Saturday, August 10, 2013

Gelatomio On The Rock, 1st Avenue, Penang

Well, it's me again! It's been a long long time since I blogged. I went to try out this traditional Italian ice cream which is quite famous, Gelatomio. 



I think many of you do know this ice cream but it might sound funny, the first time I saw it, I was like "yucks!" because of the texture, which is much unlike the normal ice cream. To put the "yuck" feeling to rest, I try them out myself today. Gelatomio On The Rock, the name sounds great, as they prepare the Gelatomio ice cream on a cold stone, mixed with several toppings. I attached the video on how the mixing was done at the end of this post.




There are 24 flavours in total, avaiable in Gelatomio for you to choose. I know 24 flavours are just too difficult to choose but you can try them before ordering. Just enquire the friendly server to give you a small bit of sample to try first.


Stracciatella + Cookies and Cream (Almond and corn flakes as topping)


Green Tea + Black Sesame (Almond and raisins as topping)

Actually the portion is quite big, unless you are a big eater, one should be enough for 2 pax on sharing basis. Well, for me, it tastes real good. Desserts make one's smile and this definitely will.


Preparation of Gelatomio On The Rock




Venue
Gelatomio, Lower Ground Floor, 1st Avenue Mall, Penang

Price
RM20.90 (1 pax)

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Saturday, April 13, 2013

Jade Buddha for Universal Peace, Penang Times Square, Penang

Today I went to Penang Times Square to witness one of the life-time event, Jade Buddha for Universal Peace. This event is held at Penang Times Square starting from 6 April 2013 until 14 April 2013. It is organised by Chokyi Gyaltsen Centre, Penang. People might feel weird because we can see Buddha statues all over the world but this one, the only one in the world, Jade Buddha. For the info, Penang is the 66th city the Jade Buddha has arrived, after visiting various places from around the world. The magnificent Jade Buddha also the world's largest Jade Buddha is here for the first time in Penang. The Jade Buddha is 2.7 metres tall and weighs 4 tonnes. 

Jade Buddha for Universal Peace
Jade Buddha for Universal Peace
  
The origin of the Jade Buddha was the jade was found in Canada and they decided to carve the jade into a Buddha statue. The Buddha statue inside the Mahabodhi Stupa in India is the model for the great Jade Buddha. The reason the Buddha statues was chosen is the because it is universally recognized by all Buddhists.

Jade Buddha for Universal Peace
Jade Buddha for Universal Peace

Jade Buddha for Universal Peace
Jade Buddha for Universal Peace



The Jade Buddha is really magnificent and you can feel the peace aura around the place. The Jade Buddha was carved in Thailand and if I am not mistaken, while carving the Jade Buddha, the monks were praying and chanting non-stop. After exhibiting around the world, the Jade Buddha will be placed at a Big Stupa in Australia. According to the website, the reason they exhibit the Jade Buddha around the world is mainly to reflect upon peace. 

Jade Buddha for Universal Peace
Jade Buddha for Universal Peace


The picture clearly shows that a lot of Buddhists are queuing up to wait for the sangha's blessing using the Buddha relics. The sangha are from Kopan Monastery in Nepal. Just queue up, kneel upon the sangha, they will put the Buddha relic on your head and start to chant some mantras on you.

Sand Mandala
Sand Mandala

Guess what! It is not always we can see Sand Mandala because it is very difficult to do. The sangha took 7 days since 6 April 2013 to finish up the sand mandala. The process took about 8 to 10 hours each day, hand-made! They need to cover their faces when they do it because the breathing might blow away the sand. Please read the following info to know more about sand mandala.





Besides, there is a corner with two Buddha statues for us to bath the Buddha. 




You can also see the various types of Buddha relics displayed at the event.

Buddha Relics
Buddha Relics

Ian Green
Ian Green, founder of Jade Buddha team

Moreover, you can buy various types of offerings there such as rice, lantern-flower and flower. The rice offering is RM10 for 1kg of rice and you will be given a coupon to claim a pack of 1kg rice to be brought home, lantern-flower is RM10 and the flower is RM15. 

For those who are not aware of the event, don't worry, you can always visit it tomorrow (14 April 2013) but tomorrow will be the last day in Penang. After this, The Jade Buddha might travel to Korea or Japan. Take the chance of the life to visit the Great Jade Buddha at Penang Times Square. They are selling various jade gifts from the jade boulder used to carve the Jade Buddha but the stall selling the pendants are closing tonight at 7PM.

PEACE

Venue
Penang Times Square, Penang

Event Time
6 April 2013 - 14 April 2013
10AM - 9PM daily
(Extended to 11PM due to overwhelming response) 

Websites





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Friday, April 12, 2013

Gathers In Restaurant, Bayan Lepas, Penang

I went to Gathers In Restaurant for lunch today for the first time. It is a Classic Western and Italian Cuisine restaurant located at Bayan Lepas, near the industrial zones. They served a variety of western and Italian cuisine at a reasonable price. For me, the taste is not bad , as it is considered cheap for a fine dining. You can either order ala-carte or set at additional RM5 to get Soup of the Day, drink and dessert, aside from the main course. If you are ordering the set, you will be given a piece of garlic bread as well.

Gathers In Restaurant
Gathers In Restaurant

Gathers In Restaurant
Gathers In Restaurant
I ordered 2 sets of lunch today at additional RM5 apart from the main course price each. Each of them comes with a bowl of soup of the day (mushroom soup), 1 piece of garlic bread, a glass of drink (ice-lemon tea, homemade nutmeg juice or barley) and dessert (fruits) and the main course as well.

Soup of the Day
Soup of the Day (Mushroom Soup)
Garlic Bread
Garlic Bread

There are 6 pieces of garlic breads there because that one was ordered separated by me. The garlic bread is really crunchy and nice. You can see lots of garlic on top of them. The soup tastes nice too. Creamy and tasty.

Carbonara Spaghetti
Carbonara Spaghetti
Grilled Chicken Olio Spaghetti
Grilled Chicken Olio Spaghetti
These are the two main courses I ordered. The carbonara tastes nice  and creamy. The toppings are shredded mushroom, sausages, bacon, ham and cheese. But, you can see the whole thing was mixed up because I forgot to take picture before I eat. Too tempting maybe. For the Grilled Chicken Olio, it is something I would say when Chinese meets Western. The grilled chicken tastes so "Chinese" but the others taste so  "Italian". It is really special and you can try it.

But to me, the portion is quite big. I peeped at the table next to mine and they ordered Picata and the chicken is really big! For those who works nearby Bayan Lepas area, you can go to try them out. It is located at Sunway Prima, Bayan Lepas.

Venue
Gathers In Restaurant, Sunway Prima, Bayan Lepas, Penang

Price
Carbonara Spaghetti RM10.90 (Ala-carte price)
Grilled Chicken Olio Spaghetti RM12.90 (Ala-carte price)
Garlic Bread (6 pieces) RM4.80

For set:
Soup of the Day + 1 piece of Garlic Bread + Drink + Dessert 
(Add RM5 for each main course ordered)

NO Service Charges
NO Government Tax

Business Hours
Monday to Friday 11AM - 2.30PM / 6PM - 10PM
Saturday and Sunday 6PM - 10PM
Close on every Tuesday

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Sunday, March 10, 2013

Ah Ngieng Cafe, Sibu, Sarawak

A big hello to everyone! My last post was dated on 23 January 2013 and it's been like more than a month since I last updated my blog. I am really sorry as I was on a long vacation back to my hometown in Sibu, Sarawak for Chinese New Year celebration. When I got back to Penang, I got caught up for some stuffs and now, I am here writing my blog again. This time I am not going to post Penang's food but food from my hometown, Sibu, Sarawak. Some of the dishes are only available in Sarawak due to the availability of the vegetables. Say no more, let pictures speak it all.

Sea Cucumber Soup
Sea Cucumber Soup
My all-time favourite, sea cucumber soup. I really love this soup a lot as it is really tasty. From the picture, you can't really see the sea cucumber because sea cucumber lives inside the water. Alright, bad joke! All the sea cucumber is under the soup, together with some minced pork, mushroom, egg and many more. A must try if you ever visit Sibu but only some shops serve a really good one only and of course, Ah Ngieng Cafe is one of them.

Sweet and Sour Tofu
Sweet and Sour Tofu
Tofu is also known as bean curd. This one is absolutely nice as you can really taste the balance of sweet and sour, not like others, one flavour dominates all. You can choose either local tofu or Japanese tofu. The one above is local tofu, which is square in shape but cut into smaller cubes.

Fried Bidin with Oyster Sauce
Fried Bidin with Oyster Sauce
Bidin is a type of fern, an authentic wild vegetable grown in Sarawak. Normally the natives will come out and pluck this bidin after the rain as they have better yield after the rain, like mushroom. Again, every time I go back to my hometown, I must eat this dish at least once. Like I said earlier, this is only available in Sarawak and even if it is available here in West Malaysia, most probably it was because some Sarawakians brought them here. 

Fried Sweet Leaves with Egg
Fried Sweet Leaves with Egg
I am not sure what is the vegetable above called. Some called it sweet leaves, sweet shoots and I called it "Mani Cai", where "Cai" means vegetable in Hokkien. Again, this is my favourite too, especially fried with egg. I noticed, only some shops really have the skill to cook this dish to perfection. Some are too dry or some are too wet. But I love this one so much.

Fried Salted Pork Rib
Fried Salted Pork Rib
Finally, the main dish of the night, Fried Salted Pork Rib. And this is really a WOW for me. I love and love and love this one so so much. The pork rib was fried and mixed with onions, chili and fried ginger. It tastes so nice that I found no one cooks this better than Ah Ngieng Cafe. The best in Sibu, I would say. This is a MUST try food!

Ah Ngieng Cafe
Ah Ngieng Cafe
I guess I was too carried away by all the writing without first introducing Ah Ngieng Cafe. I guess I am a loyal customer for Ah Ngieng Cafe as I remembered the boss had changed places for three times and I am still his customer until now. The boss is a friend of my dad. Until now, whenever I am back to Sibu, I am sure I will go to eat there. The price is reasonable with the food portion. However, I forgot the exact price for each dish but the total amount was around RM50 for 5 people including white rice and drinks.

Sadly, I only go back to Sibu once a year and I am not sure how to explain its location in detail. I just know the shop is located at Jalan Lada 18 (Lada Road, Sibu). I am really sorry to say that I shared good food without prices and location this time.

Update 18 March 2013:
I received a few feedback here and in Facebook. Some said Jalan Lada 18C and some said Jalan Lada 16A or 16B but too bad I am not in Sibu to find out. If you are a food hunter, please hunt it down from the hints given. :p 

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Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Goku Raku Ramen, Gurney Paragon, Penang

I am back! It's been a few weeks since I last updated my blog. Many things went on these few weeks; parents visiting me and some other personal stuffs. But, whenever I managed to go out to eat, I did snapped a few pictures but I find no time to update my blog until today. Ok, cut the talking but start with the real business. I think all of you realized that Japanese cuisines are getting hotter and hotter in town. This particular shop sells some particular Japanese cuisines, Ramen. I ate at this shop a few times and I think their ramen is very nice. Goku Raku Ramen, I don't know why it was named so. However, take note that it is a NON-HALAL restaurant. The special thing about this ramen is the soup.

Goku Raku Ramen
Goku Raku Ramen
I managed to ask the restaurant waiter that their soup is cooked with "pig bone" for a few hours. Recently, they came out with the soup cooked with "chicken bone". That's the reason their soup tastes so nice and thick.

Ultimate Tonkotsu Ramen (Shoyu)
Ultimate Tonkotsu Ramen (Shoyu)
The one above is cooked with "pig bone". I will tell you how to differentiate between "pig bone" and "chicken bone". The one I ate above is the "ultimate" version of the ramen and the flavour is shoyu, means soy sauce.

Ultimate Tokyo Ramen (Original)
Ultimate Tokyo Ramen (Original)
The one above is the one cooked with "chicken bone". That's how it looks for original flavour. The meat is the char siew pork. Both of them taste really nice. Now, eating ramen needs a few basic knowledge. 

For ordering, pick the ramen you want, ultimate or super char siew and etc from the menu, then choose your soup flavour and your topping. From the menu (I didnt manage to capture), those under Tonkotsu Ramen are cooked with "pig bone" and those under Tokyo Ramen are cooked with "chicken bone".

Before eating, do you see the piece of seaweed above? Remember, do not mix the seaweed with your soup as it will dissolve. Before eat, sip an amount of the soup first, to "rinse" your mouth so that taste will start to stay in your mouth, mix the ramen except the seaweed and FEAST LIKE A KING!

However, good things does not come cheap. Taste is good but a bit pricey. Try them out if you go to Gurney Paragon. Recently they are running some sort of lucky draw when you dine-in. You will need to pick a card, scratch it and if you are the lucky one, your meal on that day is FREE. The promotion is until 31 January 2013. By the way, LIKE their Facebook and you will get a free drink costs RM4.90. Show them that you LIKED their page from your mobile device. I am not sure when will the promotion lasts.

Venue
Goku Raku Ramen, Gurney Paragon, Penang
(Next to Meet Fresh)

Price
Ultimate Tonkotsu Ramen (Shoyu) RM22.90
Ultimate Tokyo Ramen (Original) RM21.90
Service Charge 10%
Government Tax 6%

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Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Goodbye 2012, Welcome 2013

Another year has gone and now it is 2013. I have been living for 25 years on this Earth. Suppose that this post is meant to bid goodbye to 2012 but it got delayed, so it becomes a welcoming post for 2013. Today, in this post, I am not going to mention anything about food, but indirectly, maybe. Most of the people will always think back what had happened to them the whole year whenever it comes to the end of that year. Same to me. But this is the first time I am trying to recollect all the events in my life in 2012. I don't do this previously because my life was pretty good in the past. For some, recollection of the memories made them smile but to the other some, all these will make them cry again. Let rewind back my life to January 2012. 

The story begins....

Once upon a time, back in January 2012... I would recall that the beginning of 2012 was not really a good start to me. I mean, it was quite a bumpy road with many things happened. There was one major event in my 2012, accompanied by several minor events along the road. Let's start with my trip to Sarawak. I traveled around Sarawak, my homeland with my best friend back in January 2012. This was the first time I really brought someone back to my homeland. The trip took us around 11 days if not mistaken, where we traveled from Kuching to Sibu to Bintulu to Miri then back to Sibu. For me, during the trip, was one of the happiest moments in my life. That's the moment where I can really let go of my worries, sadness, works, stress and the list goes on. The only thing I felt was really pure happiness.

Sarawak Cultural Village
Sarawak Cultural Village
The Living Museum

Sarawak Laksa
Sarawak Laksa

Niah Cave
Niah Cave

Sibu Pagoda
Sibu Pagoda

We took a lot of pictures but I decided to share a few here. Even though Sarawak is my homeland, it was my first time to go to some of the places. I think this happens to a lot of people where you do not actually explore your own homeland.

After the trip, a lot of things happened, mostly were the sad things. I went into a bad depression, where I can't really sleep at nights and I felt so tired in the mornings. My depression level was I even thought of harming myself. I cried sometimes regardless of where I am, at home or even at office. Sometimes in life, we always think that tomorrow will be a better day but in reality, it does not. I was diagnosed of some sort of sinus problem. My left ear was blocked and I can't really hear anything from my left ear. A soft sound was amplified like I was in a disco room. 





I went for a CT scan and the doctor found out that there were polyps in my nose, suspecting them to cause all the problems. Besides, from the scan, doctor said that at some "holes" at my face, there was some visible mucus, which was not good. I went to undergo the surgery to remove the polyps, flush my sinus and realign my nose bone because it was shifted. I went through all these by myself. I drove myself to the hospital, registered myself and went into the operation room myself. The nurse was a bit surprise that I came alone. I can still remember how pain it was after the surgery.

Then, tomorrow was still never a better day for me. Bad things kept happening but the doctor warned me earlier I cannot cry too often or else, my surgery will be in vain. After months and months of sadness, finally, my long long buddy came to Penang to visit me. He came here to travel as well as to check what the hell was going on with me. A short trip but I was really happy to see him again after 8-10 years. 

Thanks Ben
Thanks Ben

I don't know if he has an exciting life but he always gives me a good advice on stuffs, this and that. I am glad he visited me here, where again, I can release myself from all the pains. After he went back, I was kinda good in a week or two before the same things came back again.

Months after months, during November 2012, my crazy friends came to visit me here in Penang. This time, 3 people came; 2 boys 1 girl. They are my long long friends and very close of friends of mine. They also wondered what happened to me because they told me, besides visiting Penang, they just wanted to find out what happened to me. The whole trip was really crazy! At that particular moment, it really brought me back to the time I was in secondary school. When I was in my secondary school, they called me clown. Whoever who felt sad, can always find me. Because I joke non-stop in whatever situations and I only knew how to laugh. Back at the time, I was really a very very cheerful person until I thought I was really lucky. I can laugh when I was sad, until my friends said it was hard to tell if I was happy or sad.

Thanks WK, Billy and Peggy
Thanks WK, Billy and Peggy

The girl was missing from the picture because she was the photographer. I was really happy that time. I paused for a moment, thinking why I was so cheerful back in the school but now I am just a walking zombie.

Finally, after series of events in 2012, there was only one episode that lingered around my life the whole 2012, the only episode that changed me, tortured me and made me who I am. If you ask me to share that episode, I would rather not. Because I don't really want to think back the whole situation. 25 years, this is the most painful even of my life. All I ever wanted was to be happy and do not cheat me. Sometimes, I wonder if people do understand what I feel. Because to the people around me, I am crazy. But to myself, deep in myself, I really feel I was cut on my hand over and over again at the same spot. It never gets to heal and it never gets to stop bleeding. Until now, I still cannot express how I feel actually when things happened. Until now, the things still happen and it hasn't stop yet, even in 2013. 

But, I really really hope, don't cheat me again. I had mentioned this infinite times but somehow, it seems useless. You might not understand and you will probably ignore it, but, really, unspeakable pain inside me. 

So, in 2013, my only wish is to be happy and again, I know things will happen again, people might cheat me again, lie to me again, do some weird things behind me but still promising me not to do them again, I still hope one day, really one day, you will realize it and stop doing these to me anymore. I still really so hope, miracle might happens from you. 

Promise is easy to make but staying on it needs a lot of courage and hardwork which none of them appears in anyone.

Goodbye 2012, Welcome 2013, the question is, are you a good year for me? I think not.

I enjoyed the best moments in life and also the worst darkness in life at the same year, how about you? My life is bad but I do wish everyone out, at least have a better life than me.

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