Gelang patah seafood hunt

My parents came down from KL and we decided to stay in Tanjung Kupang for a few nights just to escape from the city for a bit.

So for dinner on the first day, we went to Tian Lai restaurant (non-halal) in Gelang Patah which is about 10 minutes from where we were staying. Not knowing what to order, we asked the lady for some recommendations and we were not disappointed. The food was really good.

This is the seafood soup and after tasting this marvellous soup for entrée, we held our expectations for the other dishes high. All the dishes were not disappointing.  :) 

The prawns were really big and very fresh. My brother (also a picky eater) was praising the prawns endlessly and since they removed the shell, it made it easier to enjoy the fantastic flavours of the fresh prawns. They had squid, fish cake, mushroom, carrots and veggies in them too (cant remember what other seafood were in there as the prawns made the biggest impression of the soup).

So in short, all of us enjoyed ourselves at the dinner table and because the food was good, the kdis were just quietly seated in their baby chairs devouring their food. As for the adults, we were definitely enjoying the peace at the dinner table and the great food in front of us.

We were lucky to get a table as we were there early. We rrived at about 6.30pm whereby there are quite a few empty tables but we waited quite a while for the food but all our dishes were served at almost the same time which explained why I was so busy eating that I forgot about the pictures.

Hot plate tofu. They added in pork mince and the combination of the sauce and the tofu was just perfect. The sauce was not too salty and the egg underneath was perfectly cooked too. The tofu was needless to say very soft and yummy.

We ordered some veggies as well as most of us love to eat veggies.

This is by far my favourite dish on the table. Sambal sotong (stir fried squid in sambal). I am not usually a squid lover as they are usually quite tough and I develop an allergic reaction to them quite quickly but this was different. Firstly, the squid was not tough like rubber and it was very juicy. Secondly, i don't know why but I wasn't all itchy and red after ingesting several spoonfulls. Definitely a bonus point for that.

This was one of the dishes that according to their waitress was their specialty. Cury pork ribs. It was indeed very yum. The meat was tender but not too tough. It was just right to my liking. The curry was blasting with flavours but not too spicy so it was just perfect. My vocabulary may not do justice to this dish but it is definitely a must try at this restaurant.

Steamed golden snapper teochew style. Since we are teochews, we cannot resist the temptation of steamed fish especially teochew style. The fish was very fresh and my nieces love them (they are only 1 and 3 years old). This is a good choice especially for the kids because my niece is a very picky eater and kids need their protein to grow especially at this age. She ate almost a quarter of the fish so I don't think I was exaggerating when I say its fresh and yum. 

Having it steamed in teochew style means that there is a combination of salted vegetables (salty), pickle (sour), chillies (slight spice) and ginger (to remove any fishy smell). After steaming, the sauce from the fish in combination with all the ingredients above  make every bite of this dish gastronormic.

Okay. Let me declare that I was busy serving the other dishes to everyone that I didn't have enough time to take a picture of this dish. It was cleared from the table very quickly. This is the oyster omellete (oh-jian). Don't judge by my terrible photo taking skills because the oysters were big and juicy. It was very fresh and the omelette was cooked to perfection. Definitely a must try here.

Stir fried mixed veggies.

Okay, this is another one of those dishes that finished really quickly and the kids love them. It's also one of the restaurant's specialty. Honey chicken wings. Firstly, the chicked was  juicy and the meat literally falls off the bone with every bite and melts in the mouth. My nieces loved the honey glazing as it was neither too sweet nor salty.

It is difficult to miss this restaurant as you will see many people flocking the place and the restaurant name is quite prominent too.

We were too full to go anywhere after dinner so we just went back to our accommodation and crashed.

Cheers,

Min ^^

#tianlairestaurant #gelangpatah #seafood #yummyseafood #johor #prawns #freshsquid #honeychicken #curryporkribs #freshoysters

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Yummy Laksa Johor

The best plans happen when you least expect them. I started the day thinking that it would just be another day at work but suddenly, a good friend whom I have not spoken to for 2 years buzzed me to say she is in town.

Well, what are good friends for right? So I decided to bring her out for some good Laksa Johor.

Since we are both nearby, we decided to head to the famous Tampoi Laksa. It's located on Jalan Dato Muthuthambi, Tampoi. It is quite hard to miss them because the place is so busy and people enjoy patroning this stall because the laksa is sooo good.

Just looking at it, one may think it's not all that good but trust me when I say it taste awesome. Firstly, the soup was filled with umami flavour and the taste of the coconut milk blend in so well with the soup. Then there's the yummy clams that made the trip there worth it. I'm glad I chose the rice noodles (meehun) option as I could really enjoy the taste of the soup.

The rojak was good too. I liked how they had 'charkuey' (crispy fried dough) in it and the rojak gravy was good too. This is the small portion and it was enough for 2 people as we had a bowl of laksa and a drink each.

In short, I really enjoyed the food there. My colleague brought me there once and I can never forget the taste. Yes, I love to eat. Hahaha. Head there if you have time. It's going to be worth it.

Cheers

Min ^^

#tampoilaksa #goodfood #johorfood #rojak #jbfood

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Gluttony trip to Kuching

So, one random day I suddenly decided to buy tickets to Kuching. That was how my amazing trip began. My friends from Sibu and Limbang were also excited that I was headed to East Malaysia so without hesitating, they too bought their flight tickets (yes, i have amazing friends).

After a long day at work, 5pm finally arrived and I excitedly drove home and took the bus to JB Central. Surprisingly, for travellers on Air Asia, we get to go on a free non-stop bus ride to Senai Airport (woohoo. Thanks Air Asia and Causeway Link).

Having arrived in Kuching late at night, after picking me up from the airport, we went to a few makan places but they were all closed. So we decided to call it a night.

I had an amazing time with these lovely girls (yes, I have very pretty friends).

Before the trip, Michelle (the host) asked if I was craving to eat anything (it's my 3rd trip to Kuching so yes, it naturally became an eat-as-much-as-I-can) trip. Since I really love eating, we had a variety of cuisine ranging from local Sarawak delicacies to Thai to Korean.

From the top left, working my way clockwise, that's some yummy kimbap, japchae, seafood Tom Yum soup, Sarawak laksa, kolo mee, satay, mee tomato (with crispy noodles), pineapple fried rice and right in the middle is peanut spread toast with chocolate drizzle.

The picture actually only showed half of what we ate in Kuching. On the first day, I was excitedly taking pictures and stopping my friends before they dig in but after that, I could not resist the temptation of the food any further and before I know it, the food was all in my tummy already. Haha.

The next day, I rang up a friend who happened to work in Kuching as well out for dinner. This time, we had Thai food and honestly speaking, the seafood tom yum soup and the pandan chicken was awesome. My tummy was very happy that day.

My trip is never complete without desserts and so ta-daa. Here they are.

Friends who know me would know that the highlight of my meals is always the desserts. Since I am a frequent Starbucks visitor, my friends naturally brought me there to satisfy my sweet tooth cravings. My favourite drink is always green tea frappucino. :) Then there's chocolate cake from Tom's cafe, methahon (superbly refreshing shaved ice dessert with fruits and jelly), Taiwanese shaved ice with fruits and ice cream, white lady (the local version of a fruit punch), teh-C special (3 layer milk tea) that is a MUST have, peanut spread toast with chocolate drizzle  and lastly the glutinous rice balls.

These desserts do not only look pretty but they taste excellent as well. Especially the Double chocolate praline cake from #Tomscafe. The chocolate was so rich and we were definitely satisfied by our cafe choice.

Of course what is a trip without some selfies. So here are some pictures of us being vain. :P

On the last day, I thought to myself why must this trip end so quickly (it was a short 3 days, 3 nights trip). I was so reluctant to go back (symdrome tak mau balik) but that morning, one of my friends suddenly reminded me that another 2 gorgeous friends would be in town for a mutual friend's wedding. So we immediately arranged for a quick meet up and we picked them up from the church after our breakfast with Michelle's mum and sister.

So, the five of us decided to buy some Sarawak kek lapis (delicious local cake with assorted flavours) both as souvenirs and to fill our tummies. To our surprise, Michelle brought us to the waterfront, parked and told us that we are taking the sampan across the Rejang River to buy the kek lapis. We were immediately excited as it was a long time since we have been on a sampan.

Obviously we had a wefie with our haul from #MiraCakeHouse (the kek lapis here was really good. It was not very oily and tasted just right as it wasn't too sweet nor bland) and then decided to go for some local tea-time delicacies. So that's another wefie with our 'Sotong kangkung' (cuttlefish and kangkung in rojak sauce topped with some peanut), umai (jellyfish cold platter) and belacan beehoon. The food was awesome.

That marks the end of my eat-all-I-can trip to Kuching. Although it was short, I spent some awesome time with the girls and though everything was last minute, we realised that we really enjoy each other's company and that's all that matters.

Cheers

Min ^^

#kuching #kuchingfood #goodfood #miracakehouse #tomscafe #starbucks #belacankangkong #umai #sarawaklaksa #tomyum #meetomato #kolomee #japchae #pandanchicken #methahon #whitelady #glutinousriceballs

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