Penang : Malaysia’s Food Heaven

Penang is a place that spells F-O-O-D.

I won’t blog much in detail about the famous local food but I will just let some of the photos I took tell the story. Do google to find out more about Penang food if you want to know more.

Penang char kuey tiaw (sometimes spelled as char kway teow). Til today I still cannot really tell the distinctive difference between those in Penang and the ones in KL, but this one I had tasted really favourful.

Deep fried food – lobak, which are meat or seafood fritters.

This hawker stall uncle frying oyster omelette (or or chien in Hokkien dialect) with a style – look at his stylo googles!

Filed under: Food, Photography, Travel , Film Photography, Food, Food Heaven, Hawker Stall, Malaysian Food, Penang, Travel

Napkin Art : Breakfast @ OldTown, 16 Oct 2009

@ OldTown White Coffee, 3Two Square, Petaling Jaya, Selangor

Filed under: Food, Illustration, Sketch, Urban Sketches , 3Two Square, Beverage, Breakfast, Food, Fountain Pen, Lamy Safari Charcoal, Lineart, Malaysia, Milk Tea, Napkin Art, Noodler’s Ink, OldTown White Coffee, Petaling Jaya, Polar Black, Selangor, Sketch, Western Platter

Napkin Art : Subway Club Sandwich

My ‘Subway Club’ 6 inch Sandwich was made up of Parmesan Oregano bread, turkey breast, turkey ham, roast beef, cheese, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, olive, green pepper, onion, mayonaise, mustard, ketchup, olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper and Parmesan cheese. To go with Coke. Very full.

I had my Moleskine with me at that time but the Subway napkin looked too colourful for me to resist sketching on it.

Filed under: Food, Illustration, Sketch, Urban Sketches , Jaya33, Lamy Fountain Pen, Napkin Art, Noodler’s Ink, Petaling Jaya, Polar Black, Selangor, Subway Sandwich

Journal, 14 July 2009

Flying back home day.

Tools and media :
Lamy Safari Charcoal fountain pen with Noodler’s Ink – Polar Black, Steadtler Karat Aquarell Watercolor Pencils, Daler-Rowney Aquafine watercolour pocket set + Daler Rowney White Acrylic, Moleskine pocket diary.

Filed under: Food, Illustration, Journal, Personal, Travel , 2009, Diary, Drawing, Food, Illustrative, Journal, Malaysia Airlines, Miri, Moleskine, Sarawak

Journal, 1 July 2009

Japanese dinner with Mandy aka the Boss at Yuzu at The Gardens, Mid Valley City, Kuala Lumpur.

The taste of the wagyu beef on the stonegrill was most memorable of the whole meal. Juicy and tender!

Sorry, Boss, could not fit your pretty face in there as you can see the food we ordered took up the whole space already!

Tools and media :
Lamy Safari Charcoal fountain pen with Noodler’s Ink – Polar Black, Daler-Rowney Aquafine watercolour pocket set + Daler Rowney White Acrylic, Moleskine pocket diary.

Filed under: Food, Illustration, Journal, Painting, Sketch , Bittergourd, Cha Soba, Daler-Rowney, Dinner, Drawing, Food, Illustration, Japanese Restaurant, Journal, Kuala Lumpur, Lamy Fountain Pen, Mid Valley, Moleskine, Sashimi, Tempura, The Gardens, Wagyu Beef, Watercolour, Yuzu

Journal, 28 & 30 June 2009

Dinner at Kiku Zakura Japanese Restaurant, Mid Valley Mall, Kuala Lumpur. Loved the Cha Soba a lot.

Tools and media :
Lamy Safari Charcoal fountain pen with Noodler’s Ink – Polar Black, Staedtler Karat Aquarell watercolour pencils, Daler-Rowney white acrylic, Raphaël Red Sable #6 brush, Moleskine pocket diary.

My good friend got me a Belkin wireless router modem. Of course, it was for some reason we exchanged our wireless modems with each other some months ago when she wanted me to test hers which was an Aztech model. My Belkin works completely fine in her house until today, whereas hers that I was using in my house was alright in the beginning but eventually the connection problem had begin to persist more and more at a certain hour of the day and finally it came to a point that we decided to give up on it. So, my friend offered to buy me a buy one – a Belkin G Wireless Router Modem.

Tools and media :
Lamy Safari Charcoal fountain pen with Noodler’s Ink – Polar Black, Mixed media = Staedtler Karat Aquarell Watercolour Pencils + Daler-Rowney Aquafine watercolour pocket set + Daler Rowney White Acrylic, Raphaël Red Sable #6 brush, Moleskine pocket diary.

Filed under: Food, Illustration, Journal, Personal, Sketch , 2009, Belkin Wireless Router Modem, Derwent Inktense Set, Diary, Food, Illustration, Japanese Food, Journal, Kuala Lumour, Lamy Fountain Pen, Mid Valley, Molekine, Moleskine, Noodler's Ink, Personal, Polar Black, Sketch

Journal, 3 & 4 May 2009

Overdue May journal pages.

PappaRich – a place with really delicious Malaysian traditional delights. I am totally in love with the steamed bread with butter and kaya.

Tools and media :
Lamy Vista fountain pen with Noodler’s Ink – Polar Black, Derwent Inktense watersoluble colour pencils, Daler-Rowney white acrylic, Dalon brush, Moleskine pocket diary

Filed under: Food, Illustration, Journal, Personal, Sketch , 2009, Derwent Inktense Set, Diary, Food, Illustration, Journal, Lamy Fountain Pen, Moleskine, Noodler's Ink, Polar Black, Sketch

Journal, 5, 6, 8, 23, 28 & 29 April 2009

Overdue April journal pages that I managed to scan recently.

A Sunday out with a friends in three different venues and three different time of the day. Managed to do some pencil sketches of their caricatures. The thing that delayed me from scanning this page was that I thought I was going to redraw the sketches with black ink but it never happened. And finally I thought they kind of look good as they are in pencil outlines anyway. By the way, notice that red ink image of my ‘dip’ (it is read as D-I-P) logo on the top right hand corner? I got this custom-made rubber stamp for myself recently.

Bread steamer. It was something I saw and drew on the spot from the table I was sitting at the coffeeshop near my house when I was having my breakfast.

I illustrated a scene I pictured in my mind when I read the story of Gideon in the Bible which is found in the book of Judges 6:22–24. Also I bought a book by Joyce Meyer, ‘Battlefield of the Mind’, a book written and meant for women.

I was at the restaurant when I was reading the topic on ‘When is my mind normal?’ from ‘Battlefield of the Mind’ book and started jotting down notes. It is one powerful book!

I picked up a few books at the MPH Warehouse sale nearby my house. Caught up with Nick Quah, an old friend from college, after so many years after graduated.

Parable of the sower – an illustration I did with a local Malaysian style of farmer and village.

Tools and media :
Lamy Vista fountain pen with Noodler’s Ink – Polar Black, Derwent Inktense watersoluble colour pencils, Staedtler Karat Aquarell watercolour pencils, Daler-Rowney white acrylic, Dalon brush, Raphaël Red Sable #6 brush, Moleskine pocket diary

Filed under: Cartoon Illustration, Food, Illustration, Journal, Personal, Scripture, Sketch , 2009, Bible Scripture, Bible Verse, Derwent Inktense Set, Diary, Illustration, Journal, Lamy Fountain Pen, Moleskine, Noodler's Ink, Polar Black, Sketch

Journal, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 & 14 June 2009

On the dates I was traveling in Penang.

Pen : Lamy Safari Charcoal fountain pen

Ink : Noodler’s Ink – Polar Black

Colours : Derwent Inktense Watersoluble Pencils + Staedtler Karat Aquarell Watercolour Pencils + Daler Rowney White Acrylic

Pen : Lamy Safari Charcoal fountain pen

Ink : Noodler’s Ink – Polar Black

Colours : Derwent Inktense Watersoluble Pencils + Staedtler Karat Aquarell Watercolour Pencils + Daler Rowney White Acrylic

Filed under: Food, Illustration, Journal, Personal, Sketch, Travel , 2009, Diary, Drawing, Georgetown, Illustration, Journal, Malaysia, Moleskine, Penang, Sketch, Travel

Journal, 30 & 31 May 2009

Went to Cameron Highlands with some photography friends lately. On our way back to Kuala Lumpur we stopped by in Ipoh for a short coffee break. I managed to put my fountain pen into use onto my Moleskine on those two days.

Pictures of me drawing my breakfast at the Boh Tea Centre in Cameron Highlands.

Pictures of me drawing my toast with egg and sausage in Sun Yuan coffeeshop in Ipoh town.

The results after colouring.

Filed under: Food, Illustration, Sketch, Travel , Boh Tea Centre, Cameron Highlands, Coffeeshop, Colouring, Diary, Drawing, Food, Illustration, Ipoh, Journal, Moleskine, Travel

Journal, 27 May 2009

It was one of those days that I just needed to escape from work a bit and stay away from my Mac. Treated myself to a Japanese late lunch after catching a movie. This time no sushi for myself. Was thinking more on something not too filling or carbo-packed, so Cha (Green Tea) Soba was what I picked along with a few more other dishes to go along with it. Loved the Shishamo (Grilled Smelt) – pregnant fish. The assorted tempura consisted of salmon, mushroom, lady’s finger, brinjal and prawn. Of course, something which I like – soft shell crab. Loved the Milky Green Tea which was topped with whipped cream and some red bean ‘paste’. Am no fan of red bean but I blended it into the drink anyway.

Pencil sketch was done live on site at Sushi Zanmai, The Gardens, Mid Valley City, Kuala Lumpur. Colour rendering done at home.

Photos taken with my humble Nokia phone. Sorry for the bad image quality.

Tools and material :
Lamy Safari Charcoal fountain pen with Noodler’s Ink – Polar Black, Derwent Inktense watersoluble colour pencils, Daler-Rowney white acrylic, Dalon brush, Moleskine pocket diary

Filed under: Food, Illustration, Journal, Sketch , Derwent Inktense, Diary, Drawing, Illustration, Japanese Food, Journal, Lamy Fountain Pen, Late Lunch, Moleskine, Sushi Zanmai

Din Tai Fung @ The Gardens

After the Dragon-i luncheon at Pavilion KL sometime early of the month I could not wait to have food therapy at Din Tai Fung after that. So I gathered a few friends of mine who did not know each then for a simple dinner at Din Tai Fung at The Garden in Mid Valley City, KL. What a relief for me to have the some of the dishes I had been craving for. Personally, I prefer DTF to Dragon-i.

The famous xiao loong bao. Love the broth in the dumpling!

Cha jiang mien.

Shanghainese drunken chicken. One of my favourite dishes here.

Shrimp dumplings. Love these.

Fried rice with shrimps & pork. I could not believe it is really good! They use Japanese rice for this dish.

Tofu, century egg & chicken floss. I like this dish a lot too.

Check out the rest of the photos here.

Photos taken with Nikon F-70D and Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 AIS lens on DNP Centuria 400 film.

Filed under: Food, Photography , Chinese Food, Din Tai Fung, Dinner, Dumpling House, Film Photo, Shanghainese / Taiwanese Cuisine

Duck King @ Jaya One

Had year-end celebration with two friends at Duck King in Jaya One complex in P.J in middle of this month. The food, not too bad. Advice to those who have not tried, come eat in a big group of people or else the money is not worth spent only on a few dishes. Good for family reunion dinner, I think.

Our main dish – BBQed meats whicj consist of duck, pork & jellyfish

Claypot lamb brisket with beancurd. Something I personally am not too used to the way it is cooked in this manner.

Tofu & Seafood in XO sauce.

Tea

Photos taken with Nikon F-70D and Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 AIS lens non DNP Centuria 400 film.

Filed under: Food, Photography , Chinese Cuisine, Dinner, Duck King Restaurant, Film Ph, Film Photography, Jaya One, Petaling Jaya, Selangor

Klang Bak Kut Teh

A good friend of mine and I decided to revisit Fong Keow Restaurant in Taman Intan, Klang since our last visit about two years ago, for a Klang Bak Kut Teh (肉骨茶) dinner. The restaurant interior has been revamped since the last time we were there. Still prefer the old kopitiam look before.

A claypot bak kut teh.

What’s in there – pork lean meat, fat meat, stomach, foo chok (dried beancurd) and lettuce in broth.

Golden mushrooms in bak kut teh broth.

Steamed tofu in soy sauce.

Assam fish. Not too sure what fish is it. I am bad with names of fish.

Dragon fruit juice.

Photos taken with Nikon F-70D and Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 AIS on DNP Centuria 400 film.

Filed under: Food, Photography , Assam Fish, Bak Kut Teh, Dinner. Tofu, Dragon Fruit Juice, Film Photography, Golden Muchroom, Klang, Selangor, Taman Intan

Paul Hendricks

Paul Hendricks, a South African friend of mine who has already left KL for his own country (for good, I suppose) last month. Here are some photos of him when we met up in The Curve, Mutiara Damanasara PJ.

Paul and his cuppa @ Gloria Jean’s Coffee

Paul and his grilled chicken drumstick @ Waroeng Penyet, an Indonesian fast food restaurant

The rest of the photos are here.

Camera : Nikon F3
Lens : Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 AIS
Film : Konica Minolta Centuria Super 400 (Expired)

Filed under: Food, Great Talents, Photography , Farewell, Friend, Gloria Jean's Coffee, The Curve, Waroeng Penyet

Four Photo Kaki

I will be writing about some past events and photowalks I have missed blogging for the past few months when I was abandoning my old blog. The posts in this blog will not be in chronological order.

Sometime in October a few friends I got to know over Flickr and Facebook had decided to meet up for street shooting in Petaling Street (Kuala Lumpur Chinatown) and Pasar Seni (Central Market).

The Egyptian style of posing. L-R : Ong, Sherrina, Eddy and Behn

Freestyle posing. L-R : Ong, Sherrina, Eddy and Behn

Stuck and kicked in the ass!

As our wrap for the photowalk we went to a market kopitiam in Imbi Market for some Hainanese coffee, kaya butter toast buns and soft boiled eggs, which was recommended by one of the guys.

Hainanese coffee

Kaya butter toast buns

Soft boiled egg

Eddy eating away his toast

Check out the rest of the photos I took on this photowalk here.

Camera :Nikon F3
Lens : Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 AIS
Film : Konica Minolta Centuria Super 400 (Expired)

Filed under: Food, Great Talents, Photography , Film, Imbi Market, Kuala Lumpur, Pasar Seni, Petaling Street, Photowalk

Luncheon @ Dragon-i, Pavilion KL

This is the season of celebration and eating. How can a celebration be a celebration without the food, so as a Malaysian speaks? This is a recent luncheon we had in Dragon-i at Pavilion KL.

I will try not to turn my blog into a food blog even though I am a fussy eater and can be quite critical if what I eat is not up the standards of my tastebuds. The food at this restaurant all I can say is not too bad but there is nothing to shout about either. I was yearning to have a food therapy at Din Tai Fung @ The Gardens after eating here and I just did last two days ago.

Most importantly, though, we had a good time at the lunch table. All thanks to the four beautiful ladies!

Dragon-i sticker on the glass wall.

How to peel the skin of the bun delicately.

It is a salted duck egg yolk filling inside the bun.

Group photo. I am not in there, of course.

To see the rest of the photos click here.

Photos taken with Nikon F-70D, Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 AIS lens on Fujifilm PRO 800Z film (could be already expired).

Filed under: Food, Photography , Film Photography, Fragon-i, Kuala Lumpur, Lucheon, Pavilion KL

Lunch @ Inle Myanmar Restaurant, Peninsula Plaza, Singapore

30th December 2007

Camera : Nikon FM2n
Lens : Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 AIS
Film : Fujicolor Professional PRO 400H

Filed under: Food, Photography

Lunch @ Din Tai Fung Dumpling House, Paragon @ Orchard Road, Singapore

I met up with George Heng who is an ex-classmate of mine in college on 31st December 2007 when I was in Singapore for a brief stay. He is one of the founders of an advertising agency in Singapore and Malaysia called adWOW. He took me to this Taiwanese restaurant in Paragon at Orchard Road, that is famous for their steamed dumplings. Food, not bad, but it was a bit too flavourless for my taste buds. Still acceptable if for health conscious people.

Camera : Nikon FM2n
Lens : Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 AIS
Film : Fujicolor Professional PRO 400H

Filed under: Food, Photography