And Every Moment Is Precious

Posted on September 10, 2009 by Lyrical Lemongrass

I remember we were walking up to strawberry swing
I can’t wait till the morning, wouldn’t want to change a thing
People moving all the time inside a perfect straight line
Don’t you wanna curve away?
It’s such a perfect day

Off to UK and Spain for a much-awaited holiday. Too many things have happened here in the country that have left a bad taste in my mouth, and a breath of fresh air with Bald Eagle will be good.

And now the sky could be blue, I don’t mind
Without you it’s a waste of time
Could be blue, I don’t mind
Without you it’s a waste of time

Lyrics from Coldplay’s Strawberry Swing

Oh did I mention that we’re seeing Coldplay in London next Friday?

Sage, The Gardens

Posted on August 27, 2009 by Lyrical Lemongrass

In all my life, I’ve never met a louder bunch of people. Just one foot into the entrance of Sage, a very dignified establishment if I may add, and I was greeted by a deafening “Surprise!!” by a rambunctious crowd from the other end of the room. Warms the cockles of my heart, I tell you.

The best thing about foodies, and such a generous lot these guys are too, is that they always know the best places to eat. Sage is a favourite simply because the quality is consistently top notch. The lunch menu is a pretty good deal. For RM100, one gets a starter, main and dessert, a soft drink and a coffee or tea. The menu changes weekly.

I like the foie gras at Sage. Some restaurants screw up the preparation by overcooking it, but at Sage, the foie gras is seared such that the centre is still a little raw while the surface is crisp and clean. The quality of the foie gras is definitely superior. If you’re lucky, you’ll find braised wagyu cheeks – that gelatinous piece of heaven – in the menu. The lunch menu doesn’t offer as many options as the dinner menu. Only two choices of each (starter, main, dessert) are offered, but if you think you’ll be getting any less quality as compared to the dinner menu, you’re wrong. The preparation and presentation of each dish is as immaculate as ever, and the pairings of flavours and ingredients, like the vichyssoise of hokkaido scallop with summer truffles which includes puréed Jerusalem artichokes, is wonderful.

Seared foie gras with quail and mesclun salad

Vichyssoise of Hokkaido scallop with grated summer truffle

Braised wagyu cheek with dauphinoise potato and fine beans

Roasted seabass with king prawn and sautéed mushrooms

Earl grey bavarois with chocolate sorbet and ginger confiture

French farm cheese

Cupcakes and pressies!

Thanks, Chian Tyng, Ciki, Fatboybakes, DelectableSU, Toycouple, Just Heavenly boys, Alilfatmonkey and Fuich for the amazing lunch and pressies! Very much appreciated!

Sage
The Gardens Residences (same side as Isetan)
6th Floor, The Gardens
Mid Valley City
Lingkaran Syed Putra
59200 Kuala Lumpur.

For reservations, call: 03-2268 1188

The Nirvana Bus Tour – Street Food in Pulau Tikus, Penang

Posted on August 17, 2009 by Lyrical Lemongrass

Penang may be my birthplace, but I feel like I have not earned the right to call myself a Penangite. In many ways, because we moved away from Penang when I was just nine, I have more of an affinity to my current hometown than to Penang. Despite that, some memories remain.

Like catching tadpoles in puddles of water at the nearby construction site behind Penang Free School until my mum would yell for me to come back home for dinner. Picking up pretty mosaic tiles when the workers were not looking, and gazing at the colourful reflective pieces for hours after. Walking with my mum to the wet market, and afterwards treating ourselves to a bowl of kuay teow th’ng, perching ourselves on battered steel stools and ravishing the noodles with wide smiles on our faces.

My life at nine through rose-tinted glasses, perhaps. As a child, it never occurred to me that we were different from others. My brother used to say, “Appa is black, Amma is white, and I am brown”. We weren’t blind to colour, but we were colour blind.

(all photos above taken on location in various parts of Penang)

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1. Pulau Tikus at night

We arrived at Penang at about 10.00pm and before even checking into our hotel, we drove straight to the Pulau Tikus market for Round One of Penang street food.

Five of us shared one plate of Penang chee cheong fun – flat rice noodles with a dark sauce containing the primary ingredient – prawn paste.

2. Pulau Tikus in the morning

Chee Cheong Fun

Kway Teow Th’ng

Kway Chap

Chai Tow Kway

One can never go hungry at the Pulau Tikus market in the morning. There is an amazing selection of freshly cooked food – from currypuffs to pancakes, chai tow kway (fried carrot cake) to mamak mee. The market bustles with activity and loud voices compete as customers haggle for the best prices.

3. Swee Kong Coffee Shop

One of the bestsellers at this coffee shop is the apom stall manned by an Indian man. The apom (crispy “pancake”) is sweet, eggy and coconutty – I can’t believe it costs only 50 sen a piece.

The hokkien mee (or prawn mee in this part of the world) is another fast selling item. Thanks to Boo’s persistence, the owner scraped the remnants to make up this last bowl of noodles for the day.

Wantan mee with fried wantans is another popular dish here. It is served with a little bit of thick gravy, quite unlike anything I’ve ever tried before.

Swee Kong Coffee Shop
Burmah Road

4. Seng Lee Coffee Shop

At the corner of Burmah Road and Bangkok Lane (across from Swee Kong and a short walk up) is Seng Lee, another institution, famous for hokkien mee, pasembor and mamak mee.