First Hand Update From My Instagram

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Worthy Book: Xia Mian Guan

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This is not a food review, but I did tempted to do so. I am here sharing yet another nifty dinning idea. Either you are looking for new dining idea or you are taking some steps to cut down on your food expenditure, this is a very good option for you. Introducing Worthy Book: FnB Edition.
Facebook: /Worthybook
Instagram: @worthybook
Like the front page mentioned, it has more than 180 vouchers for you to choose from. You can either order it online from their website or you can get it from some major book store (like Popular, MPH, times, Borders, Kinokuniya etc.) for the mere price of RM 29.90.
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My first attempt is Xia Mian Gun at Sunway Pyramid.
There are total of 4 coupons.
2 X RM 25 cash voucher with minimum purchase of RM 100
2 X Buy one free one on all Noodles choices

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Note that there are some terms and condition applied to the coupon use.

I bring along a friend and we use the Buy one free one on all Noodles choices on top of another main and side dish

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香片茶 - Jasmin Tea (RM 2 per pax)

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狮子头面 - "Lion Head" Noodles (RM 20)
狮子头 or direct translate to "Lion Head" is a meat ball. Not your ordinary meatball, a huge @&& meatball. I was anticipating it but it let me down again. The soup was merely MSG. The meatball is tasteless ball of carbs. I am not even sure there are actually more than 30% of meat in there =.=

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牛肉汤面 - Beef Noodle (RM 18)
At least the soup is a bit more flavorful with some pepper and spices. Not terrible, but not awesome as well.

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猪八戒炒饭 - Pork Fried Rice (RM 18)
This is not a part of the coupon, we just order because it looks delicious. It did. Not sure it's because our expectation is lower after the noodle experience or it's cheese fragrance really lure my bias. It's probably both. I do recommend.

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南乳猪肉 - Fermented Bean Fried Pork Cutlets (RM 12)
The fats are soft but the lean are hard. It's very crispy on the outside, but greasy feeling is too much to take if you gonna chump down a big plate.

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Like I said, we used the Buy one free one on all Noodles choices, where lower price of the 2 noodle is 100% off.

I manage to save RM 18 this time.
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Friday, February 20, 2015

The Summer Palace, BeiJing, 颐和园

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The only touristy place I manage to visit on my stay in BeiJing is here, The Summer Palace. 颐和园 pronounce Yíhéyuán


It is only 15 mins driving distance from Haidian district i.e the electronic district.
Ticket price depends on season and package, ranging from RMB 20 - RMB 60.
Opening hours is 7 am to 5 pm depends on seasons.
Their official website provide suggested route and estimate completion time.
You can even hire a tour guide on site, price is negotiable.

Other than The Summer Palace, the Old Summer Palace or The Imperial Garden (圆明园) is also not too far away. I was told by my colleague that the Imperial Garden's garden, deco and structures are very much damaged, mostly vandalized. So, if we are only have a short trip and only visit 1 place, it would be the Summer Palace instead. Of course, if you have some free time on hand, do visit both and let me know what you think.


Although my grandparents are Chinese, I know nothing about China's history a part of what I learn from Drama and TV series. My tour guide try to explain to me quite a few interesting monument, buildings and artifact.
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There is a gallery
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 along the lake.
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The canopy is like an art gallery. Every pillar has a different drawing. Some symbolism an idiom, some are fairy tales, some are just scenery.

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This is the drawing about the Chinese Valentine, which is 7th day of the 7th month in Lunar calendar.

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During my visit, there is a Calligraphy master that was doing his demo and exhibition in one of the courtyard.

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He offer to his calligraphy and drawings with a fix price. You are also allow to take picture with him as well. My tour guide told me he is famous... no comment....

At the other entrance of the park is a river like street which copy the scenery of  SuZhou (苏州)
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I'm gonna admit. It's disappointing.

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As for the other, I have really no idea what it is, what it symbolism and what is the history significant of it.

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So, after reading my experience, do you still think you wanna visit the Summer Palace?

For the rest of my trip in BeiJing, you can navigate using this list.


Monday, February 16, 2015

Post Script Restaurant 又及餐厅

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Other than Middle 8th (中8楼), the same street has a few more restaurant which looking interesting and crowded all the time. PostScript is another restaurant my colleague bring us to after our business meeting. The ambiance is more modern and less ethnicity element in it. It's said to be a canton style cuisine. Clear chicken soup, douchi (tempeh) and eggplant sound very much like what my family eat at home. I am not sure my colleague take me here because he likes it here or remember than I am from a Canton family. For all you have to know, the last time I was in Thailand for work, he was there as well for another project. He was surprise I can speak Chinese. After a bit chat, I know he studied in a University in Guangdong which is my grandparent's hometown, before they came to Malaysia and one things leads to another and we kindda click.


Address: 15 Zhongguancun Ave. (At 中关村广场步行街), Beijing, Beijing, 100080, China
海淀区 中关村大街15号(近家乐福)
Phone: 010-51721685

Back to the food,
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Boiled beef 水煮牛肉 (RMB 56 ~RM 32) 
If you have read my blog for a while now, you probably know that I don't like beef. It's not so much like I hate beef, it's more like I don't like the way Malaysia prepare beef. It got so irritated by the dry stick like texture of those overcooked beef rendang (though I do enjoy the spices, rendang chicken is fine for me). On the day before, I tried roast veal in Middle8th. It was super awesome and so I can't wait to try it out. It was not as good as I expecting it to be. From its presentation, I thought it will be hot, very spicy, chili oil, burnt tongue. However, the spiciness goes very mild. My colleague keep warm me that it's very spicy... neh.. I think Northern Chinese just can't take spiciness very well. The texture is very good though.

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Egg plant 茄子
This is not the signature dish here, but it gives me feeling of home. Fried egg plant doesn't taste bitter at all. The soft texture compliment the slightly sweet and salty sauce. If you are not a big fan of egg plant, I suggest you take it.

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Douchi Catfish 豆豉回鱼 (RMB 42 ~RM 24)
This is not a combination I see often. Mom and grandma usually steam catfish in soy sauce instead. Possibly cos my dad hate tempeh or douchi. I personally like douchi a lot, the salted one goes great with porridge, will the unsalted one taste amazing frying. I only had 1 piece of the dish, most probably cos my colleague finish it before I notice XP. It's a signature must try dish here.

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Nothing special here. Just a plain o' fry greens, with shrimps!

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Clean with black chicken (首乌乌鸡). Not sure you have this in your country, but there is a kind of roaster that is totally black, black feater, back beak, back skin and dark grey flesh. This is up to standard, but I believe it can be better.

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蜂蜜厚多 (RMB 28 ~RM 16)
This is my favorite thing in the restaurant. No matter how full you are, you MUST order, even just one bite, you will burst out of happiness. It's not that I never have white toast with honey and vanilla ice-cream. The combination is beyond expectation. The white bread it extremely soft and bouncy, The honey doesn't soak the bread nor cover the vanilla taste from the ice-cream. The outer shell is taste, only the one inside are good.



Friday, February 6, 2015

Gu Jun Shi Fu, 古晋食府 [Food Review]

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By the time u landed here, I am sure you have this confusion where this Kuching restaurant is? No, it's not relating to cats, it's not related to the city Kuching and in fact, it's not even in Malaysia. This is another restaurant my colleague brought me to, which is just opposite to the hotel I stayed. It serves Shanxi (陕西) style cuisine which is my colleague's home town. The interior is awesome!

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Photo credit to http://guangdong.xkyn.com/


When I search on web, the address is like above
Address: 海淀区 科学院南路14号(近知春路)
Phone: 010-62578413 010-62578414


But I clearly remember the restaurant is here here, oppsosite to the Braised Pork in Brown sauce. Whichever it is, it's very near to Crown Plaza Hotel.


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炖猪蹄 (RMB 36)
Braised trotters seems to be the popular among the netizen in China. I am not particularly found of it, but at the same time I do not hate it. I personally like trotters a lot but this trotters do not standout as much. It's more like teething baby gnawing the last bit of skin around the chewing toy (bone). It as not much meat that's all I am sa


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面筋 (RMB 16)
This is the food that you white people afraid of. It's literally translate to "Gluten" in English. As you can see, there are cubes of gluten, noodle,  shredded cucumber, bean sprout toasted peanut and sesame seeds, chili oil, and sesame paste. Yes, the brown color thing that looks like diarrhea sh!t is actually quite flavorful.  According to my colleague these gluten is not made from wheat, but soy beans. It served cold. I missed this dish a lot, I am looking for similar noodles here in Malaysia and can't find one yet. If you happen to bump into some decent cold noodles, let me know!


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葱烧苔蘑 (RMB 69)
The is the name and price I  got from the net. I am not even sure if this is the real name but the price seems way off than what simple saute mushroom with leak dish would cost. I don't have ANY memory of this dish...when I look into my photo collection, I was like... what... do I even eat this before? haha.. so my advise is that not a memorable flavour on the menu, probably can skip it.

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饺子
I can't find this dish in their website or net, I guess it's not their signature or popular dish. I don't remember it's price as well. These dumpling looks so nice, smells so good but sill gave me disappointment. The meat is very chewy and bouncy, not much juice. The usual gyoza, Gaozhi, maandu or whatever dumpling I am familiar with, either Malaysia, Korean or Japanese style, they have veggies in it. Without veggies, these dumplings' texture are just plain rubbery.

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Thick soup. The soup in Northern China is also very different with what I am used to. I am from a Canto family which is in the southern region of China. Our soup do not have starch in it. This is not the clean clear soup that is only flavored by the ingredient. A bit upset but I understand that's the different between different region in China where we have different liking and culture.

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LOL this is the another dish that I have very little memory of. It's sort of a cold cut of beef (I think)



Sunday, February 1, 2015

Middle8th, 中8楼 [Food Review]

My first meal in BeiJing aside of breakfast buffet in hotel is this, Middle8th. It is Yun Nam (云南) cuisine restaurant that has 3 branch in BeiJing (2 more coming up soon, one of em will be in ShangHai).
I absolutely love this place. It has great food, great environment. The ambient is slightly dim but that just create more romantic vibes. It's a bit awkward to go there with my BeiJing support colleague.
Since my time in BeiJing is very short, I haven't try enough things to label this restaurant as a must try, but if you happen to be shopping electronics item in ZhongGuanCun and stumble upon this restaurant, I would say give it a shot!

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photo credit to lyshixi6


Address: 海淀区 中关村广场步行街R17号
Phone: 010-51721728 010-51721729
Operating hours:
Monday - Thursday : 11.30 am - 2.00 pm (lunch) 5.00 pm - 9.00 pm (dinner)
Friday - Saturday : 11.30 am - 9.30 pm
Sunday : 11.30 am - 9.00 pm

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烤小牛肉 (RMB 58 ~RM 33)
My most recommeded dish here is this, roast veal.It's so succulent. Oh my, I never tasted something similiar back in Malaysia. The beef is almost well done, but it's still tender. It's awesome with or w/o the tomato sauce. Yes, this words come out from a non beef lover.

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中8牌玖蘑菇 (RMB 38 ~RM 21)
Signature mushroom. I couldn't quite figure out what type of mushroom is use here. I didn't expect it to be so tough on my first bite. I struggle quite a bit before I stuff the whole piece into my mouth. I would stress that its flavor is quite nicely done. I suspect they fried it before mixing it with the sauce, that's why the sides are tougher. If I am back again, I would definitely order it again.

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过桥米线 (RMB 25 ~RM 14)
This is my second attempt having bridge noodle. The first was in Hong Kong. I wouldn't quite say the same thing about my experience in Hong Kong compare to here. In Hong Kong, the soup base was more flavorful,  and more choices of condiment. Here, the soup base is lighter, but oilier. However, I can't place this second to the one I had in Hong Kong because the flower petals (Jasmine I guess?)gives a new life to the soup, the kind of soul I would never expect from a simple bowl of soup noodle. It gave me a profound memory, but that is not enough to lure me to order it again on my next visit.

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This is not their signature dish. I don't remember what is it called and can't find the price online what so ever. I guess it be something like 干炒扁豆 or Fried Indian bean. It doesn't draw too much memory in my brain. I can't even remember it was pork, or chicken. It was still very tasty.

If you want to know more about this place, you may read this Dian Ping post. It's like the Trip Advisor for food or the China version of Malaysia Most Wanted food. It's in Chinese, so good luck with that.