Thong Thai Cafe, Penang for a Thai Dinner

A brief trip back to Penang for a family matter and was brought to this eating corner at Air Itam. The road leading to Hill Penang and it's called "Thong Thai Cafe".

A good Saturday dining crowd waiting patiently for their food and was told to wait for 45 minutes before our dinner is served.

A must order Tom Yam seafood soup in most outing. Good Tom Yam.

Kerabu Mango - Simple yet appetising.

Green Curry with chicken.

A combo of deep fried Thai delight such as fish cake, pandan chicken, kangkong, belacan chicken. A favourite among the young.

Thai Otak Otak with calamari & prawns.

Deep fried black pomfret with 3 taste sauce.

Stir fried Kangkong Belacan.

Nancy & Lilian my ni! eces enj oying the dinner.

Thong Thai Cafe

1, Jalan Bukit Bendera,

Selekoh Jalan Pokok Ceri

Thong's hp : 012-489-2247

GPS : 5.407371,100.278485

In the air

Dear readers, you wouldn't believe this but I'm actually in a flight. Haha. This would be y third flight for the day and my trip has been nothing but sucky. First, my flight from Melbourne to
LA lasted 13 hours. Then, I have to take another 4 hour flight from LA to Cincinnati. Now, I'm heading to Boston. I had the worst foods ever between flights. The sandwiches are laden with preservatives and sugars. The salads are not fresh. The fruits can potentially be mushed for wine. Also, water is freaking expensive. I really hope the trip will be great because at this point, my heart yearns for Kuala Lumpur. The long flight completely killed my skin. My acne worsened along the way. I placed so much of zinc oxide on my face that I look wrong. I spent thirty dollars on a SIM card and broke it. Bad food costs me nearly 40 bucks. I am starting to really hate USA and wish to be in KL or Hong Kong. I guess the Western world has no place for
Michelle Chin. Also, there is no free wifi in the airport. I actually paid for my wifi service. Right now, I want to be nowhere but home.

Ri Yakitori is one of those restaurants Ive always wanted to

Ri Yakitori is one of those restaurants Ive always wanted to try but have never done so because of its location. The thought of getting stuck in traffic and finding parking in "The Gardens" have kept me away from Ri until I finally had a real reason to visit Mid-Valley. My brother Kim had booked a movie I really wanted to watch for 7:30pm at GSC.

Ri is a Yakitori Bar that specializes in grilled foods with an emphasis on Chicken. Nearly every part of the Chicken is available for order including a few Rice Dishes and also some Beef Skewers. We were seated at the counter where we had a chat with our Yakitori Master-Chef who hails from Osaka while we waited for our food to be grilled.


Complimentary Salad

Our Salad came with a Wasabi and Sesame Dressing. The Lettuce is shredded so finely and had a nice crunch that was very refreshing to eat. It reminded me of the salad I had in Genkatsu, Tokyo.


Grilled Shiitake

Seasoned simply with just Salt. It was Juicy and packed a lot flavor. Went well with the Bonito Flakes.


Chicken Breast Bone

I love Nankotsu and the one at Ri was really good. Unlike other places which only served the Softbone, Ri has the Softbone sandwiched between som! e Chicke n Meat that was surprisingly not overcooked.


Chicken Gizzard

The Gizzard was disappointing. It was very dry and overcooked.


Chicken Cartilage

Another favorite of mine. Somehow at Ri it is a little too dry and I couldnt not really taste the Chicken Flavor from the Fat surrounding the Cartilage.


Chicken Thigh and Leek

This was good. The Thigh Meat was tender and juicy with the Leeks nicely charred.


Chicken Thigh Meat

The Chicken Thigh Skewer was very dry and overcooked.


Wagyu Beef

This was not bad. The Tip was a little hard from being too cooked. But the middle and bottom half was very tender.


Gyu Tongue

The Gyu Tongue was a little overcooked and bland.


Chicken Donburi

Kim ordered this. The Donburi was actually pretty good. The egg was left runny giving it a rich flavor to the tender pieces of Chicken Meat and Rice


Overall I had mixed feelings about Ri Yakitori. Some Skewers will well cooked and seasoned but others particularly my favorite Chicken Cartilage, Chicken Gizzard and Gyu Tongue were not very good. However with only two Yakitori Bars I know off in KL Valley I would definitely visit Ri again whenever I have cravings for some Yakitori.

Food: 3.5/5
Service: 4/5
Ambiance: 4.5/5
Price: $$ (Approximately $25 per person)


Contact Information
Address: 7th Floor, The Gardens Hotel,
Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Putra, KL.
Tel: +603-22681188

The V

Back to The V for meat-free fare. Earlier entry: April 4.

Salad with egg, mock ham, almonds, raisins & wasabi dressing. Customers can mix and match their own selection of salad toppings here; this combination worked wonderfully, if we do say so ourselves. Savory, sweet, nutty & spicy, all at once.

Pan-fried Chinese dumplings. A snack attack served steaming-hot; addictively tasty, as any dumpling worth its salt should be.

"Meatballs" in cream. Texturally satisfying "meatballs," with a firm feel. But the cream sauce was overly reminiscent of carbonara, which can be too cloying after a spoonful or two.

Pesto lasagne. Lighter than regular meat-based lasagne; the pesto sauce proved excellent, with a deliciously ! distinct herbal flavor.

Fried potato croquettes. Forgettable, unless you're passionate about potatoes.

Potato chips. Chunky cuts, crisp on the outside, soft and piping-hot within. Bonus points for lacing this with a pleasant pinch of Cajun pepper.

Warm chocolate pudding with custard sauce. A rich, creamy confection.

Orange pudding. Moist and fresh-tasting, but bordering on bland. An OK option if you prefer less sugar in your desserts though.

The V Cafe,

Syopz @ The Boardwalk,

Taylor's Lakeside Campus.!

Walking Golf is Healthy Golf at Titiwangsa Police Club, Kuala Lumpur

Of late there is no buggy service at Kelab Golf Titiwangsa PDRM because all the buggies have been damaged due to a fire. It is actually good news and also bad news. The good news is that we get to walk on the golf course which is good in the name of healthy sport. Let's forget about the bad news.

It was a lovely morning though it was cloudy or maybe hazy but it was an ideal weather to walk and play golf.

The many beautiful! flowers at the golf course that we always take for granted. Let's walk for good health.

Rempah Rempah (Setiabudi)

Rempah Rempah is a chain of restaurants serving traditional Indonesian food in a modern environment. They currently exist in Jakarta (Senopati and Setiabudi), Palembang and Papua, and they will open soon in Medan and Batam. I visited the one in Setiabudi.

Rempah Rempah Setiabudi is located in a converted house, with a small garden in the middle. There is nothing luxurious but it is clean and welcoming. They have a large, inviting menu with professional pictures, plus an indication of the level of spiciness (most dishes are hot). The prices are mid-range: A meal including drinks should cost you less than Rp60,000.

We tried the Nasi Campur Rempah Rempah (Rp27,500) and the Nasi Campur Wong Daso (Rp21,000), with some appetizers. Nothing to shout about but it was decent, especially considering the price.

The service seemed a bit disorganized. Since this branch opened only 2 months ago, I can imagine they are still adjusting. My main grief was that our dishes arrived in a random manner: The rice first with the appetizers, then the drinks, then the sambal, then the du! ck, and then only the rest of the Nasi Campur. It was quite disturbing, and for that reason I didn't take too many pictures. Here are a few shots though:

Overall: Rempah Rempah seems to me like a good place to try for lunch if you work near Setiabudi. Not fancy enough though for dinner or special occasions. They also have a long drink list, with a great variety of Indonesian coffees. Drinks are more pricey though.

It is wise to make a reservation because there were only a few tables left when I visited.

Operating Hours:
Everyday, from 11am to 10pm (11pm on weekends).

Rempah-Rempah Setiabu! di

Jl. Setiabudi II no 1, South Jakarta

Reservation and Delivery: (021) 525 2074

Email: info@restorempahrempah.com
Website: http://www.restorempahrempah.com/

Office: +62-21 739 8350

Fax: +62-21 724 8970

Other branches:

Rempah-Rempah Senopati

Jl. Senopati Raya no 60, South Jakarta

Reservation and Delivery: +62-21 725 4352

Rempah-Rempah Jayapura

Jl. Raya Abepura, Jayapura

Papua Reservation and Delivery: +62-967 587 933

Rempah-Rempah Resto & Cafe Palembang

Jl. Sumpah Pemuda M7, Palembang

Reservation and Delivery: +62-711 361 922