Monday KLCC traffic

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My office is located at the heart of Kuala Lumpur ... Yup it's the twin towers itself. It's now 556pm and driving home at this time means peak hour. From office to Mont Kiara it will take around 15 to 30 mins depending on traffic flow. There are even days where it takes almost 1 hour to get to Mont Kiara but these are exceptional traffic situations like super heavy rain at peak hours.
Overall KL traffic is not bad, especially compared to Manila or Jakarta traffic. I'm quite satisfied driving around here.

Krispy Kreme @ midvalley mall

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After a long walk at the mall we decided to pause for a while to enjoy some donuts as we rest our tired feet. For 2 donuts and an apple juice the bill came up to rm 12.

Sunday lunch at Yuzu Japanese Restaurant

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We decided to try a different Japanese place so that we don't end up always at the same place. Our Japanese most favorite place is Rakuzen in Plaza Damas. Today we tried Yuzu which is at Gardens mall. The tiger prawn tempura at rm 35 was pretty good, lots of shrimp inside. We also took one set with chicken teriyaki plus extra gindara fish. The total bill was at rm 109 which wasn't bad. The service was good especially as all the waiters were Filipino! Would surely come back so that we have a different Japanese option.

Marche @ The Curve

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Hubby and I decided to give Marche restaurant another try bec it's been a while since our last visit. When I was frequenting Singapore in the old days, Marche was one of my favorite restaurant visits bec of its wide variety.
For dinner we decided to stay healthy and took some broccoli soup and Caesar salad. It was pretty good. Next we had red snapper grilled with baked potato. We also took the Swiss Rosti which was shredded potato cooked with cheese and came with mushroom side dish. For drinks we took one sparkling water and also the apple iced tea. Overall we paid rm 89 which wasn't too expensive yet not a cheap meal. Though we walked away satisfied. It's always a pleasant experience especially if u have guests bec they can use the 'passports' to go get their own food choice. Nothing ultra superb but the food is pretty decent.

Movies in Kuala Lumpur

Tweet In case you are wondering how much movies cost around here, well, compared to France (hubby finds it so cheap here), the price is very reasonable.

This weekend we are planning to go watch Transformers 2 at the KLCC Cinema. There are tons of shopping malls with great cinemas for you to choose from!

Our personal favorite would be the cinema at the Gardens which has superb seats. Tickets depend on what kind of cinema you choose, and they even have those which is especially made for couples.

The KLCC Cinema (which is a bit old) costs around RM 11.00 = US$ 3.20
The Gardens cinema can cost you up to RM20 per person = US$5.70
While others with lazy boys and super premiere can cost up to RM40 per person = US$11.50

Online booking is also possible and this makes things so much easier.. with just a small fee.

One of hubby's favorite site for online cinema booking would be : http://www.gsc.com.my where you can get access to different shopping malls. Very convenient.

Hope this little piece of info is useful!

The Grill King in KL + Easy to Cook Japanese Rice Kamameshi Recipe

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Food, food, food. That's all I can think about these days. I keep on thinking of menus and recipes. I am so passionate about food (more than I ever was)... and I think it's mostly because I am pregnant! Now that I am in my 4th month, I experienced increase in appetite & I get hunger pangs at 11am and 4pm (like clockwork). Although I don't eat significantly more (like eating for 2), I need to snack in between meals (like Ritz biscuit) and I drink lots of water.

I have been watching the Asian Food Channel every single night for the past 3 weeks! And just last weekend, me and hubby attended that Robert Rainford event where the Grill King himself (he calls himself a barbeque-ologist) came to Kuala Lumpur! We paid RM160 for each ticket to see him live and have a bbq dinner. The event was held in Bangsar Village 2 rooftop. The dinner had 3 main meat: beef with blue cheese, chicken with something (didnt figure it out), and lamb. Overall it was okay... the event started late (because the event planners were waiting for the VIP guest -- which was the ex-prime minister of Malaysia). I was so dead hungry by the time the event started at 8pm (which was supposed to start at 7pm). In the end, Robert Rainford saved the evening because of his PR skills. He was funny and friendly. And he took photos with everyone at the event (which was around 300 people , I think!)

My Brain : FOOD FOOD FOOD

Every now and then my mind would drift to analyze what I will have for the next meal -- should I cook dinner? Should we eat out? What do I feel like? What looks appetizing? I was so into it that I also cooked up a storm last week when I invited a few colleagues and friends over to our condo for a dinner food fest. I cooked for hours and my legs were killing me after they all left... but it was worth it! They all went home satisfied and stuffed... and they sampled different recipes and dishes.

The most successful dish was the Japanese steamed rice which I cooked... and it was inspired by my old favorite restaurant called Kamameshi (back in Manila). They don't have a similar Japanese restaurant here in KL, so I decided that in order to satisfy my craving, I need to do it myself!

Kamameshi is a traditional japanese dish cooked in an iron pot, filled with ingredients such as seafood, meats and vegetables. But since I don't have that iron pot, the traditional common equipment called RICE COOKER will do the trick!

For the gathering last week, I had to make a vegetarian-style Kamameshi Japanese rice because I had guests who were vegetarians. So I went ahead to put together my Veggie Kamameshi which was a success! Let me tell you how easy it is ...

• First, you will need to visit a grocery like Cold Storage or Isetan -- these places have tons of Japanese products. Look for this particular pack (see picture). The japanese products usually don't have English titles... but they do slap some kind of English explanation at the back. This one says "Marumiya - Kamemeshi No Moto" Instant Mushroom Pot Rice. I bought mine from Isetan (KLCC) and one box cost RM20.20


• Next, wash your uncooked rice just like you usually would. Add the water which you usually add to make normal steamed rice. Before you put into the cooker, add a pack of this Japanese Kamameshi and stir. For 1 box of Kamameshi, you can serve up to 4-5 people (estimate that with your usual rice quantity)



• For added flavor, I added to my recipe: cut small slices of shitake mushrooms and saute it for 5 mins with some butter. Set aside. Add the cooked mushroom to the uncooked rice + kamameshi mix


• Cook using the rice cooker. Be sure to check up after 10-15 mins and stir it. This way, the bottom part will not burn.


• Serve while it's newly cooked and hot! Very tasty and yummy!

I hope other people out there will also enjoy my Japanese mushroom rice recipe which is so easy to do. It will surely satisfy your family and friends.

Indian dinner @ Passage Through India

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I gave in to my craving for Indian food. I know, I know... It's very unlike me. I thought of Indian food because the other night I watched Travel & Living and this guy went around Goa and other places tasting food. The food featured seemed wow and got me thinking I want to taste those Indian spices. So tonight we went to Passage Through India near Bangsar and Damansara Heights (not sure what is the name of the exact area) but it's not too far from our home. We were not disappointed with our order. We had butter naan paired with some kind of spinach dip with cottage cheese. Yummy ! Me and hubby liked it. Then some chicken briyani (hope I spelled it right) and then some lamb kebab. Overall a good meal for a Friday night :) our total bill came to RM81 ... not too bad. While we were there the number of expat customers came flowing so I guess they are probably a well-established Indian restaurant. TGIF !

Hazy KL

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Me and hubby have been wondering what's up here in Kuala Lumpur. Ever since we got back from Thailand we noticed the super hazy skyline of K.L. We tried to check if this is because of the Indonesian forest fires but it's not. The news simply states that it's bec of the humidity and the hot weather which we have been experiencing these past weeks.
On the same note, about the environment... Me and hubby watched a film which was a hit in Europe and was shown only days ago ... It's called ' Home ' . It was a beautifully done film about the environment and how we should cherish the resources we have today. Years from now we may face depletion of key resources like oil. I encourage everyone to check out this film as it's really a wake up call for all of us! We all need to do our share for the environment.

Our June Trip To Phuket... Paradise!

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Hubby's work permit expired so that got him into some fix with the Immigration people. So they asked him to exit the country and come back in. That meant a sudden weekend getaway for us! I always enjoy these things!

So we booked a last minute trip to Phuket (just 4 days before flying out that June weekend). And the flights were cheap. I think for both our tickets it was around RM950++. Then, I quickly looked at Trip Advisor and the #1 result for Phuket was Indigo-Pearl resort. After reading the reviews I didn't have any doubts and quickly went to the hotel site to book directly with them.

After our glorious 3-days-2-nights, all I can say is that Phuket is paradise! The weather was oh-so-fantastic! The weather was sunny all day! It made the pool and the sea in good temperature and you will not shiver at all when you go into the water. The food was superb! Both inside and outside the hotel. Things were affordable.

We also managed to squeeze in a Thai Cooking Class from PUM's. It was a 40-minute ride from Indigo-Pearl. And it was worth it! Hubby and I learned 3 dishes and our favorite was the Thai Green Curry! I never thought it was that easy! We had fun learning how to cook Thai cuisine.

Overall, we would highly recommend this to expats living in Malaysia. It's a quick and hassle-free weekend getaway. Other foreigners we met at Phuket were so jealous to hear that it was just a 1-hour flight from KL. They had a 10-hour flight from Melbourne just to get to Phuket!

So for expats out there... enjoy the convenience and bring home happy memories of the Phuket paradise.