

It all started on Twitter, we were organizing dinners and had too many people’s twitter nickname to include on every replies, in a flash of epiphany, I came up with the #porkgang hastag since we love to eat pork, and the group name was formed.

The members are: Kim, Gareth, Suan, Kerol, Eric, Jac, Cheesie, Horng, Ruby, Terence, Haze, FA, and of course, yours truly.

at restaurant LYJ, they serve pork lard with rice, as Kim pointed out

Anyway, for the dinner, Jac and Kim came up with the idea of Poon Choi. Poon Choi (盆菜) is basically a whole lot of top dishes served in a basin (traditionally wooden) to be shared with a bunch of hungry souls.It was said that the origin of Poon Choi came from the people serving their best delicacies to the Song Dynastic’s young emperor and his soldiers who fled from Mongol troops.

Though we’re not fleeing from anything, we felt like we deserved to eat like an emperor at all time, so Poon Choi it is then.

When it comes to Poon Choi, the one place that consistently came up from search result (and recommendations) is Restaurant LYJ at Sungai Buloh. Naturally, we went there.

yee sang is a must, the first one for #porkgang

The restaurant is located at a pretty old school part of Sg. Buloh, parking isn’t the easiest, nor finding the place without the help of GPS assistance, but it is one place that is definitely worth a visit or three.

Since it was still Chinese New Year, (the thirteen day, with thirteen members, how apt) we started off with yee sang (RM 28) – for prosperity, health, and wealth!

glorious poon choi, what you see is only the top layer

Everyone arrived at the dinner table at around 7:30pm, and by 7:40pm the glorious Poon Choi is served!

The RM 238 package comes with 1/2 boiled kampung chicken, 1/2 crispy roast duck, 12 salt & pepper prawn, brewed ma-yao fish, sea cucumber, stewed pork, fish maw, abalone, pork knuckle, chicken legs, and mushroom; while the RM 480 package adds brewed oyster and pork ribs, a whole can of Australian abalone, 12 scallops, and shark’s fin. A plate of vegetable (in this case, kai lan) is served with the Poon Choi.

Naturally we went for the RM 480 package for the 13+2 of us.

kai lan, the glorious pork lard rice, and the second layer of poon choi

The dish is separated into two layers, with the dry ingredients (scallop, chicken, duck, prawn, ribs, abalone, oyster) on top and the soupy stuff at the bottom layer (mushroom, chicken feet, pork knuckle, fish, fish maw, stewed pork). The entire thing were rather delicious, the only criticism, if any, were that there were a bit too much arrowroots for my liking.

As we called ourself the #porkgang, we naturally ordered their pork lard rice (RM 3) to go with everything. It was probably the most impressive rice that I’ve ever had, just very very flavorful. Cheesie said she’s already missing the pork lard rice even as we were having it, I certainly could use a bowl now!

the whole porkgang, all 13 members showed up for the first time

With the yee sang, 10 bowls of pork lard rice, six beer, and that basin of goodness, total bill came to RM 620 for the 15 of us, or just short of RM 42 per pax. It was an awesome feast and I couldn’t wait to go back there again!

restaurant LYJ isn’t too difficult to get to

Address:
PT 11, Jalan Perkhidmatan,
Kg Baru, 47000 Sungai Buloh
Selangor
GPS: 3.196949, 101.569118
Tel: 03-6140 2698
Operating Hour: 11.30 am to 2.30 pm, 6 to 10 pm, closed on Mondays

Tags:  cheesie,  eric,  FA,  gareth,  haze,  horng,  jaclyn,  kerol,  kimberly,  lard,  poon choi,  pork,  porkgang,  ruby,  suanie,  sungai-buloh,  terence

Posted by KY | 37 Comments »

A few weeks ago I had a chance to go in front of a HD video camera for the first time of my life, with proper production and all that jazz. It was a shoot for the Astro (though only to be used online, but a commercial nonetheless). The video was used to promote Astro B.yond services during the blogger’s night out last week.

mic up, and ready to roll at Desa Park City

The shoot wasn’t too difficult, I had to do 3 takes. The first had a bit of discontinuity, and there were people walking behind the scene on the second, otherwise I’d say it went pretty smoothly. I guess having been acting on stage before gave me a bit of an advantage. It was quite fun even though the weather was melting us.

Check out the video below, Redmummy, Gareth, Kim, Cheng Leong, Nazwan, and Huai Bin were among the other actors in the shoot.

On the 13th of January, 11 of the #porkgang members went to the Astro B.yond blogger’s night, and the video was played in full HD. If you click on the HD button in the original video here, you’ll be able to see a pimple just below my nose. This whole HD thing is a bit too clear, gah!

we had a blast and Eric won the 32″ TV with 1 year’s Astro B.yond

The event was held and Modesto Hartamas and we had quite a blast. Eric, Horng, Gareth, Terence, and me also teamed up to participate in the “murder mystery” competition and came up on top. At the end we had to compete against each other and it was Eric who walked away with the 32″ LCD TV and a year’s subscription for Astro B.yond services. (He ended up spending us a big meal at Cristang)

We had quite a blast at the event, danced silly and basically didn’t leave till the whole place was almost empty. Haze, Jaclyn, Kerol, Cheesie, Ruby, Kim, and Kerol made up the rest of the gang. The OBC lady Miss Suanie, and the ganas FA were missing though, I’m still waiting for an event where all 13 (lucky number!) of us shows up.

2010 is going to be great!

Tags:  cheesie,  eric,  gareth,  haze,  horng,  jaclyn,  kerol,  kimberly,  party,  ruby,  terence,  video

Posted by KY | 29 Comments »

BU Centrepoint is one of our favorite places to meet up, partly due to the free parking after office hours and weekends, and mostly due to the dictatorial behavior by Suanie, who stays close enough she could get there on foot if she wants to.

On the very first day of the year, we started off with a great get-together brunch at Champs in BU Centrepoint. (and went to Hulu Langat Thai Fish Farm for dinner on the very same day too)

pork: checked, beer: checked, alfresco: checked, hot waitress: checked

Located on the first floor of the older section of Centrepoint, Champs had been around for quite a long time. The menu at this restaurant ranges from the popular local hawker foods such as hokkien mee and pork noodle to slightly more westernized dishes like spring chicken and fried calamari.

It is quite unique, you don’t get too many bistros with LCD TVs, air conditioned, while serving beer and soya sauce pork at the same time. (Incidentally, Bernard’s Bistro located at downstairs is more of the same, owners are related)

the very sinful tau eu bak (soya sauce pork)

Almost without fail, every time I go to Champs, I order the tau eu bak (soya sauce pork). This is the quintessential traditional Hokkien dish that my mom used to cook on special occasions back in Penang, and I’ve always loved it to the max. Thank goodness I’ve been able to find a good bowl of tau eu bak here at Champs (another place would be Poeny Garden in Kota Damansara).

The two most important thing on a bowl of good tau eu bak are the texture of the pork, and the sambal belacan. Champs got both of these right, the pork very tender and had the right amount of fat vs lean meat ratio; the sambal belacan was just the classic red chili + belacan + lime mixture, I really love the sambal.

the signature Prawn Mee (hokkien mee) at Champs

For most people, Champs is synonymous with their Prawn mee (or Hokkien mee if you’re from Northern Malaysia). Though the price seems quite a bit steeper than those you get from hawker centers, they are quite a big difference in the bowl.

Crispy shallots, kang kung, generous amount of pork, bean sprouts, and that super huge prawn soaked in a soup base that is as good as you can get from anywhere. Of course, the ambiance at Champs beat pretty much any kopitiam too.

fire pork balls, calamari fritters, spring chicken, crispy pork belly

There’s also quite a good selection of finger foods at Champs that goes especially well with beer. Fire pork balls and crispy pork belly are quite essential if you are swine lovers, and though they aren’t exactly easy on the wallet, they certainly tasted very good. However, I thought the spicy calamari fritters were just ordinary, it’s probably not something I would order again.

While the group basically ordered either tau eu bak or the prawn mee, kerol got herself the spring chicken. To our collective amazement, it was the WHOLE chicken! It must have been a long spring season too as the bird didn’t exactly look very small. She did say that the chicken was good, just too big a portion though.

Kim, Horng, Suan, Kerol, KY, Gareth, Jac, Eric, Terence, Rachel

Other than the dishes we ordered, Champs is also quite well known for their Hokkien Mee, Char Kueh Teow, pork noodle, and other local delights prepared with high quality ingredients.

It was a very satisfying lunch session that lasted more than a couple hours at the end. Even though it is not exactly cheap to dine here, Champs will remain one of those places that I visit every once in a while.

Address:
Champs Bistro
Lot F10, 1st Floor, Centrepoint,
Lebuh Bandar Utama, Bandar Utama,
47800 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.137988, 101.610124
Tel: 03-7722 5800

Tags:  bistro,  centrepoint,  eric,  gareth,  horng,  jaclyn,  kerol,  kimberly,  pork,  rachel,  suanie,  terence

Posted by KY | 38 Comments »

A few weeks ago I went to Room Eighteen at Berjaya Times Square for a food review. I was in fact, already quite a  fan of this relatively new franchise from Tai Thong group ever since the branch at Tropicana City Malls opened. However, this was the first time I visited the BTS outlet.

I brought along Terence, Jaclyn, Eric, Kerol, and Cheesie for the session. I love food reviews where I can bring friends along, it always make the occasion a lot more fun.

room eighteen at BTS, eric, jaclyn, cheesie, kerol, terence, KY

Coincidentally, the senior manager of the chain hailed from the same high school as me in Penang, my junior in fact. Since he is also from the same island that is known as sort of a food capital of Malaysia, I placed a higher trust on his taste and let the guy handled food selection for the evening.

And just like how the pork gang’s dinner always go, we over ordered.

siu mai, papaya cream puff, herbal xiao long bao, tofu skin with pork

We were first served with some dimsum as appetizer. The siu mai (steamed pork dumpling) and tofu skin with pork were really tasty, as good as some of the best dimsum I’ve had. The papaya cream puff too was quite good, albiet a little different from what you’d expect from dimsum.

We were served two different types of xiao long bao. I felt that the normal version was just rather average, and favors the herbal version (photo above) a bit more. However, it wouldn’t be something I’ll necessary order again, they weren’t really on par with those I had from Dragon-i.

roast duc, char siu, and roast pork, fried venisen with you char kwai, vegetable

The roast duck and char siu were really done very well, I particularly love them with their really fragrant chili oil. The roast pork though, didn’t particularly capture my attention, but perhaps I’ve been spoiled by the excellent roast pork at wong meng kei at pudu, literally just a stone’s throw away from BTS.

The fried venisen with you char kwai was quite an interesting combination. The meat was tender and juicy, with the contrasting texture of the you char kwai it was rather good. We ordered a plate of Hong Kong choi sum as the vegetable dish to counter all those meaty dishes. Always have your vegetable!

wanton soup, fragrant chili oil, fish ball noodle soup

The wanton soup was one of my favorites at Room Eighteen. Instead of prawn or pork, the wanton filling was half pork and half prawn, that really gave it the best of both worlds in terms of taste. Quite excellent!

The fish ball noodle soup was quite good too. The fish ball quite firm and tasty, together with the noodle and soup it can make a pretty simple meal when you feel like giving the taste buds a bit of a rest.

lotus leave rice, steamed chicken rice, two types of porridge

Lotus leaf rice and the steamed chicken rice with mushroom were two more dishes that I really liked. The chicken was really smooth and delicious I wish I can have some right now, writing this at the wee hours. Ah well…

And as if we were not already overly fed by then, our host insisted that we should try out their porridge. Both the two different porridge we tried were really good, but at this point I seriously couldn’t really take more than a spoon full.

black sesame soup, drinks, blueberry shaved ice

We capped the evening with some desserts to share (seriously couldn’t finish one by myself anymore). The sesame soup was decent, and the mango sago wasn’t bad either. My favorite of the bunch though, was the blueberry shaved ice, really “kao” and really sour with just the right amount of sweetness. That freshened me up pretty good, I liked it.

Prices at Room Eighteen are comparable to Canton-i and Dragon-i, a typical meal would fetch about RM 15-30 per person, but of course what we had here would have been more than that if we split 6 ways.

Address:
Room Eighteen
Berjaya Times Square
LG 50 & LG 18C
Lower Ground Floor
No 1, Jalan Imbi
55100 KL
GPS: 3.142444,101.710621
Tel: 03-2148 8688

Tags:  char-siu,  cheesie,  dimsum,  eric,  jaclyn,  kerol,  roast pork,  roast-duck,  room18,  terence

Posted by KY | 27 Comments »

I attended perhaps the most awesome party in 2009 – the second installment of the now rather infamous Malam Tumpang Glamour party, this time by the pool side at Metropolitan Square. I also went to the first MTG a few months ago.

For those who’ve not heard of this strangely named party, it was conjured up by Michael, Elfie, and Reta. The idea is to throw a cheap ass party by getting booze and audio equipments/DJ sponsored, and collect some money to be donated to Furry Friend Farm to help out them poor animals.

In an alternate universe, we’d just eat those animals and save all the trouble, but there’d be no party. Just go to show that you can’t have everything in Vietnam.

KY & Elfie; big party; Elfie, Kelvin, Li Yin w Kendrik, Li Ling; Haze

Anyway, MTG 1 was fun, with a venue that was a bit too hot and slightly too packed, but MTG, man, it was a real party. There were over 100 cheap ass party goers who attended; friends of organizers who brought friends, who brought more friends. The whole 4th degree of separation thing sort of got out of proportions.

I managed to convince Haze the workaholic designer to join us to the party, and thanks to her I made the right decision to go prepared – with a swimming trunk under my “beach wear”. I also brought along the swimming goggle for good measure.

Fiona & Ee Laine; a wet Reta; KY & little Kendrik (not my son)

The party started out not exactly quite as fast as we’d like to, so Terence and I decided to get the ball rolling by jumping into the pool. It was GODDAMN COLD! I had to swim a couple laps to warm up. Jack and AC soon joined us.

But a pool party isn’t complete without getting people thrown into the pool. So we did just that, Reta, Elfie, Michael, Yvonne, Horng, Vicky, Haze, Ee Laine, Chris, Siao Ling, Eric, Nigel, Nazrul… were among the people whom Terence and I managed to throw/forced into the pool. There were quite a few more whom we don’t remember or never had the time to know. I think we must have done it to at least a couple dozen people.

Terence & KY – we got the pool thing going!

We basically went up to someone random and asked “hi, what’s your name?”, said person would answer, and the next question was “why are you still dry?”. 3-4 people would then gang up and haul the person up, remove all phones/wallet/keys, and throw him/her into the pool.

It was damn FUN!… at least until Terence slipped while carrying Yvonne (I was holding onto her legs), and the poor gal developed a small tower on top of her head from the fall, OUCH. (sorry Yvonne, and nice to have met you)

The party then went on with more drinking, dancing, and getting even more people thrown into the cold, cold water. It was a blast! At the end a very drunk Jack had to sleep in his car overnight and somehow lost the wallet during the party, collateral damage, oh well!

some group photos, and a wasted Terence in the lift

RM 400 was raised for Furry Friend Farm, extreme tiredness for the organizers (thanks guys!), some alcohol induced pre-digested food gathered on the floor, a very drunk Terence who was reported peeing out of a window late in the night, and a tonne of very happy party goers who’re only left wondering what MTG 3 would bring!

The organizers want to thank Carlsberg & Tuborg for the beer, Redbull for the energy drink, 2crank.com (awesome indie music portal) for the venue, and Elfie’s manager Eugene for donating his credit card to charity while being completely wasted.

Tags:  elfie,  fiona,  fireangel,  haze,  horng,  jack,  mtg,  nazrul,  party,  reta,  terence,  vicky

Posted by KY | 29 Comments »