1.

You’ve got to try Just Heavenly’s Indonesian Spiced Marble Cake and Sugee Fruit Cake, two of the specially packaged Hari Raya offerings this year.  The cakes are moist and flavourful and guaranteed to add inches to the waistline because you just can’t stop at one slice.  The Sugee Fruit Cake is Nigel Skelchy’s family recipe, made of semolina mixed with sugared wintermelon, citrus peel, nuts and golden raisins.   The Spiced Marble cake is quite similar to the Indonesian layer cake (but this has swirls, as opposed to layers, of colour), with hints of cinnamon, nutmegs and mixed spice in a moist butter cake.  These are all packaged in a lovely gift box.

There are other gorgeous specialty Hari Raya cakes as well. Details and pricing are available on Just Heavenly’s website.

**********

2.

When I was planning my Hong Kong trip which took place a couple of months back, top on my list was a visit to Two Michelin-starred restaurant Bo Innovation headed by Chef Alvin Leung.  I was attracted to his different approach to modern Chinese cooking – glamourising and reinterpreting many familiar Chinese dishes.   Several turns of events decided my fate and I never made it to that restaurant, and I was haunted by dreams of uneaten molecular xiu long bao.  Luckily for me, Alvin Leung will be in Malaysia soon, from September 20 to 25, 2010 specifically, and cooking at a specially constructed “dome” on the grounds of Bukit Kiara Equestrian Club.   His visit to Malaysia is part of the Hennessy X.O Appreciation Grows series.   Tickets are priced at RM800 per person.

For further information, please call 03-2178 0230 or log on to http://www.hennessyxo.com.my/.