Turtuk

A faint morn' sun brushes my face
A light drizzle outside plays
Marigolds form an orange maze
Pine trees around me, I'm in a daze
I get up from the cosy laze
Sweet sweet earth, makes a pretty face
I soak, leaving behind the city race
Turtuk, with its Godly ways
Consumes me, and a high stays!

Saigon bliss

Saigon during Tet / Lunar New Year

City light
Buzzing night
Bikes galore
Packed floor
Sky ablaze
Fire maze
Rainbow shade
Smiles invade
Faces light
Eyes bright
Saigon bliss
Still miss! 

 

FIFA Madness

The D-day finally arrived – our match day 27th June at Soccer City, Johannesburg. We opted for a “park and walk” ticket which turned out to be a smart decision. The walk to the stadium was a rush in itself. The most enthusiastic soccer crazy hawkers selling vuvuzelas (stadium horns), makarelas (hand-cut and hand-painted hard hats), Zakumi miniatures( Zakumi is the Offical Mascot for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, an anthropomorphized leopard with green hair), giant glasses and shields with team slogans, mufflers, badges, flags, jerseys, even nail art with your team’s colour. We were to watch the Argentina-Mexico match and Mandar being a devoted White and Sky Blue fan picked up his team’s merchandise. I was a neutral supporter so picked up the home country colours. As we reached the stadium, we were engulfed in the hysteria. Outrageously dressed fans with the craziest head gear made from feathers, cane and what not, big screens showing the previous match live, fans doing the diksi dance( a south-african way of celebrating soccer – all the football moves, minus the ball), soccer games, fans sharing stage with Zakumi and beer flowing. Not able to control our urge to be in the gigantic stadium, we made an early entry. Pictures followed. It was finally 8.00 pm, our first glimpse of our favourite players warming up. At quarter past eight, the flags were out, anthems followed while the vuvuzelas screeched as 84000 fans longed to watch their teams. Both the teams were high on energy and we got desperate to watch our first goal. And Tevez it was whose sheer energy on the field was transferred to you. We screamed laduma (a popular cheer at soccer matches literally meaning “it thunders” in Zulu). A fast-paced game and so much frenzy at the stadium, it seemed like the match ended too soon. A contrast of emotions followed, happy tears from the Argentina fans and a crest-fallen Mexican crowd. It was an adrenalin rush and we couldn’t wait to see our next match Argentina-Germany at Cape Town.

Raw oysters and snails at Press Room, Bangsar

After over a month of a troubled, long-distance relationship, my love affair with this city just got a boost. I'm back in Kuala Lumpur, and like my FB status says today, I'm loving it!

Late in the evening, we left the client site for a team dinner at the Press Room at Bangsar Shopping Centre, or BSC as some call it here. As we were reaching BSC, it seemed like our cabbie was taking us around in circles. Now, that's a familiar feeling I get in most unfamiliar cities these days, but the roads leading in and out of major areas in Kuala Lumpur do seem to go in circles before you hit the highway. So we gave him the benefit of our doubt.

We settled in at a table for six, and started the arduous, tedious task of menu selection. It seemed that this place is one of the more popular places around, and it got filled in quick time. We picked a main course each, and our hostess took over the responsibility of ordering starters for all of us. Of course, when you leave such an important task to others, you are also at their mercy. What arrived was just as gruesome as it was enticing.

Shamin had dared to try out a raw seawater oyster the previous time that we'd been here. This time around, I was determined to follow suit. Giving company to the oysters was a delectable dish of snails in a yellow curry. Apparently the curry also doubled up as a dip for the bread provided alongwith. It is suggested that you devour the oyster in one bite, and for good reason. The strong seawater flavor hit my already resistant taste buds, and I all but thanked my Hoegaarden beer for saving me the blushes. It wasn't a big deal really, and I'm glad I tried it. The snails weren't such a difficult experience though, and while they were not quite yummy, they went down without a bother. And yes, the dip was well worthy of the recommendation.

I'd ordered a duck confit as my main course; duck confit is a French dish made with the leg of a duck, with salt curing acting as the preservative for the duck meat. The leg was grilled just enough to take on a good brown color and was very crisp. It was an interesting choice, and I enjoyed the change from the usual chicken meat. No meal is complete without dessert, and I ended mine with the creme brulee. It consisted of a cream vanilla custard base with a thin, crisp layer of burnt caramel. Now, I must confess though that I prefer the caramel pudding to its sister variety. Through with the excellent meal, we bid each other good night, and went home satisfied. All in all a fantastic re-start to my Malaysian food journey.

Nasi Lemak – Malaysian national dish

Another omnipresent dish on restaurant menus in Malaysia – the famous Nasi Lemak. Nasi means rice in Malay while Lemak refers to cream. The name is derived from the cooking process whereby rice is soaked in coconut cream and then the mixture steamed. The dish was elaborate – there was rice with sambal (spicy sauce, a close relative of our sambar), roasted peanuts, hard boiled egg, small dried anchovies accompanied by chicken. The sambal had a tangy tamarind taste while the dried fish went very well with the food.

Spanish La Bodega – tapas and vinos

The restaurant menu said, “eat like the way the Spanish do – live to eat and not eat to live”, well “la Bodega – tapas and vinos” lived upto its Spanish ways. This tapas and wine place is as much of a live wire as most of the restaurants in Bukit Bintang. Tired of walking, but full of energy to try out the lively restaurants we chanced upon La Bodega at the famous Le Pavillon. Mandar started with his favourite wheat beer Hoegaarden while I ordered a House sangria and home-made nachos made from potato. While the beer was flat, sangria was watery and nachos were like potato chips, the tapas and the paella stole the show.

The waiter suggested we try the tapas marinated lamb skewer with spicy apricot chutney and garlic mayo which was a treat. I'm not a big fan on lamb but with this I became one. Next we tried the tapas with prawns in andalusia style spicy garlic n tomato sauce. This tapas was accompanied with bread and tasted like a less-spicy and non-vinegar version of Goan Prawns Balchao. Delicious. Mandar refilled his glass with a Stella beer while I asked for a light-bodied red wine, Vina brava, carinena, garnacha tinta torres.

For main course, after much thinking, we decided to try the Fideua - angel hair pasta cooked in a paella with chicken, braised octopus and peas. Well, the dish has a distinct wood-burn taste with the octopus tasting somewhere between a shrimp and a squid. Yes, it was our first time with the octopus, we mixed the octopus well with the vermicelli-like pasta so as to avoid its sight, eating it was definitely an achievement for us.

Red-bean ice

ABC was on my list-to-try in Malaysia. And I just chanced upon it at Selera Putra food court on the bank of the Putra lake in Putrajaya. Ais kacang meaning “red-bean ice” or popularly known as air batu campur in Malay or ABC for short is a like an assortment of crushed ice with various syrups with red beans, sweet corn, jellies and can be topped with a scoop of ice-cream. It was a huge soup bowl if ice candy and cooled down our bodies. No wonder its so popular in Malaysia which has a tropical weather. I was amazed at the combination on beans in ice-cream, imagine rajma beans in your ice-cream? But, don’t be turned off, the combination was perfectly done; just the right amount of beans and the syrups with the ice golas makes this a must-try item.