Training & Lunch @ Istana Hotel

My team attended a half-day training yesterday in Istana Hotel. It was conducted by our very own Linguarama trainer, Bob. He flew from London to conduct a few public training, so my boss has decided to extend his stay to benefit us from his expertise.

Since the venue is in Istana Hotel, the training covers buffet lunch for us too! Actually, this is the reason that got my colleagues excited to join the training!

Check out the buffet lunch offered by Istana Hotel:

The salad. My stomach didn't have enough space to try this at all... Too bad.

An elaborate collection of baked goods. Can't try this either. What to do? Have to TRY to stick to my diet for my wedding...

This is their curry range. I have been staying away from anything chili, but the smell of this was really alluring, and I can't help myself. The lamb curry was absolutely yummy, though it was a tad too spicy for my taste bud.

The pasta array. I tried a little of this, and it was really delicious! The chef that prepares the pasta was really generous with the ingredients.

Normally, this section serves the roast lamb or beef, but they served fried chicken and prawn here. I saw many of my colleagues took the fried prawns, so I guess it must be good!

Your very own DIY-ABC! 2 of my colleagues were very curious to try this out and made a very high ABC.

The Chinese food lineup.

The wide variety of desserts. Especially the tiramisu, it was extremely tasteful and light!
Overall, the variety offered by Istana Hotel compared to Price Hotel was better. Although the food is just OK, the wide selection is appetizing enough.

Zhen Liew Siang in Sentul

This is one of the many restaurants that we loyally patronise. It is called the Zhen Liew Siang in Sentul.

I was first introduced to this restaurant by my mum! LOL! She brought me here and said the food here is very good and it gets crowded very fast. True enough, after our first visit, I really enjoy the food here. Apparently, this restaurant originated from 2 brothers. They both started the business together, but due to some misunderstanding, they parted and went separate ways. Well, this is the story I heard.

Since the food here is so delicious, I brought hubby here to try it once, and he too savored the food here, and has always try to look for time to come here for the food.

We always try to make it early cos this place gets very crowded even before 6pm. These people actually take the effort to come early to have dinner and get a place.

Check out the menu. Don't expect to come here and enjoy a relaxing environment with beautifully decorated menu. This is what you get! Good luck to those that don't read Chinese!
Anyhoo, don't fret, non-Chinese-reading peeps. Just go there and order these dishes. You won't go wrong.

The first dish is this Hot Plate Sotong and Prawn something. LOL! After eating here a few times, we still have no idea what is the full name of this dish. Whenever we mention the word "hot plate", the person taking the order will know instantly because this is their ever-famous dish.

The second recommended dish is their "Lam Yue Fried Chicken". This ain't your typical fried chicken you get. It has the "lam yue" taste, and it's not overly oily. We had 4 pairs of chicken wing to eat, and hubby got greedy and ta pau 4 more pairs of chicken wings.
If those 2 dishes aren't enough, there is another dish that I'd like to recommend, which is the "Sioung Tung Clam". This is another dish that we really like but we can't order this cos we can never finish it anymore.

So we have to settle for a dish of vegetable.

Total bill came up to RM43, which is very reasonable. I dunno what is the exact price for each dish because they don't have the receipt.

Hubby and I are very satisfied with the food, and vow to come back again soon... very soon.

"I'm a lil teapot, short and stout"

I love drinking Chinese tea ~~

Don't ask me why, but I really enjoy the exquisite taste of Chinese tea... Especially after a filling meal. I can drink glasses and glasses of Chinese tea, and hubby will complain that I fill my stomach with tea instead of food.

The desire I have for Chinese tea is very often... I can have it every night and still not get bored of it.

So with the appreciation towards tea, I have to have the "perfect" teapot for my tea time to be cherished.

I've looked high and low for that particular teapot I have in mind, and after an endless search for 4 months, I finally found it, at the price that I'm willing to pay, which was RM50!!

Here it is, my little teapot!

I have also bought 3 types of tea from Purple Cane in Pudu, which are Kuan Yin Tea, Green Tea, and Lychee Black Tea. All these for RM50, which is a great deal!

This is a picture of my first tea making with my personal tea pot. The tea leaves I used is Kuan Yin Tea from China, which was brought back my hubby's sister.
Yummm... The tea taste so much better from this teapot LOL!

Double Happiness Wedding Bed Sheet

Customarily, we need to buy and install a new bed for wedding purpose. This is supposedly for fertility (LOL!). For us, it is definitely unnecessary to get a new bed as we have been sleeping on a new bed for less than year by Sept.

With the evolving customs and cultures, nowadays, we can have a substitute for this culture, which is to have a new bed sheet. The bed sheet is normally a picture of dragon and phoenix and obviously must be red color. Now, this is very traditional and kinda uncool. I really can't take out this bed sheet and reuse it, but it will definitely be a waste if I don't use it again.

Then just that eventful weekend, we found the PeRFecT bed sheet for our wedding. We bought it from Aussino.

Just the other day I received the info on Aussino sale from this link.
And just when we were just checking out the Aussino in Mid Valley, we found our little wedding bed sheet.

The range of our bed sheet is from the Royal Symphony line. If I'm not mistaken, it is about 450 thread count, which is higher than my expectation. It is obviously red, and have delicate but very distinctive "double happiness" Chinese character on the bed sheet.

The set that we got is the full set, which includes Queen size quilt cover, 2 pillow cases and 1 bolster case. for the Queen size fitted sheet, we have to purchase it separately. Total set was about RM300. This price is after 50% discount. We got an extra 10% discount because I am a member. We reckon it was a good deal. Well, at least I'm sure we will use it again, and still be kinda cool!

Call to do our part for Mother Nature

Yes peeps... It is our turn to "pay" our debt to Mother Nature. During the Earth Hour, we are urged to switch off our lights from 8.30pm to 9.30pm to help fight the evolving climate change we are facing.

Take the recent incident in Perth for example. The storm that happened affected hundreds of thousands. My best friend who's living in Perth told us about the horrific incident. Apparently, the size of the ice rain was as big as a tennis ball! It destroyed the cars. Luckily, my best friend's new place was safe from the storm.

Hmm... Maybe it's karma. We have used the earth's resources, but who is responsible enough to return it to Mother Nature? Even with all the recycling and environmental efforts, I hardly see anyone participating in it.

Peeps should just take a break and rethink what we should do to help with the environment problem we are facing.

For myself, I have always been against the unnecessary use of plastic bags. I recycle ALL my plastic bags, even the small ones. The bigger ones are being used for garbage bin.

I don't understand why people still need to BUY garbage bags from supermarket/hypermarket. Why can't they just recycle from the plastic bags they got from their usual grocery shopping? They could save the $$ and the world too.

I do have a confession though, which I'm ashamed to admit. I bought the sandwich bag that, in a way, promotes the use of plastic bags. Sigh... I shouldn't have done it. I initially bought it cos I thought it was cool to carry my sandwiches like that instead of a normal tupperware. I guess I'm still thinking like a high school gal, trying to act all cool (but failed!)!

What I can do now is to recycle and reuse the bag a few times before throwing it out. I dunno if it is advisable or hygienic, but I can only think of this way to redeem myself.

Well, I know this is gonna sound corny and all, but we do have to save the earth for our future. I wouldn't want my grandchildren to see how a tree looks like from www.treepictures.com (!)

Last year, we took part in the Earth Hour. We, as in myself and my colleagues. I was reminded that last year, we were at Rock Chic's house warming party. At 8.30pm, which was halfway through the party, we switched off the lights and fan! Damn gung-ho rite?! That was a night to remember.

Partly because Rock Chic got f**king drunk on her own house warming party at 9pm! What a host! Myself and Shy Flirt had to take over as co-hosts for the night, FOC! It's OK... We still luv Rock Chick!

For this year's Earth Hour, we will be attending another party. This time, it is for baby Torres' birthday parrttyyy! He is 1 year old! My, how time flies! In a flash, it has been a year since!

So, I strongly urge you all to participate and support this noble cause. We have to do our part as a "tenant" on earth. It is really time to do something... And this is just a simple thing, which won't cost you much, or anything at all!

FLICK OFF your LIGHTS! For only 1 hour!


Peace out!

One Noodle

Last 2 Saturdays, we were in SS2 for our appointment with our bridal studio. Hubby wants to eat first cos he thinks he's gonna be a long appointment, and where else to try something new but in SS2 itself!

Since we have no specific requirement, we went to the one that we can find a parking at. This place is called One Noodle.

We roughly checked out the menu and was informed that their La Mien is really good. Then I saw it! The pineapple pau just sparkled from their display rack. I had to have it!

One of the recommended dishes, the Pineapple Pau (Po Lou Pau) - RM5.80 for 3.

It is not an empty filling. It has Char Siew in it, and it tasted really delicious! The smell and taste of the pineapple is really strong. I reckon the best Po Lou Pau I've tasted in KL so far!

Then, another classic order for dim sum treat is the Egg Tart (RM4.80). The egg part is really fresh and tasty, and the pastry part is really soft yet crispy. I really like it, and so does hubby.

I saw this picture in their menu, and I haven't even read what it is but have decided to just go ahead to order it. So the name of this is Fried Crispy Roll (RM5.60 with 30% discount). The outer part was really crispy. I really like this, but I can't finish it. Neither could both of us cos we weren't feeling very well that weekend. I shouldn't have order this, but I was just being greedy! We took it back home but even then, we couldn't take another bite... Cos we both fell sick then.

Another must-have is the Steam Pork Dumpling (Siew Long Pau) - RM5.60 (30% discount). The skin is a little bit thicker than usual. I'd prefer the one from Dragon-I though.

Since the restaurant features La Mien, we must order one. This is the Superior Prawn Soup La Mien - RM12.80. The prawn paste soup has a very distinctive prawn smell and taste! Something like our Chinese Prawn Mee, but this has a different twist to it, which has lesser chili taste.

Overall, we really like this place. It's just too bad that we both fell sick that weekend and couldn't really enjoy the food. *Making a mental note* Must come for a second try next time.

No. 66 & 68, Jalan SS2/67, PJ
603-7877 8499

Colors of my wedding

To be considerate, I need to let my bridesmaids know what is the color theme for the tea ceremony (TC) and the dinner reception so that they will have ample time to coordinate the color dresses and get the dress that they want.

I reckon for Asians, we do not customise dresses for bridesmaids. I would want to, but there is no budget (sorry gals!). Plus, not all my girlfriends have the same taste in dresses. So it wouldn't be fair to force them to wear something that they don't like. I'll end up like bridezilla.

Initially, I have decided for them to wear white for the TC. I thought it would be dreamy and perfect with a wash of white... But when I come across pictures of bride with bridesmaids in white, it doesn't quite project the image or effect that I want.

Take this picture for example. It is quite difficult to kinda decide who is the bride, unless you squint and analyse the picture thoroughly.
Then I thought maybe the girls can wear a red or gold accessories, say a belt. LOL but that is highly unlikely cos not everyone is gonna wear a piece of clothing that allows a gold/red belt. Plus, my sister, who is my maid of honor will be wearing white too. Overload of white??

After a while, I thought of BLUE. To be precise and to avoid the girls coming in different shades, maybe a navy blue, like below.

But this could prove to be a headache too cos navy blue is too close to black. Call me superstitious, I wouldn't want black at my wedding. Typical Chinese hah!

So maybe BABY BLUE?

Hmm I can practically hear my girlfriends yelling a strong NO already. Plus, they might look like a gang of Alice from Alice in Wonderland - Not a good sight.

So I google-d a few more varieties of blue bridesmaid dresses, and got this link.

But I guess no matter how clearly define blue I want, it is highly not feasible for them to get it, and they are all in different location, so they can't go shopping together and decide which color suit them ALL.

If, a huge IF I could afford their dresses, I would want something like this:

Or maybe a blue maxi for all of them:

Or something like this, where they could choose which design they want from these:

Unfortunately, I do not have that budget, and also, I found out that blue is not encourage in Chinese wedding because it symbolizes death/funeral (yes, I am superstitious).

So, what choice am I left with?

Yellow? --> Too tricky and won't suit all of my bridesmaids' skin color.
Orange? --> Yet another tricky color and is difficult to get color like this.
Green? --> Not my favourite color.

After a very frustrating and long research (and also discussing with hubby on color coordination with his heng dais), I have decided to stick to the classic but always-does-its-job color - RED!

Red will definitely stand out from the crowd, and it looks good when so many of us are wearing red. The red sea will look absolutely fabulous!

With that decided, I need to inform my bridesmaids of the change of plan (and hope they don't kill me for the change of color).

And also get their wrist corsages - which is my next item to research... Although I basically already made up my mind on the color. It is either white, or PURPLE!

Why purple?

Because that is the color theme of my dinner reception - white and purple. Will update more as my research takes me.

Ciao!

The new Dome

Maybe I'm just shallow, but I just realised that Dome has extended their menu variety. There has been an increase in their F&B, and a drastic change in their menu.

Not that I am complaining cos their new additions do look tempting just from the menu!

The other day, we had just had our unch, but we couldn't withhold our desire for the food, and finally ordered these:

Spicy Chicken Mushroom Spaghetti (RM21.00) - Even the looks of it is so appetizing! We dug in, and was so thrilled that it tasted as good as it looked! There is some spiciness in this, a wild Asian flavor in this Italian dish.


Wild Mushroom Soup (14.50) - This soup was a very concentrated broth of mushroom dash. It was just scrumptious to the max! I savored every drip of this soup. It was really that good!

I'm so delighted with their newest additions to their menu! The interesting twist will definitely bring me back for more! I dunno if this new menu is only available in Pavilion though.