Buzzing Life

*still in the mist of compiling and gathering photos of Bali…so this post is not about the trip yet*

Last weekend, the Bon Odori celebration was held in Penang (a week after the one in KL). Since I’ve been to the one in KL but never to the one on the island, I wanted to take a stroll to see what’s interesting and whether it is as good as those organized in KL.

coupon used for buying food from the stalls

Bon Odori (盆踊り, meaning simply Bon dance) is an event held during Obon. It is celebrated as a reminder of the gratefulness one should feel toward one’s ancestors.

In Malaysia, Bon Odori Festivals are also celebrated every year in Penang and at the Matsushita Corp Stadium in Shah Alam, Selangor. This celebration, which is a major attraction for the state of Selangor, is the brain child of the Japanese Expatriate & Immigrant’s Society in Malaysia. In comparison to the celebrations in Japan, the festival is celebrated on a much smaller scale in Penang and Selangor, and is less associated with Buddhism and more with Japanese culture. Held mainly to expose locals to a part of Japanese culture, the festival provides the experience of a variety of Japanese food & drinks, art and dance.

wikipedia

Bon Odori is a Japanese Buddhist Folk Dance performed outdoors and danced in concentric circle around a raised platform called a Yagura.  Odori means dance and Bon is the abbreviated name of a Buddhist text, the Ullambana Sutra, whose Japanese pronunciation is Urabon, shortened to Bon.

Though a memorial observance, there is a festive mood during Obon. Obon is a time to remember and honor all those who have passed on before us. It is a time to appreciate all that they have done for us and to recognize the continuation of the influence of their deeds upon our lives. Obon is also a time of self-reflection; the joy one feels is not from the happiness of getting what you desire, but the joy of being shown the truth — the joy of awareness. "Obon reminds us to love and care for our parents. It also encourages the practice of selfless giving (dana) not only to family and friends, but to all beings."

read more here

It was held at Esplanade (Padang Kota Lama). It was getting quite jam when we reached at almost 8pm. Cars park everywhere especially illegal places, such as the side of the clock tower. Imagine the traffic congestion!!!

Yea yea…the reason I went there was mostly for the food. So there’s very little photos on the dances and performances shown on the stage.And too bad I never had a tripod (and I would be too lazy to bring around anyway), most zoomed in shots on the performance came out quite blur.

Japanese dolls on display.

The food stalls are located on the road beside the field…in front of this building

A little disappointing is that the food were mostly local food instead of Japanese. We only purchased (with coupons) those Japanese types to try. There’s no point buying a plate of char koey teow there at RM5-6 right??

There’s the usual fried finger food….

Teriyaki chicken….

I was more focused on taking a picture of this Japanese lady more than the teriyaki chicken. She looks so cool with her bandana (for her age) while facing the hot grill, bbq-ing away the chicken.

Nippon Yataimura Restaurant set up a stall there too, selling ramen and soba.

Japanese curry rice

Japanese cakes….more like our local kuih with red bean filling.

Of course there’s alot sushi on sale

And Sushi King had a stall too…with the sushi belt as well

This little girl (on the right) was so oblivious to the surrounding of the big crowd and was just enjoying her sushi, clad in a beautiful japanese costume with make-up on her face. How cute!!

Left: something like potato balls, Right: katsu chicken? with onion sauce and mayo topping

(ooppss…accidentally putting double watermark in this photo)

Another kind of japanese fried cake.

and one unique drink on sale…Smooze! pink guava + coconut smoothie

And these gyoza….no it was not on sale there but my mom made it just before I went out to Bon Odori. Hehe…

Funny thing is I didn’t really see any gyoza on sale there. Or did I miss out any stalls??

That’s all about Bon Odori. We went on to catch a midnight movie after that….and hang out in Winter Warmers while waiting for the movie to start. More about that in later post….

Cheers

Yes…back from holiday and as usual, lazy to start working again. Wish there’s a Rewind button somewhere around….

Too many photos (still hibernating in the camera) to sort and some other work commitments is the reason there’s lack of posting…
So please do come back often, will start my "blogging engine" again once my job transition goes smoothly..

Cheers to all

I’ll be off on a HoLiDaY!!!!!!!

Guess where I’m going….

*hint*

From one island to another

Will come back with photos of the place and hopefully the food too.

Cheers to all. Have a happy weekend!!!! 

Gonna be posting more photos and less words in this post

Nope there’s no coyote picture here…but the title is actually the name of a Japanese restaurant located in Hutton Lane, opposite the back car-park entrance of New World Park.

I’ve been wanting to pay a visit to this shop for quite some time but only managed to dragged someone with me recently. It’s opened by a Japanese and his wife.

‘Born ‘on November 27th 2007, Koyotei Café is the brain child of Saito Toshiki and his wife; Mary Lee. The couple act as chef and host at the restaurant, conveying to you a warm feeling of old-time Japanese hospitality mixed with scrumptious meals.

read more here

Interior is very nicely designed and decorated with yellow lights (me likey!!! ) 

The cuteness about the shop is the waitress all wearing doll-like clothing. Looks very feminine on one end and also very "naughty" type on the extreme end. LOL. (Don’t stare at me….look at the waitress’s uniform!!)

Even the signage is cute….and I’m also very impress with the washroom. Why? Because it’s as beautiful as like those hotel bathrooms.

Can see that the owner really takes effort and $$ into making this restaurant as comfortable as possible for patrons. And it wasn’t surprising to see half of the patrons are Japanese themselves….some with families while some just came alone after work to feast on the authentic japanese meal. The food must be good I guess, or else why would there be so many Japanese coming here out of nowhere. 

It took us quite some time to browse through the menu. They have set meals and also ala carte and sushis made fresh upon ordering. And since this shop is opened by a Japanese, there are alot of Japanese wordings here and there which made us a little confused….but mostly it’s English words if you are wondering.

Drinks - Iced Honey Lemon (RM 6) and Chocolate Milkshake (RM 5.80)

View of Komtar (partly hidden) from the shop

Right….now on to the most interesting part, the FOOD!!!

Nabe Mono - SeaFood Kimuchi Udon (RM 23)

cute carrot…. 

Plenty of ingredients. Of course we can see seafood on top which includes, fish, squid and two big prawns. There’s also a few types of mushrooms and lots (really lots) of kimuchi cabbage (fermented vegetables) under it. So much ingredient till there’s no Udon in sight. Hahaha. The soup was very nice when piping hot. It gradually turns more spicy and sour when it cools down though. So eat fast to maintain the great taste It’s such a big bowl that it was left unfinished in the end!!!

This set meal is Teriyaki Seafood Set (RM 27)

Salmon, squid, prawns with stir fried cabbage, carrots, capsicium, mushrooms, bean sprout. The seafood is first deep fried with coated bread crumbs and then stir-fried with teriyaki sauce. Just perfect…love it!!!! (My stomach is making noise as I’m typing this)

Japanese rice and a cold dish of long beans 

Both my favourites - Miso soup and chawanmushi

Interestingly, the miso soup has thin stripes of carrots and turnip in it. The chawanmushi is so soft and smooth…I felt like I was eating silky toufu..Yummy!!!

Another look at this dish. Thumbs up that the squid is not too hard or too chewy like rubber. Salmon is also very fresh.

The location: 

How nice to be able to have dinner by the sea…watching the sun set and feeling the breeze. Penangnites are lucky people who get to enjoy great food everywhere in this tiny island and seaside is just around the corner if the temptation of beach-life something you are looking for. For me, I seldom go to the beach, not because I don’t like it but because going alone is not as fun (and nowadays not safe) as going in a group or with someone.

Although Northam Beach Cafe is locate by the seaside, but it’s not possible to walk along the sandy area. It’s just an open-air food court sort of place if you are looking for a place to dine by the sea-side but without paying the pricey tags of hotel food. The photos above were taken at the cafe.

On to the food….. 

Mexican food, can’t recall the name but it’s fried chicken added with an oriental sauce + spaghetti or rice as side dish. The portion came out quite big but taste-wise, it is just ok. Nothing special to shout about.

This pasta carbonara came form the Pasta & Pies stall. Since this is the more popular stalls here, so we ordered a carbonara to share. It has some ham and shreaded carrots in it. A piece of garlic bread (cut into 2) was added on top. Garlic bread isn’t expensive…why can’t they give 2 pieces instead of 1 piece miserably cut into half? 

It is cheesy….but unfortunately not the sort of good cheese which is usually used in those Italian restaurants. Even the colour doen’t look so appetizing isn’t it?? …but then again, how can we compare when this came from a hawker stall, right?

And before we left, since alot of people have mentioned about the flavourful ‘muar chee’ from here, we decided to try it.

From the look….yummy!! But after a few bites, yummy turn to yucky?? Ermm…sort of.  Not sure whether it’s just our unlucky day that it’s not done well….it was too flour-ry, meaning after a while, it’s like eating purely flour and it sticks in your mouth. Although there’s green tea, pandan, black sesame and corn flavour, the flour-ry taste make it hard to taste the flavour. We didn’t even managed to finish it. Hmmmm….

What do you usually order when you are there? Seems to have alot of choices but I hardly know what is really good and worth the price. 

A shoutout to lovely Lai Yee who is now happily working in Singapore…..

(aiks…no cake photo to show…but I know you wouldn’t mind ) 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you

HAPPY BIRTHDAY dear Lai Yee

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!!!!!!

Although we have not seen each other for a year….hope you are doing great in ’stress-land’. Hahhahahaa

See you soon on our holiday!!! YEAY…

Chocolates from the land of Kangaroos…. 

Looking at the types below reminds me of the Chocolatier game. I’ve played both the part 1 and part 2 of Chocolatier…it was quite addictive….the game I mean. hehehhe

These ones are marshmallows coated with different types of chocolate and nuts on top. So, there’s dark chocolate, milk chocolate and white chocolate on fluffy marshmallow. The white chocolate is slightly sweeter than the rest.

Taste abit weird to me maybe because I’m not used to eating fluffy marshmallows….but after a few tries, it’s quite good.

*Australian Made & Owned* 

I love Tea….Any tea. If there’s a choice between coffee or tea, it’s always tea!! There’s one kind of tea I’ve tasted before here which gives a refreshing feel and I’m still wondering+looking around where I can buy some of it.  

Anyway the main point here is about something I came upon about the different types of tea which suit different type of people. Not sure where it is sourced from but no harm reading and knowing more about your cuppa tea….

(from a friend’s blog)

~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

1. People who use their ‘brain’ to work or students who study hard day and night.
— Should drink more Chrysanthemum Tea.

2. People who need a lot of body energy to work or those people who exercise a lot everyday.
— Should drink Wu Loong Tea.

3. People who travel on a bike or work in dirty and polluted places.
— Should drink Green Tea.

4. For people who like to sit down all day long and not do anything, even exercising
— Must drink Green Tea and Flower Tea.

5. People who smoke and drink a lot of alcoholic drinks.
— Should drink more Green Tea.

6. Carnnivore ( i.e. people who must eat meat at least once a day, or feel sickly)
— Try to drink some Wu Loong Tea.

7. People who go to the washroom too often or not often enough.
— Should drink more Honey Tea.

8. People with high cholesterol and high blood pressure.
— Wu Loong Tea, Green Tea.

9. Those who work with computers everyday.
— Need to drink a Lot of Tea (any tea will do).
Whenever you are working with the computer, you should make some tea, drink it when you are free.
Drinking Tea is healthy, it can protect and prevent the harmful Ultraviolet light from harming us (when using computer).
Furthermore, it can also cure us when we are tired and help making our body feel fresh again.

~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I was feeling adventurous the other day, so I decided to try making some chicken pie.

For the filling,

- 1 and a half piece of chicken breast meat (minced or cubed)
- 1 stick of carrot (dice into cubes)
- some green peas
- 2 large potatoes (dice into cubes)
- 3 medium-size onions (finely chopped)
- 1 medium-size garlic (finely chopped)
- salt, pepper, soy sauce to taste
- corn flour
- egg white (to glaze the pastry top)
- butter (to glaze the tray)

I steamed the carrots and potatoes to soften it before stir-frying all the above together. Started with onions and garlic, then followed by chicken meat, green peas, and the steamed carrots and potatoes. Season them to taste that you desire and add some corn flour to thicken the gravy. I also mashed some potatoes and added it in to make the gravy thicker.

The result…

Now on to the pastry layer.

The bottom layer, I experimented with some recipes I found in Joy of Baking. It didn’t turn out perfect (but still 80% ok) because I tweaked the ingredients of the recipe abit. Haha I said I was trying to be adventurous earlier right?!?!?!

The bottom pastry layer is laid on the base of the tray, kept in the fridge to chill for a few minutes, and then taken out and filled with fillings prepared earlier.

Now to cover the top of the pie….I used another pastry skin. You can hop over to Joy of Baking for the recipe or if you want a faster and simpler way, you can purchase these pastry skins from major supermarkets around.

I experiment around and make different designs for the top to make it more attractive.

The left-over of filling, I wrap it up with the pastry skin and made some chicken puffs.

Now……let me show you the result/end product.

TADAaaaa

Look how appealing it is now compared to before it was baked?!?!

The bottom pastry wasn’t really perfect because it was too flacky and crumble into pieces after lifting it up. Any idea what went wrong?? Too much flour? too little butter? sugar?

The chicken puffs turned out well too.

Now, who is interested to get some of these???

Btw, I gave part of what I made to ’someone’…. *giggles* 

I wanted to continue on with making these tarts but substituting kiwi as the main ingredient instead (since I have those in my fridge) but my mom was saying "enough" with my adventure and save the rest for next time. So ok, next experiment will be this Fruit Tarts.

Wanna experiment together?? 

We have all kinds of food here. Japanese, Western, Italian, German and recently Taiwan food.

This ’snack’ as they call it,made me hooked just after tasting it once when I was staying in KL some time ago. This snack originally comes from the local night market (aka pasar malam) in Taiwan. Here they have outlets in major shopping complex but it has always been a very mini shop, where it can rarely fit more than 5 customers. Yup, that’s how small it is. The outlet in 1 Utama was the one I first went to and we had to cramp inside the shop and sit ’sticking’ to the wall to get a bowl of homemade mee sua and the XXL Crispy Chicken.

Now finally they open an outlet in Queensbay Mall for the Northern region people to get a taste of their delicacies. Shop size is still almost like the one in 1 Utama but that did not stop people from trying it out.

The shop was already kind of ‘full’ when we reached there…so we opted to take-away our food. 

The XXL Crispy Chicken (RM 6) and the Handmade Oyster Mee Sua (RM 6) is their specialty from the menu. Yup, it’s not very cheap for a big piece of chicken meat or a bowl of mee sua….but once in a while wouldn’t hurt right??

Why I said it was a favourite was because I’ve tasted other similarly made fried chicken but this one just stands out because it’s very crispy and does not have the oily smell and taste (like when the oil is recycled many times, there tend to be a funny oily taste in the fried food). The red-ish part is where they put some spices on top for flavouring.The crust might look abit funny if you stare at it long enough but…it’s very nice and crispy!!!

Just like how they describe it from their website:

XXL Crispy Chicken

A large, tender and succulent piece of boneless chicken breast, painstakingly marinated to perfection, coated with imported flour and fried to a golden crisp. A special blend of oriental spices is sprinkled on top of the crust, and the chicken is served uncut for maximum goodness. The XXL Crispy Chicken is best
eaten while hot.

Yes, it is nicely marinated and have a really crispy crust. There’s a choice of either spicy or non-spicy spice to be sprinked on top of it just before it is served to you. Also to note is that they emphasis that it is to be served UNCUT to keep the goodness intact. They even put a sign right in front of the shop mentioning this…since usually we would prefer huge piece of meat to be cut for easier consumption!!! (haha yea yea…that’s what I asked)

The Mee Sua is also worth mentioning. The mee sua is cooked only with some spices forming the soup base. The ingredients like shredded chicken and oysters are only added on top when served.

Handmade Oyster Mee Sua

A special stock comprising 5 core ingredients, brewed over a slow flame, forms the soup base for the imported mee sua. Only handmade mee sua is used for its superior flavour and texture. A generous amount of oysters and shredded chicken is added before serving. The Handmade Oyster Mee Sua is best eaten while hot.

Very thick and flavourful with soft mee sua….sounds like food for the sick. But eaten with some chilli and oyster, it doesn’t sound that bad anymore, right?? There’s only three or four oysters given though, but quite big ones I would say. It’s kind of slimy and quite raw for my taste…or maybe I’m just not used to eating oysters??!?!

They are coming out with a Happy! Ricebox Set which I suppose includes the XXL Crispy Chicken, rice and vegetables.

Anyway, I’m glad that there are more and more food outlets which used be only found in KL, have arrived on Penang shore. At least it gives us more options on what to dine.

Shihlin Taiwan Snack also have an outlet in Gurney Plaza to cater for those further up north on the island. 

THe outlet in Queensbay Mall is located opposite Jusco supermarket, lowerground floor:

Have you tried it?? What do you think?