Rabu, 22 Juni 2011

Cat and Mouse Game

Cat and Mouse Game

While ambling down the boulevards of downtown KL last Sunday, I spotted a Malay pak cik with two mice on strings. He was tugging and releasing the strings like one would with a yoyo and the mice were scampering around with tails swishing left and right. I stopped and watched.


The pak cik said he made the mice himself. On closer inspection, I could see that he spoke the truth. Nevertheless, I knew my kitties would enjoy a game of cat-and-mouse. A few minutes later, RM5 and a mouse changed hands.

Yin picked up the mouse by its tail and ran off with it. I wish I had managed to capture it before she dropped it. She was too fast for me. Blackie was not interested in running off with the mouse. He only wanted to tug and chew on the tail. A toilet brush in a different form???

Senin, 20 Juni 2011

Restoran E Soo Yong Tou Foo @ Kepong

Last Saturday evening after we bought a pair of tickets to "Super 8" at MBO, Tesco Kepong, we could not decide where to have dinner before the movie began. The food there were not particularly good and Blockhouse, the restaurant serving Western cuisine across the road was one of the worst we'd ever had. Very amateurish.

Undecided, we walked up and down the road a couple of times and finally decided to join the crowd at Restoran E Soo Yong Tou Foo. Given a choice, yong tau foo is not something I'd choose but I have to say that E Soo served a rather fresh and large yong tau foo pieces.

Restoran E Soo Yong Tou Foo @ Kepong


We ate a few pieces before I remembered to take a picture. The fried aubergines were not overdone nor soggy soft. They tasted like they had just been freshly fried to order. None of the pre-fried and then heated up again taste. The fried dumplings were not bad either. The proprietors were generous with the filling.



I dug out the fish paste, gave it to hubby and ate only the emptied-out bittercurd and okra. I don't like fish paste, and that's the reason why I don't like yong tau foo. If only they would serve yong tau foo without the fish paste filling, a la vegetarian!!

We ate a few pieces before I remembered to take a picture. The fried aubergines were not overdone nor soggy soft. They tasted like they had just been freshly fried to order. None of the pre-fried and then heated up again taste. The fried dumplings were not bad either. The proprietors were generous with the filling.



Ah, assam vegetable. That's the highlight of the dinner where I was concerned. It was not too sour, the way I liked it. I added so much of the gravy onto my rice that it was literally swimming in the gravy. Very appetizing.


The bill came to RM20.50 for two. The yong tau foo was RM1.10 per piece while the assam vegetable was RM5. We had water instead of tea as I've found that drinking tea after 5pm didn't help my insomnia. It only made it worse.


Address:
Restoran E Soo
No. 55 Jalan 9/62A
Bandar Sri Manjalara
52200 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 012 - 308 0727


Sabtu, 18 Juni 2011

Toilet Brush For Dessert, Anyone?

Blackie is a rather strange cat. He likes to chew.....no, not bones or fingers, but on toilet brushes and hair. He used to go into our bathrooms and chew our toilet brushes. After he developed a bladder infection, all bathroom doors are closed off to him, although occasionally, the little rascal managed to slip in with my mum unnoticed. And when she leaves the bathroom and shuts the door with him inside, that's when he has a party.


So, what do I do when I see a scratch board with a toilet brush bristle arch? Buy it for the little tyke, naturally.

Home Pet Food & Care does not sell livestock and rescues abandoned and stray cats. If you'd like to adopt a cute and friendly kitty, do give them a call. They have more than 30 beautiful and adorable cats and kittens waiting to shower you with their love and affection.









Home Pet Food & Care does not sell livestock and rescues abandoned and stray cats. If you'd like to adopt a cute and friendly kitty, do give them a call. They have more than 30 beautiful and adorable cats and kittens waiting to shower you with their love and affection.




Blackie Bond, cat products, cats, Felis Wonder Lady Faye Yin



Blackie Bond, cat products, cats, Felis Wonder Lady Faye Yin


Home Pet Food & Care does not sell livestock and rescues abandoned and stray cats. If you'd like to adopt a cute and friendly kitty, do give them a call. They have more than 30 beautiful and adorable cats and kittens waiting to shower you with their love and affection.

Senin, 06 Juni 2011

Book Review: Snow by Orhan Pamuk

Book Review: Snow by Orhan Pamuk
Snow, "kar" in Turkish, is a story about Ka, a Turkish poet who lived in exile in Germany and who has now returned to Istanbul for his mother's funeral. He took the opportunity to travel to Kars, a city northeast of Turkey on the pretext of covering the story of the numerous suicides there. In truth, he had heard that Ipek, a beautiful ex-classmate was now divorced and he hoped to make her his wife.

When he arrived, there was a snowstorm which cut the city off from the rest of the world for three days. So, in a nutshell, the plot is about Ka stranded in kar in Kars. And that's all there was to it, really.

Yes, I know, those who have read the book would tell me about the secular state's clashes with the Islamist fundamentalists, about how a group of Muslim girls would rather commit suicide than remove their head scarves, and how the army staged a theatre act but fired five rounds of live bullets into the audience, killing some while injuring others.

They would be right. We read the same book. However, my gripe is not with the plot itself. Snow had a rather unique plot, one that broke the monotony of the plethora of bestsellers by Western authors. I'd be the last person to argue that the story was interesting.

I only wished it had been written better. The story was told by an omniscient presence (the author's) who came upon Ka's notes years later and pieced them together. The 'layers' removed the reader from the story and as a result, I did not feel involved in the events taking place, nor did I feel any empathy for Ka. As a matter of fact, I felt that Ka was a drip.

If this were a movie, I would have said the wrong actor was cast in the male lead. But this is a book, so I guess it was the way the story was narrated. Orhan Pamuk could still keep Ka as the main character, but approached it differently.

Jumat, 03 Juni 2011

Special diet, special diet, I need a special diet chef

First, it was hubby who needed a special diabetic diet. Now it is mum. Yesterday, her annual blood test results showed that her uric acid reading is high while her sodium, chloride and potassium are lower than normal. This is despite her potassium supplements prescribed by the doctors.


The doctor did not prescribe any medication to lower her uric acid nor to increase her sodium. She said just increase the salt in our food and to avoid food high in uric acid (more than 100mg/100g, according to my research).


Spinach tops the list at 57g per100g, followed by mushrooms (488mg/100g), sardines in oil (480mg/100g), fresh sardines (345mg/100g), anchovies (239mg/100g), all beans and peas products and by-products (190mg/100), salmon (170mg/100g), mackerel (145mg/100), crustacean seafood and red meat (including pork). 


Not only tofu is out of the menu, but practically all meat as the only meat mum could eat is chicken and hubby simply refuses to eat this poultry in any form.

What is good for hubby is bad for mummy and vice versa,e.g. I can't increase the salt in our food, as hubby is on a low-sodium diet.....I am so f****d.


More research, more research, today's dinner will be ready and served next week..... :P

The Manhattan Fish Market @ Pavillion

After a tiring day of walking, shopping and browsing in downtown KL, we were disinclined to embark on a food-hunt. It was a case of we will eat 'whatever that is edible and won't burn a hole in our pocket'. We had emerged from C.K. Tangs and were at the lower ground floor of Pavillion.

The Manhattan Fish Market caught our eye. Hubby had eaten at a different outlet on a weekday lunch with his colleagues and said it wasn't bad. While I enjoyed fish, I had never been a fan of those chain restaurants that served fish.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, displayed on a banner outside the restaurant was a set for two at RM49++. The fish, as I suspected, was dory. I'm not a fan of dory, but oh well, what the heck, I was tired, so let's not be fussy.

We didn't have long to wait before our food was served......pre-cooked fast food....what did you expect from chain restaurants??!!







The soup of the day was mushroom soup. It was buttery and had a subtle taste of parsley, and a less subtle taste of wild mushroom. Mmm....




 We chose the Quad Delight for our starter. On the plate were fried calamari, fried country mushrooms, fried shrimps and a serving of coleslaw with raisins. I enjoyed the fried country mushrooms but found the fried calamari and shrimps to be too salty for my taste. I skipped the coleslaw and raisins....never liked it when I was young, and never liked it now.




 Hubby's initial choice was baked dory, but we were told it's all sold out. So he opted for poached dory in mint sauce, what I had initially had in mind before deciding on grilled fish. He cleaned the plate, well, except for the aluminium foil. If he could, I'm sure he would have eaten that, too.

As for me, I didn't touch it  and was glad I changed my mind about having the dory poached. It looked too slimy for me. 


My choice of grilled dory arrived shortly after. For once, this dory was not slimy but firm. However, it was way too salty for me. Hubby who didn't find it salty in the least, said I must have a very low tolerance for sodium. I barely finished half of it. Hubby had to finish the rest for me. I left my rice untouched as I was full to the brim by then.

The set meal came with two glasses of Tropical Breeze, a Haiwaiian fruit mocktail. A refreshing drink after a tiring day and sodium-enhanced meal.