I Dine With Leny

Kong Hei Fatt Choy!

Flew in all the way to Melbourne to dine with the infamous food blogger, Leny! 

Yee Sang for the occasion

'Choon Kuen' a.k.a Meat Rolls

Do check out Leny's food blog at http://www.dinewithleny.blogspot.com/

ADV: Taragon Restaurant & Bistro Melaka

Listed as one of the World Heritage City of UNESCO, Melaka is still very much filled with the multi-cultural heritage of the East and West from the 500 years of trading at the Straits of Melaka.


With such diverse culture, it's no suprise for its direct influence on the local delicacies.

Located just across the Stadhuys building, beside the Melaka river is an undiscovered treasure of authentic Nyonya cuisine.

Welcome to Taragon Restaurant & Bistro

Serving a wide selection of sumptious must-try nyonya cuisine, this place also serves some fine Western dishes

To start things off,

A refreshing glass of Tropical Sunset (RM7.90) as we look through the many available mouth-watering dishes in the menu

 

 

Taragon Dory Fish (RM16.90). Served with salad and mashed potatoes. Which is good news to my hungry stomach.

Sambal Bendi (RM14)

Might be a tad bit spicy for some, but it's made to 'authentic nyonya style' standards. Sure to satisfy your taste buds.

Chilli Garam Prawns (RM28)

Another one of my favourite, fresh crunchy prawns alongside spicy gravy. Guarantee you'll want more!

The variety of dishes that we ordered

Given such variety, all of it seems to compliment each other in taste which is a major plus to the whole dining experience here.

Finally, for dessert,  

Nyonya Cendol (RM3.90)

U ain't tried no Melaka cendol yet, till you've tasted Taragon's very own Nyonya Cendol. Smooth and thoroughly refreshing, it'll leave you wanting more.

 

A private lounge is also available on the upper level that caters to functions with openings that overlooks the river and the scenic hustle in the heart of town.  

Good food amidst great ambience and friendly staff, this IS the place to go to complete your Melaka experience!

Taragon

Nyonya - Western - Bistro

42A & 44A, Lorong Hang jebat

75200 Melaka

Tel: +6062881688

For reservations, call:

 Alvin Tan at +60129055865

Business Hours:

Mon: 10:00 am – 11:30 pm

Wed – Fri: 10:00 am – 11:30 pm

Sat – Sun: 10:00 am – 1:00 am

@Dessert's Bar

Spent my Saturday snacking at Dessert's Bar with Phoebe.

Since both of us are curious to try out the food there and also to 'rescue' little miss Phoebe from her 'chap-fan dilemma', we agreed to go check out the much talked about Dessert's Bar located in the Golden Triangle

The voucher entitles us to 5% off the total bill & also 10% of the sales will go towards City Harvest - Arise & Build.

One of the many creatively-designed menu

So now we can stuff ourselves knowing that the more we eat, the more funds will go towards Arise & Build.

First up:

Uber-delicious fruit smoothies

Main Course:

The highly recommended Monte Sandwich

Check out the menu, I'm indeed 'brave' to be eating it.. *laughs*

Desserts:

Banana cake with ice-cream & Lychee+strawberry cake



Spent like 3 hours catching up on loads of stuff after the filling snack...... *burps*

We ordered another round of drinks, TEA that is..

Queen's Tea & Honey-Lemon Tea




Here's Phoebe making her 'honey-lemon' tea

Phoebe playing 'masak-masak' with her cuppa tea

And by the way, bubbly, babyface Phoebe's a vocal powerhouse currently involved with The Canticle Singers.

Phoebe & I at Dessert's Bar

Gotta leave soon after to head over to KLCC for the iPhone launch.

Ipoh - Lotsa Food & A Wedding [part 2]

Woke up in Ipoh to a hungry stomach on Day 2 overlooking the land of awesome food and limestone hills.

View of the Ipoh Race Track from my room

Headed downtown Ipoh for the famous 'heong peng' followed by a visit to this shop which has been operating for the last 50 odd years!

That's Dariel cheerfully posing amongst the very tasty biscuits

My cousin - Cathy; buying loads of biscuits ranging from those that I've not seen for the last 10 years or so in the market.

Remember those small little hard-icing top biscuits, and the 'yee-chai-peng'?.. Yeah..it's all still sold here! And thats the shop owner who proudly claims that they've sold a certain type of biscuits for the last 51 years, when asked whether the biscuits were tasty.

Headed for brunch at some coffee shop in the corner of town where they serve really awesome-ly delicious yong tau foo and toast bread. It was so good, we ordered twice of the same food with Leo even ordering a whole bowl of those green chilli's with stuffed meat!

It's back to KL happily after all the food to soon realize that we've gotta find the lyrics and practice to a song that we last sang together when we were 12 years old! And we're finally doing it again tonite..after all these years.





Here we are, at the dinner venue in Tropicana.

The groom & I

My dad & I with the newly-weds after the 'tea-session'

Our cousins and aunts

Our gracious host for the weekend - Cathy & Dariel

Continuing the evening with the usual wedding dinner, cake-cutting, wine-pouring,..then came our 'moment'.

Our song; -first and last heard back in the summer holidays in the early 90's is making a come back on this special occasion of Kristin's wedding

So here we are, reunited in a song:

The evening then continued with more yam-seng's and photo session...

Altogether now.... "Yammmmm-SennnnggggGGGGG"

Last but not least, meet Chien Hui, Kristin's cousin. Well, she's like the one and only cousin of Kristin that I've ever remembered....

Look at what a beauty she is now:

We used to spend our holidays together back in the innocent days and the last time we've met was like....ancient years..! *laughs*

Guys: Stop staring already!

Girls: Look at me instead.. =)

Ipoh - Lotsa Food & A Wedding [part 1]

Went to Ipoh for a food trip my cousin's wedding over the weekend with my bro and cousin.

Reach Ipoh just slightly before noon and went straight to where the famous "satay-intestines" were sold. Among the food we sapu were the super smooth hor-fun, juicy taugeh's, curry mee and popiah..

One just couldnt imagine what a glutton we could be...we were so full and stretched in our bellies after a quick meal like that.

These are the Ipoh "must-have" dishes

After the sumptious brunch, we took a drive around the very scenic Ipoh and headed towards Taiping.

Traffic in Ipoh is seriously SLOW...with everyone just cruising along not rushing anywhere.



We then went 'long-kai' in classic Taiping for about an hour or so before heading back to Ipoh in its most jammed-up hour!..

Got caught in the after-hours jam (can't believe there's actually jam in downtown Ipoh) back to our hotel before freshening up for the wedding dinner....

YUP..thats what we're actually here for; my cousin's wedding! *laughs*

Here's a pix of my cousin - Kristin with the love of her life - Irving.

Kristin & Irving

Leo & I with Kristin & Irving

Bride & Groom with their parents.

Cathy & I with the newly-weds





After the dinner....... we went for MORE FOOD!!! ... this time at the famous roadside hawker stalls that's famous for their tong sui & mussels (si-ham)

Check out the fresh mussels, dipped into spicy chilli sauce.

...to be continued...

An OX-picious year ahead!

Chinese New Year mood is all around as we prepare to welcome the year of the Ox in a few days time

As for me, I've just had the first Yee Sang dish of this year with my colleagues over lunch yesterday.

It was so good, I can't help but to put up an entry about it here.

Juicy Salmon Yee Sang

Don't you just wish you had those in your mouth? *laughs*

Anyway, as new year draws closer with reunion dinner on the eve, am looking forward to seriously light up some of these with my family in PD:

7 foot-long fire crackers

According to ancient history, it's used to scare away evil spirits..bla bla bla.. but in our country it seems to be more of ATTRACTING cops who so-coincidentally happened to be "extra hardworking" doing their rounds at the stroke of midnite.

Hope it wouldn't attract the whole local police station when lighting up fire crackers of this magnitude.

So, it's Xin Nien Kuai Le, Wan Shi Ru Ee, Xin Xiang Shi Cheng to EVERYONE !!!

Wish you all an abundance in your angpow collection during this new year!

Gong Xi Fa Cai !

My Birthday Getaway To Penang - Day 3

It's the last day of my getaway and the weather has been really beautiful despite the reported landslides and heavy rain just days before we arrive.

Felt so blessed with such fine weather, good fun and of course not forgetting the glorious food!

View from my room. The sea & skies are clear with no signs of tsunami

Intended to go for a swim in the pool and show off my bones but it was kinda crowded, so decided to walk to the beach instead.

Soft & white sands awaits! I went straight into the sea while leaving the cam to do its stuff.

Like the 'bubbles'?.. made it out of seashells & of course my pair of Crocs being abdandoned while I go barefooted into the sea.

Lotsa lovely looking seashells were found on the beach

Checked out from hotel and left for brunch at Pulau Tikus area which I was told serve some delicious food as well.

Heck, the whole of Penang serves good food!

Claypot chicken rice with eggs + chinese sausages. *drools*

Here's the famous Ghee Hiang 'heong peng' shop in Penang which sadly has ran out of stock by the time we reach due to the high demand during the few days break.

Sharing is caring...come on..just one bite!

Just before getting out of Penang island, we visited Fort Cornwallis; the historical site where it all began.

Ok..I dont do fishing; Just borrowed the fishing rod from an uncle to camwhore..*lol

Fort Cornwallis, the spot where Captain Francis Light landed in 1786 was named after Charles Marquis Cornwallis, a distinguished Governor General of India, and designed as a defense against the French, Kedah, and pirates.

Some history lesson for all:

Fort Cornwallis was one of the first European structures in Penang. After Captain Francis Light officially took possession of the island on August 11th 1786, development of Penang began from this point.

Captain Sir Francis Light; Founder of the British Colony of Penang & Georgetown in 1786

With the many used-to-be prison cells converted into exhibition rooms, much history were revealed in here. Artifacts, family trees and even the bolts and nuts used for construction of this fort were on display in these cells turned gallery.

Here's one exhibit that caught my attention while we were seeking refuge from the hot sun in the air-conditioned cells.

Colonel William Light; Founder of Adelaide in Australia.

Born in Kuala Kedah, grew up in Penang and was sent to England for studies.

Col. William Light; This potrait was presented to the museum of Penang by the nice people of Adelaide.

pssst... William is the illegitimate son of Capt. Francis Light *hehe



Walking around the interesting fort, we found an underground hideout.....

An underground armour room where bombs and gunpowders were kept

Took us slightly more than an hour to tour around the fort before we finally left and queued for ferry to get back to Butterworth.

Sailing boats docking at the jetty area just beside the ferry terminal

Saying our goodbyes to Penang we left at about 5pm..........

Ferry ride back to Butterworth once again. Lovin' it!

.......only to be stuck in a massive crawl on the expressway for 6.5 hrs before we could reach Ipoh!

They were no accidents but rather the extremely heavy traffic on the expressway due to the long holidays.

And so we finally got to Ipoh around midnite, satisfied our glutton needs and zoomed back to Seremban in a short & exciting 2.5 hrs drive.

Tearing down the highways at 200km/h

It was a worthwhile & memorable trip surrounded with good food & great company.

Penang, u've made me a glutton!