Breakfasts in Boston

Less than 24 hours after I've landed, still heavily jetlagged, we flew to Boston for the weekend. We reached Boston about 9am, first thing first - BREAKFAST at Neighbourhood Restaurant & Bakery. This place has over 20 house specialties for omelette, waffles, frensh toasts and what not. The menu is 6 double-paged (12 pages) long!

Cream of wheat - tastes like sago in coconut milk with porridge like texture and  sprinkles of cinnamon powder. Very good but a tad too sweet for me.

It was too early for meat and cheese, so I opted for the vege omelette, it was really good....I love the vegetables and mushrooms in it. Though it looked big but I finished it! Muahahaa.... yes, I'm a glut.

My friend ordered the famous Corned Beef Hash...Yumm....and what else? OJ, Coffee and toasts definitely. I just woke up from the 6 hours flight, right after breakfast, I feel like going back to bed again :)

The next day, we went to Ball Square Cafe for breakfast.

Big breakfast big breakfast! I want my big breakfast I was craving for it for the longest time. So I ordered the Our Favourite Plus - pork sausages, home fries, scramble eggs and English muffins.. Oh ho ho... oh boy oh boy, I was a happy camper right after breakfast, really glad I added the pork sausages! :)

Fresh Fruit With Homemade Granola and Yogurt.

Caramelized Banana and Strawberry French Toast.

After 2 days, before we left Boston, we popped back into Ball Square Cafe for the last round!

This time I ordered the Florentino Eggs Benedict - fresh baby spinach, tomato and poached eggs topped with homemade Hollandaise sauce....MmmMmm-Mm. *Thumbs up*

Sweet Pepper and Corn Beef Hash.

Fresh Fruit Bowl with Yogurt.

Don't you wish you were here with me? ;) 

Cape Cod

The weather was so beautiful, so we drove 2 hours up to Cape Cod.

But everyone else beat us to it, look at how crowded the beach is, everybody is trying to enjoy the sun before the weather turns cold and you have to pay $15 to gain access to the beach's car park!

So we walked 5 minutes up to the other end of the beach, and look at what we get to enjoy? No crowd and beautiful sandy beach with beautiful sky. Tsk tsk tsk... lazy beach bums indeed. 

Before we left Cape Cod, I just had to go and take a look at one of the light houses and by then the weather had turned chilly and the fog rolled in and we always thought light houses are supposedly right by the water edge with high waves hitting the rocks? Well, not this one. Haha... but nonetheless it was a beautiful day indeed.

Also, how can you leave Cape Cod without having any LOBSTER?

We passed by Arnolds and saw the long line, natural instinct would be - this place must be really good. So we joined in the line.

See the huge lobster? It's 22lbs, not fit to eat but instead they carry it around to introduce the pet to the patrons. We ordered a mix seafood platter, onion rings and 2lbs lobster. Seriously? This is a super sized nation, the portion is enough for 5! Right after dinner, you see another line forming next to the restaurant for ice-cream!! :) 

Food verdict : really really fresh seafood and very very crispy and good onion rings, it was indeed a good place to eat!

Ode to Sisters

1 celebration, 7 cakes, 7 of us.

A weekend for the sisters.

(Pity some couldn't make it but doesn't mean we didn't think of you girls :x )

It rained and poured and the wind howled over the weekend but the heart felt warm inside thanks to the beautiful people that made it happened.

We were no where near hungry after the sumptuous steamboat party and the cakes, but the idea of warm drinks and very nice burger entices us to brave the rain. So we went to this Charlie's Burger for the famous sausage+egg burger with marmite sauce and ordered hot Milos.

Yumm...Almost telur mata kerbau (sunny side up) with lightly buttered crispy toast and sausages drizzled in chilli, mayo and marmite sauce. My, it's really something very 'comforting' in this wet drippy windy cold night.

Eat...Chat...Eat...Chat somemore...Falling asleep...Oops, still chatting!

Finally snuggled into bed while the wind continues to howl and the rain pours outside.

* TING* Woke up to hot steaming fresh blueberry muffins! 

Women, once they get married and about to become mothers....we're so lucky! :) Thanks! Mummy K.

KL is the motherland of nasi lemak, didn't expect I'd miss any of these while living in Penang but... *salivating*. What a perfect appetizer prior to slurrping Laksa away.

Then there's all these specialities...deep fried popiah, chai kuey and kueh talam.

Penangite - we're so lucky to be living in food heaven.

Initially I thought with all the food ordered, I couldn't possibly finish a bowl of Laksa.

Haha. WRONG! After 2 sips, I turned around and ordered one to myself!

I never understood Penangite's obsession with specifically dry fried kuey tiao, until I tasted this one, OH, so this is the ultimate 'standard' that we, the food obsessed nation is seeking. It's fried without excessive oil and with all the ingredients cooked just nice, *fuh* the aroma.... Am I making any sense?

How did we end this wonderful weekend?

Sing our heart and lungs out...

Friends, they're like sand, they either irritate your eyes or become pearls.

I'm lucky for my strings of pearls.

Thank you very much, my dear treasured friends.

Very happy for the wonderful weekend getaway...

*Miao...*

33°C

Current: Mostly Cloudy
Wind: SW at 6 km/h
Humidity: 89%

The weather in Kuching is very hot and humid, but the sky is so beautiful that I'm in love with the skies of Kuching.

My flight to Kuching was delayed for 45 minutes, shucks, not enough delay time to get AA to compensate my wasted time. By the time I reached Kuching it was already 9pm and the first thing I did when I reached was to eat of course! We went to this place called 3-Point. My my, I must tell you, the best dish that I've eaten is the sauteed Midin in red wine. Midin is a kind of fern popular amongst the locals in East Malaysia. It's tender and crunchy at the same time. I just love that dish. The closest thing we have here is Pucuk (also another type of fern), but Pucuk is not as tasty as Midin.

Laksa Lemak, Laksa Asam, Laksa Penang, Laksa Johor. Which one you like best?

I've heard so much about Laksa Sarawak and I really do wonder whether it's any better than Laksa Penang. To my surprise, it turns out to be really good, no wonder Sarawakians don't like Laksa Lemak nor Laksa Penang. You cannot compare Laksa Lemak to Laksa Sarawak, it's just different, even though it may looks like Laksa Lemak but it's not. There's coconut milk in the soup but the herbs they used is different so it gives you a different kick and tastes so much better than a normal Laksa Lemak. 

Who said food in Kuching is not good? They're good! The Popiah is very different than the ones we're used to but it's also very nice. Though the skin is thicker but the special crunchy peanut sauce gives it a very pleasant twist to it and pair it with the sauce (sweet sauce+ grounded chilli) you just cannot have enough of it. 

Then off to Santubong we go. Look at the sky and the river, it's so beautiful.

What's interesting in Santubong? The non existing beach (but amazing sea view) and a Cultural Village. I find RM60 a little bit expensive for the entry ticket but it's quite worth going. You get to see the different ethnic houses and their cultural lifestyles. They even showcase 45 minutes of different cultural dances twice daily. 

It's very cool to see the long houses, the Melanau Tall House, the Ulu House, the Penan Hut, the sword making, how to use a blowpipe, traditional food and crafts making and listen to their traditional music and watch them dance. So don't miss it.

After the Cultural Village it's time for lunch!

We went to a nearby fish village and had this Seafood Bihun Soup. Initially I thought the portion was a little bit too big and the weather is too hot for a piping hot seafood soup. But I WAS WRONG.

No, I did not just got out of jail but this seafood soup is really tasty, the soup is naturally sweet due to the freshness of the seafood and the portion is just nice and now I'm forever hooked onto this seafood soup and will not be able to taste anything as good as this unless I fly to Kuching and drive towards Santubong, best part is it's only RM5.

The weather is really hot, really really hot, I have no idea how much sweat I produced, so daily dosage of ice cold dessert is a must. The ABC in Kuching is slightly different, there's only evaporated milk, syrup, jelly and corn  but it doesn't matter, because it tastes just as good as any ABC. 

Then I was introduced to Belacan Bihun.

Frankly, I couldn't stand the smell because of the Belacan soup but when you taste it. Hahahaa....it's quite surprisingly nice. All they put is bean sprouts, sliced cucumber and the noodles but I think they put significant amount of asam in the soup that's why it's sweet and sour and very appetizing. 

The next day, I went around  visiting cat statues, cat museums, state museums, temples, old town, river front, around town and about to get to know Kuching a little bit better.

I like Kuching very much, I think it's a very peaceful yet fully equip and clean. People used to say that Kuching is very backdated but with the recent development, I think Kuching is just as good as any town if not better.

Luicha -  Hakka Dish.

To all the meat lovers out there, this is probably the worst punishment when it comes to food.

There's NO meat in the concoction, only vegetables, beans, spring onions, taukuah, leaves, pickles and peanuts and the soup consists of mint, basil and more leaves and herbs.  But for all the vege lovers out there, this dish is a must try. I love it so much, I had it two days in a row. To eat it, you have to mix all the ingredients together (with or without rice) and add the soup into the bowl. The soup can be a tad bitter but mix it with the veges it somehow neutralizes the bitter taste and gives it a pleasant minty green taste to it. Definitely a must try dish when you visit Kuching. Then again, this is an acquired taste and most people find it hard to accept it on their first try.

Another famous dish in Kuching is Kolok Mee.

People in Kuching eat early, by the time I reached the place at 9.30am, everything was sold out. So I had to eat it differently. Ended up eating a completely different noodle that reminds me of Pork Noodle, however, it was still a good breakfast.

More ABC to counter the heat and rojak to snack. :) 

Saturday is their Local Market for the natives and I just had to go.

Everything is fresh, succulent and cheap.

The seafood, you just feel like packing everything up and ship them home.

The local veges, you just wish you could buy a year's supply. 

The orchids, you wish they belonged in your garden.

My base camp for the 3 days I was in Kuching.

These flowers are from her lovely garden.

Not only the flowers are beautiful there are also various fruit trees, just that the season is not right to savour them.

I had a great trip to Kuching, I really do love this little town very much, most of all, I had a really great host - my aunt and her family. I would definitely visit them again in the future.

I'm glad for the family that I have. *love love love*

Palembang

Labour Day - A day to do nothing and be merry and a lot a lot of happy meals.

We flew to Palembang for the weekend, I've been wanting to go back to Indonesia for the longest time so when the chance arises I jumped onto it.  I travel with a pack of hungry souls that I love dearly :)

My cousin was raving about this bread non stop and she was willing to starve herself so that she can eat it. When I saw it I was laughing out loud, it's Roti Boy! My uncle had to run to the mall that sells it and bought 10 of them before he picked us up and we devoured it (not all of course) before we reached the hotel.

The hotel that we stayed in has a very nice swanky interior and the breakfast spread was very nice, I was very happy with all the local specialties that I get to try every morning such as Longtong Lemak, Nasi Kuning, Nasi sumbat, Mie Baso, Model.... *yummers*

For the whole weekend all we did was eat, sleep, shop and eat some more. 

There are 2 kinds of drinks you should always try in Indonesia, Es Jeruk (Local Orange Juice) - for the refreshing taste and Es Apokat (Blended Avocado) - for the sinful taste.

Dinner : Night 1 -  prawn balls, deep fried frog legs, free range chicken, crab meat broccoli, fish soup, fried vege and kerupuk (fish crackers). There don't seem to have a lot of fancy Chinese restaurant around and all the famous ones are very low profile that feels like the papas and mamas from next door.

After dinner we went around town and visited the well known Musi Bridge.

Lunch : Day 2 - Pagi Sore.

I couldn't grasp the idea of having a buffet spread laid in front of you while you remain seated.

Then I understood. They serve you every single dish that is available in the restaurant and you only pay for the plates/bowls that you touch.

Star of the meal - deep fried free range chicken. 

My cousin insisted that you have to make sure it's the real free range chicken and not some malnutrition chicken from the chicken farm. 5 of us whacked 12 pieces of chicken , 6 plates of vegetables, 10 sticks of Satay, Sambal Udang, Kari Ayam and Gado-gado. By the time we're done, we're ready to go back to bed. The food was really really good and I was very happy to be able to taste masakan padang (happy meal No.1) .

Unfortunately dinner came too soon and this time we were treated to a mini banquet by another friend. One thing I realized is that they eat a lot of free range chicken and prawn balls and fish soups. We had  - fish soup, steam fish, prawn balls, seafood balls in vege, bitter gourd, fried vege, tofu and steam chicken. What can we do after a meal that I could barely stand after that? SHOPPING!!

Then, the weekend ended too soon...

Last Lunch -  Mie Ayam Baso.

I'm a noodle fan. I love noodle and this is by far the BEST noodle I've had in ages. The noodle is so chewy and the sauce so simple and light yet so adequately flavoring the noodles with steam vege and marinated chicken bits. From the looks of it I thought it would a dry bowl of noodle but it wasn't, I don't know how to describe this but the only way to find out is to try it yourself because I LOVE IT (happy meal No. 2)!

Baso Sapi - homemade beef balls.

Pempek - It's a kind of fish balls that is only available in Palembang.

Again, after a bowl of noodles each, 5 of us could still stomach 22 pieces of Pempek. There are the plain ones, the ones with tofu stuffing, the ones with eggs in it, the steam ones, the deep friend ones and the ones that you roast in banana leaves which is my favourite.

I had a great great weekend and I feel truly blessed and lucky for the family and the life that I have. 

Dear Uncle and Aunt and my little cousins, thank you very much... x0x0