...a taste of old chinese cuisine...

For the past few weekends, I have been trying to stay away from good food...well, at least away from heavy meals...but alas, my mission is always a failure...Carole, it's goodbye to my "mission swimming trunk" for me!!!

Guess where to this time? To Nan Yang Chinese Cuisine. It is located in the corner of Pitt Street and Armenian Street, opposite the Yeap Clan House. The main door is facing the Pitt Street and the side door is facing Armenian Street. For those who love Penang historical sites and architecture, Nan Yang is in the typical pre-war Chinese house with high ceiling, halls after halls. The interior is simply beautiful. The exterior is decorated whi nice plants and greens. It even has a tub of lotus plant with magnificent huge leaves. The interior holds a few round tables and rattan chairs. Chinese calligraphies in red papers are glued to the walls that also holds some nice pieces of Chinese arts and drawings. I have been there many times, found the food nice although the price is a bit stiff. I have always liked the interior and ambiance. The place is seldom packed.

Well, this trip was not as pleasant as the earlier few. The lady who took our order that night must have gotten up from the wrong side of the bed. Her face is so stern, without a trace of smile. I wonder why they put her in the front counter? Maybe to ward off evil spirits!!! Hahaha :P

We ordered the usual "too khar chor" (pig trotters in black vinegar). Too khar chor is usually consumed by confinement mothers as this is to heat their blood system. I have always like too khar chor (my big belly qualifies me!!!). It came in a claypot...still boiling. The pig trotters are a bit dry this time. I love the ginger though. Not too sweet, but a little more vinegar will be nicer. It has to have the balance between sweetness and sour.

Next came the "oh mee" (oyster noodles). It is just yellow noodles fried with oysters and chai sim and a little meat. I find the taste a little bland for that night, but with a dash of tow yew (soya sauce) or if you like sambal, then it should be good enough. Oh, talking about sambal, it is too liquid. I still think pounded sambal is very much better than blended.

Sambal kangkung (eng chai char sambai) came next...all about sambal kangkung, is the sambal. The vegetable has to be stir fried at a very high heat and the sambal must have enough belacan. Every chu char restaurant sells kangkung sambal, but the taste is different. No where cooks the same sambal kangkung. Well, the sambal kangkung here is mediocre. It is fragrant enough, but still lacking something.

The other dish we had was fish fillet with yam. It comes in a claypot too. It is cooked with sliced ginger and lots of Chinese cooking wine. It really smells good...and the taste is just appetizing enough and should be taken when its hot. The fillet is fried but not over done.

The last dish in was the Rempah Kay. This is a very much interesting dish although not special. The chicken chuncks are well marinated (with a trace of tumeric) and the sauce is like tomyum (sweet, sour and a little spicy).

There are other nice dishes that I have tried before like the three-cup-chicken (which I have modified and I make a much better one), the gigantic poh pniah, the potato flour flat noodles, etc.

That night, the bill was a little more expensive than I expected. Well, with the price and the the look of the cashier cum waitress (I think she is the proprietor's daugther), I do not think I will be going back awhile.

Ratings : 7/10

...my car full of toy biscuits...

Finally, after a month of free roaming (and I dont mean Maxis or Celcom or Wifi), the hungry ghosts are finally called back to where ever they came from. The Hungry Ghost Month is over...that is the 7th month in the Chinese Lunar calender and now it's the beginning of the 8th month. Which means...MOONCAKES!!!

I have passed up my cravings for mooncakes many years ago...except occasionally, when the sight of the salted duck egg yolks tempt me, would I give in. I would very much prefer the conventional tau sah (black bean paste), leng yong (lotus seed paste) and occasional pandan or chinese ham and nuts. Mooncakes come in so many flavours now...you name it, they have it...tiramisu, chocolate, durian, yam, etc.

But this is not about mooncakes, but ang kong nga pniah (toy biscuits?). Ang kong nga pniah has similar ingredients to the mooncake skin but it had no fillings. It was usually plain and made in the shape of little piggies and they are put inside plastic piggy baskets. Today, ang kong nga pniah had a real makeover, they usually come in different shapes and has fillings...from dessicated coconut to pineapple jam to melon seeds.

Toh Hng Restaurant in Sungai Petani is famous for it's Coconut Pandan Ang Kong Nga Pniah. In fact, all the mooncakes made in Toh Hng is good. The coconut pandan is made from the juice of the fragrant pine leaves and dessicated coconut. The pastry is soft and moist and not teeth sticking. And the best part, it is not sweet.

Today, I filled up my car with 48 boxes of ang kong nga pniah...that was bought from Toh Hng. Judy instigated the order. So the order kept coming in. Seh Seow suggested I bring a van in next year!!! Joanne and Seh Seow also suggested I should impose a tax or fuel surcharge!!!

Watch out for mooncakes and ang kong nga pniah recommendations.

Ratings : 7/10

P/S Thank you Gan Lia Han and husband for making my life so much easier with the orders!!!

...roti bak knua, the dying art...

Not many people sells roti bak knua anymore. When we talked about roti bak knua (bun sandwiching grilled meat or jerky), it will sure bring back memories where we can buy them outside almost every cinema in town. Nowadays, you may be able to find a few stalls along some lanes and roads.

I recently discovered a good roti bak knua (bak knua being one of my favourites) stall, although not exactly a well organized or well displayed stall. This uncle puts his wares on his motorcyle and park it under the roof at Mount Erskine's Chew Chang Khar (under the trees - a famous eating spot during lunch hours and weekends). He only comes at about 3 - 4pm.

The bun is soft, the meat is well-grilled - not hard, but tender and not too dry. The gravy for the buns are not too sweet nor too salty. Best of all, the price is very reasonable compared to many other places. Only RM1.00 per bun. He also sells grilled chicken drumsticks and chicken wings. They are seasoned very well and the meat is juicy and sweet. Also luncheon mean to be taken with the bun and skewered meat balls.

When I first went to buy from him, I asked his permission if I can take a photo of him in action. He allowed me to do so, but unfortunately, the batteries konked. I went back again a few days later, same thing happened, but finally, I managed to take some pics of him on Friday. He even gave me a lengthy interview when I told him I want to put his photos in my blog!!! Hahaha!!!

Ratings : 8/10

...the old majestic theatre...

Before the invasion of Golden Screen Cinemas in shopping malls, there stood the mighty theatres like Cathay, Rex, Capitol, Odeon, Wembley and Majestic. They were known as theatres then, because in the 40s and 50s, there were live shows and live appearances by celebrities before or after screening certain movies.

Cathay is now occupied by Kamdar, Rex by Meiko, Capitol flattened where Komtar stands now, Odeon has been resurrected and showing Indian movies after years unoccupied, the Wembley will be pulled down soon in the similar fate as Capitol and Majestic, left vacant for years.

To end the Chinese 7th month, before the hungry spirits go back to their underworld, I will share my last ghost story for the month with the sightings and sounds heard in the old Majestic Theatre. The building was erected in 1926.

Located in the small lanes near the old Penang Police Station, Majestic is still standing tall but the facade is almost unshowing how popular it was. The state of it is deplorable. There used to be a rojak stall right infront of the theatre but since it has moved to Swatow Lane (the corner coffee shop), Jalan Khoo Sian Ewe is so unpopulated, except for a row of pre-war houses on the opposite of the theatre. The wooden billboards that once displayed posters are beyond recognizable.

Anyway, back to the story. The streets lamps are dim, only the bright lights of a corner Mamak Makan Shop would throw it's dim lights on the building.

It has been reported many times by the residence nearby, that they hear people laughing or even sobbing of a woman from inside the now empty theatre. Also, there were sightings of apparitions along the corridor on the top floor.
There was a lady who took her 3 year-old child out for a night walk along that road. Upon approaching the theatre, her child clung to her in fear. Did not know what was wrong with the child, she carried the 3 year-old and continued strolling. Then she heard laughter from the top corridor of the building. She looked up and squinted her eyes and she saw a silhouette of a lady waving at her. At that moment, her child was crying and hung onto to her tightly. She turned back to confirm what she saw, but a mass of hair billowing away from the corridor in to a dark corner of the room.

Then there was this trishaw Ah Pek who used to park his vehicle after a hard day's work. One night, as he was dozing off on his passenger seat, he heard some voices talking behind his back. He turned around and could see nothing. Brushing off that, he was about to doze off again, when he heard some laughters in the empty cinema foyer. Gathering his courage, he peeked in between the iron grills and could see nothing in total darkness. Suddenly, there were glows of greenlights floating in the empty dark foyer. He too, out of curiousity, watched the greenlights moving from one corner to the other...and suddenly, a hideous face stared back at him. Now you do not see Ah Pek parked his vehicle there anymore...if he is still around.

So here are some pics I took of the once majestic buliding...peer in and see if you could see anything in the shadows...till then....good night...

P/S That is the best my digi cam can do in the darkness...

PP/S Notice the orb like object in the second picture in front of the pillar??? What is that???

...richard widmark - the passing of a great screen villian...

For those who have seen "Kiss Of Death" (1947), will always remember and be haunted by villain Tommy Udo, who tied up and pushed a wheel-chair bound old lady down a flight of steps. This is one of the most maniacal scene in the movie.

Richard Widmark (26th December 1914 - 24 March 2008), played the part of crazy hit man, Tommy Udo in his film debut and won himself an Academy Award nomination in the Best Supporting Actor category.

Widmark was born in the state of Sunrise, Minnesota and studied in Lake Forest College with the idea of becoming a lawyer. However, he won the lead role in a college production of, fittingly enough, the play "Consellor-at-Law", and the acting bug bit deep. After taking his bachelor of arts degree in 1936, he stayed on at Lake Forest as the Assistant Director of Speech and Drama.

However, he soon quit the job and moved to New York to become an actor and, by 1938, he was appearing on radio in "Aunt Jenny's Real Life Stories". He made his Broadway debut in 1943 in the play "Kiss and Tell", and continued to appear on stage in roles that were light years away from the tough cookies he would play in his early movies. After World War II, he was signed by 20th Century Fox to a seven-year contract. After seeing his screen-test for the role of "Tommy Udo", 20th Century Fox boss Darryl F Zanuck insisted that the slight, blonde Widmark - no one's idea of a heavy, particularly after his stage work - be cast as the psychopath in "Kiss Of Death (1947), which had been prepared as a Victor Mature vehicle. Even though the role was small, Widmark stole the picture. Since then, he was typecasted at the studio.

He played psychotics in "The Street With No Name" (with Mark Stevens and Barbara Lawrence), "Road House" (with Ida Lupino, Cornel Wilde and Celeste Holm) and a villian in "Yellow Sky" (Gregory Peck and Anne Baxter) in 1948. When he went straight in "Down To The Sea In Ships"(1949) as a sailor, "LIFE" magazine wrote a three page feature. The great director Elia Kazan cast Widmark in his thriller "Panic In The Streets" (1950) but not as the heavy and gave that role to the equally famous villian, Jack Palance. Jules Dassin then cast him as London hustler with ambitious plans in "Night And The City" (1950). He was a bigot who instigated racial riot in "No Way Out". As the 1950s progressed, Widmark played in Westerns, military vehicles, and his old stand-by genre, the thriller. He appeared with Marilyn Monroe (this time cast again as the psycho) in "Dont Bother To Knock" (1952) and made "Pickup On South Street with Jean Peters (1953) and western "Broken Lance" (1954 with Spencer Tracy, Robert Wagner and Jean Peters).

He freelanced, when he left Fox and formed his own company "Heath Production". He then starred in the costume flop "Saint Joan" (1957). He played Jim Bowie to John Wayne's Davy Crockett in 1960's "The Alamo". He made his scenes count in the court drama "Judgement At Nuremberg" (1961) featuring Spencer Tracy, Maximilian Schell, Marlene Dietrich, Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift and even Judy Garland. He co-starred James Stewart in John Ford's "Two Rode Together" and top starred in "Cheyenne Autumn" in 1961.

He maintained his tough guy image in the A-pictures of the 60s...playing the amoral police detective in 1968's "Madigan", but in the 70's he appeared primarily in supporting roles like in the all-star Agatha Christie's "Murder On The Orient Express"(1974), "Twilight's Last Gleaming" (1977) and "The Domino Principle" (1977), playing the villianous doctor in "Coma" and "The Swarm" (1978). He turned to the small screen in the 70's.

Despite playing heartless killers and bigots on film, he personally denounced all kinds of violence and the usage of guns. Widmark was an activist for strengthening gun control laws in the United States. He admitted that once he went fishing and regretted the fact he caught a trout and took its life. He also apologized profusely to Sidney Poitier during the shoot of the movie "No Way OUt" (1950) after filming scenes together which called for Widmark to spew out racist remarks.

Widmark was inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 2002 and was honored with a retrospective of his films by the Museum of Modern Art (New York, New York) in May 2001. In the fall of 2007 he sustained a fractured vertebrae after a fall. He died about six months later of complications.

He has that certain American good look despite all the hateful characters he played.

...merdeka!!! merdeka!!! merdeka!!! or the war of the world?...

In all my live, this is the first Merdeka countdown, I ever stood under the umbrella of the beautiful and colourful fireworks (and I guess, it was my first Merdeka countdown in public after years and years!!!).

When we arrived Komtar (bless Howard who allows me to tag along for some of his photography shoots), the crowd of thousands were already jamming the road. Instead of the usual Gurney Drive and Esplanade, this year they thronged Komtar. The turn out of the crowd was spectacular...

The were stage shows, performance by some local artistes (sorrylah...I don't know who they are ~ Jzelynn, Mahadhir and MJH), and there were stalls promoting bank schemes to handphones. The stretch of road (Jalan Ria) was closed to the traffic. The was also a very small ching gay (infact, I only saw two flags).

Howard was running everywhere to find a good spot to set up his camera to shoot the fireworks. I with my digi cam, just followed around...going up the stairs that lead to the dome, walking up the pedestrian bridge, left right up down (good exercise for me). Finally, we settled on a spot where there are many other photography enthusiasts.

Then at the stroke of midnight (I think, as I was wearing a watch with dead batteries), came the "ping ping pong pong"...the dark skies were lit up with the wonderful display of firework. With each bursting of lights, the people around me went "oooh....ahhhh...wow".

Ever stood directly under a spray of fireworks??? Even they were high up in the sky, it makes you feel like you are watching a 3-Dimension movie. After sometime, staring at the fireworks, it made me felt like I am being engulfed by the lights...something like "The War Of The World". The amusement turn scary. I would not say I was excited, but it is a feeling I never felt before. Well, these are the best photos I took from my digicam...

Happy 51st Malaysia...

...princess diana - the fairy tale princess...

It has been eleven years now, "the people's princess" of England, Princess Diana (nee Lady Diana Frances Spencer), was killed in the tragic car crash along with Dody Fayed and the driver. That accident on 31st August 1997 shocked and sent the world in mourning.

Princess Di (1st July 1961) made headlines worldwide when she married the Prince of Wales - Prince Charles, the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II on July 1981. Millions of viewers were glued to their television sets around the world to watch the fairy tale wedding which was broadcasted live.

Her first son, Prince William was born in 1982 and her youngest and last, Prince Henry in 1984. During her reign as a princess, she was always in the public eye and also a trend-setter to the fashion of the 80s. Every female (and some male) in the world copied her fashion. Everywhere she went, she is featured in every fashion magazines and tabloids.

Then in that fateful night, she made the world headline for the last time, when the car she was travelling in with Dodi Fayed collided with a beam near the Eiffel Tower, Paris, France. On 6th September, this time world watched solemnly on the small screen, her funeral.

If she would have been just Lady Diana Spencer, I guess her divorced in 1996 would be less scandalous. It's never easy at the top...the higher you are, the harder you fall...

...domino's pizza...

As of today, 30th of August 2008 at 7.40pm (ignore the date in my photo...I never change my date in the camera)...I am officially a member of Domino's Pizza. After so long, finally a branch in Krystal Point that has home deliveries to my place right up to my doorstep.

Now in my pizza "period", I registered in the web and placed my first order there. I ordered the Set Meal 2 (1 regular pizza + 1 Cinnastick + 1 BBQ Chicken Wings + 2 cans of coke), the pizza being the new Spicy Sambal.

...another bread story...

There is another famous toast bread shop in down town. Well, it is not exactly a shop, but a make shift kinda stall in a very small back lane between Campbell Street and Kampung Melabar. From Penang Road, as you turn in to Campbell Street through the arch, you will see the back lane directly behind the arch. There is where Toh Soon Cafe is.

With only about fifteen tables all crammed into the narrow lane, the place is usually very packed in the mornings with patrons of all ages. I have heard of the place, passed by the place, but did not eat there before until that weekend. True to it's legend, it was still jam-packed when we reached there at 9.30am. Hardly a table in sight, but we were lucky, someone vacated one right infront of us.

We waited more than fifteen minutes to get our orders taken. I was about to give up, but for the sake of taking pictures and writing this blog, decided to stay on. Along came this tiny Indonesian lady and took our orders. Either she was overworked that morning or she has hearing problem (or maybe memory problem), she kept asking and repeating our orders for three times.

First, she brought our drinks. I had my usual Kopi Peng Kaw (Thick Coffee Milk in ice). It looked interesting with the milk on top of the coffee. Then came the peanut butter toast. Unlike the "roti bakar" up in Sungai Tiram (please refer my earlier posting), the slices of bread comes in strips. The peanut butter toast is quite nice, as the bread is sliced to the right size and the peanut butter, although not spread evenly, was just nice...not chunky but fine peanut butter and not too sweet.

Next was the butter toast. Same...sliced, toasted and cut into strips. It is then spread with butter and sprinkled with sugar. This, I very much prefered the toast served in Sungai Tiram. Besides, over in Sungai Tiram, they give you the liberty to sprinkle just as much or as less sugar as you want.

By the time we finished the butter toast, we waited for our eggs. Either the chiken were on strike, or the cockerel sodomized another male!!! Our eggs never showed up. So we decided to remind the impatient Indonesian again and wanted to try the Nestum toast.

I was looking forward to Nestum toast, imagine toast in butter and sprinkled with the cereal. Something very unsual. Lookign forward with anticipation...but that was brought down, when she came with a plate of plain looking butter toast. It is just any plain butter toast except the bread they used was Nestum bread. Huh...so much of Nestum toast!!!

Again, this is any place with mystery...nothing special but packed. Could it be Feng Shui??? Could it just be luck???

Out of all that, one sight that caught me, an Indian guy came up with a basket of those big curry puffs that we used to by when were in school or during sports day in the Penang Stadium. It was sold in bicycle carring a huge rattan basket, with the Indian man going, "Pup Pup Pup.....Currrrrry Pup". The curry puffs is actually a half empty shell, with little chuncks of potatoes and usually, he gave a generous amount of pickled onions. This Indian man I met at Toh Soon, was on his feet, going from table to table. Sorry, but by then I was to full to try one. Maybe next time, somewhere else....but not in Toh Soon.

Ratings : 5/10

...fairy biscuits...

I did not know what it is called, but my post-maternity boss, Mummy, told me they are called "Fairy Biscuits"...I do not know what is so "fairy" about it.

Anyway, yesterday, I just thought of sharing this self-easy-to-make biscuits in the office. I used to take this as a child when I visited Van Houten Chocolate House. This chocolate boutique (there no other in Penang then), was located on the corner groud floor of Penang Bowl (where the Latin Quater is). I was usually brought there after school. The owner of the shop who knew my parent, would always make this "fairy biscuits" for me.

Take a piece of Marie Biscuit (I had a problem enquiring about this biscuit from the market that morning - I asked if he had Marie...he looked puzzling at me...I had to repeat so many times, until he finally said.."Ah...Mary Pniah"!!! Aiyoh!!! Mei Mei finally bought 500gm of biscuits!!!), spread with a generous layer of butter and sprinkle chocolate rice on it...ideal for children parties and snacks. It is simple and cheap and brings back some chocolate-ty memories!!!

...penang chinese custard???...

Here's another for the sweet tooth...something that is quite diffifult to find these days in Penang. Tee Ya Kueh or Knee Ya Kueh (depends on which area of Penang you say this), is hardly popular amongst the youngsters. As the name goes (in both pronunciation), Tee means "sweet" in Hokkien and Knee means "lye-water" were both guilty of making this kueh usual. In the days of old, lye-water was added to the mixture of self-grinded rice flour to give the end product a smooth and chewy texture. The mixture was then brought to a boil until it thickens. It was then poured out in a tray and left to cool until it looks like a tray of custard. Then it was cut in to chunks and served (some would chilled them in the refrigerator). The kueh is served with thick gula melaka cooked with a little coconut milk (santan). Nowadays, knee is hardly used, as there were rumours too much lye-water is harmful and santan is known for causing cardiac, therefore, out with the coconut milk from the caramel mixture too...

When I was staying in Chow Thye Road as a child, there was a man who sells Tee Ya Kueh from a tricycle, cycling along, shouting "Tee Ya Kueh! Tee Ya Kueh!" in a soprano pitch, while squeaking the hooter. Now, if you want to try Tee Ya Kueh, you can buy from the main stall that sells the famous Ais Kacang and cut fruits in New World Park. The kueh is not chewy, but soft and the caramel is made of brown sugar...no santan. It now even comes in green (supposedly pandan flavour, minus the fragrance). No kick, but to please the appetite, can make do. I remember the old saying..."chiak tee tee, tua tharn chnee" (simply means..."take sweet things and get more wealth"!!!), but these days is "chiak tee tee, pang tee jeow" (which simply means..."take sweet things and be diabetic!!! Hahaha!!!).

Ratings : 5/10

...a pong pong birthday...

Look who is adding another candle (or candles) to her cake !!! Our dear eldest sister - Tua Chi Pong Pong!!! Not to worry Pongkie, after all they say "age is only numbers" (and also the candles in your cake!!! - Call the fire brigade!!!). Old is gold - they are priceless, but so are antiques and dinosaurs!!! SO ARE FOSSILS!!! Hahaha...okies, better not "kutuk" Pongkie too much, afterall, it was her night!!!

We celebrated her birthday this year at Sunshine Bay Seafood Restaurant in Tanjung Bungah (after Low Tau smsed to inform that there was a massive jam getting on to the Penang Bridge - we were supposed to try the "Heh Kor (Mantis Prawn) Village). Thanks to Pauline, we changed location to this seafood restaurant up in Tanjung Bungah. Sorry lah Ang Heah Mak, Heh Kor Village next round. Afterall, it was raining and the last day of school holidays.

Located in the corner of a stretch of seafood restaurants (where the old Sin Hai Keng or the newer Rozells pub were), it does not have a prominent structure that stands out, but it is just two shops behind the traffic light that leads you to town (the Tanjung Bungah traffic light after the post office from the other direction and the one that leads you to TAR college. It is on the opposite side of the road where the old Tanjung Bungah Bus Station and Maybank are.

As usual, my entourage in my car was late. Hehehe. By the time we reached Sunshine Bay there was not a trace of sunshine anymore. We sat in a table of 11.5 (0.5 being Jeannie's daughter). All were so hungry. As usual lah...even if it is not Phor Thor!!!

Everyone around the table was so excited with the Squirrel Glass Paper Lantern Seh Seow bought for Pong Pong..."why squirrel", many asked..."Because it's Pong Chu!!!" Hahaha...clever Seh Seow!!! She could not find any other lanterns that look like a snake, so since it's Pong Pong...Pong Chu is the nearest!!! I suggested that Pong Pong lit the candle and walked around the restaurant with her Pong Chu lantern, but she refused...apalah Ah Pong!!! So after a few snapshots, came the "brightest moment"...almost as bright as the Bird's Nest Stadium in Beijing during the opening of the 2008 olympics!!! Hahaha!!! Imagine a small dome birthday cake, with so many coloured candles sticking out from every angle of the cake. Even lighting the cake is a task!!! What is a birthday without a birthday song, right, Pong Pong??? Hehehe...as embarassing as what you all did to me in Little Cottage last year!!! Hahaha!!! Poh Sau!!!

After so much excitement and tummies growling, finally came a dish which I have not tried elsewhere...Kap Pah Mee Suah. This dish is really something...filled with Kap Pah (Clams). The mee suah is cooked to perfect softness, unlike some who cooks their mee suah to yukkily soft. Fried with some cut chai sim (choysam) and egg, the gravy is simply marvellous...it is not sar hor fun-like, less starchy, but thick enough and you can taste the sweetness of the shellfish. And the clams are not overdone. A must try in that restaurant.

Then came a very unique plate of eggs with bitter gourd (kor kuah nooi). I have not tasted this anywhere else and although bitter gourd is NEVER my favourite, I do give this dish a tumbs up. The usual kor kuah nooi is just like a bitter gourd omelette, but this...wow...the gourd is cut into pieces and simmered with half boiled eggs just in time to make it cooked. I thought the egg was done easy in the toffel wok, but Ang Heah Mak and Yoga Looi insist that it is half boiled eggs!!! Okies, leave this to the professionals!!! It good when served hot, but I guess it will turned slimy if left cold. Oh yes, the dish is served with dashes of tow yew (soya sauce) on the eggs (just like the half boiled eggs we take with toasts). This dish was cleaned out within 2-3 minutes!!!

We also had the Fish Heah with Yam in Claypot (hoo tau or sar poh). Tender yam with fried hoo tau with ginger, garlic, spring onions, who could ask for anything more...!!! The fragrance of the sauce used is really appetizing. The smell of thick soya sauce and chinese cooking wine. You find chunks of fried fish head and averagely thick slices of yam. I love the gravy. Looks like I cleaned the gravy from almost every dish!!!

Other less interesting dishes are Black Pepper Crab. This dish has the strong aroma of ground black pepper. For those who love black pepper, do not miss this. Next, was the sweet and sour crab - the usual sweet and sour sauce with little bits of tomatoes. The chai tow (long beans) fried with dried prawns (heh bee) and the curry kapitan chicken. Again, the curry kapitan is not like the authentic curry kapitan. This curry is less thicker and somewhat more chili powdered. The smell of curry kapitan is there, but there is something amiss in the taste. We also had man tou to go with the curry and the sweet and sour gravy of the crab. We also had the fried Heh Koh...nothing special about this dish...looks like fried sago worms!!!

So Pong Pong, here's wishing you a very happy birthday and many happy returns!!! Next year, we need to bring a fire extinguisher along. Averagely, it's almost 500 years old around the table!!! Hahaha!!!

Ratings : 9/10