Since winter is coming and melbourne is famous for it’s sudden weather changes, i need to keep warm. Sure, i have my cute hot water bottle almost every where i go. It’s too cute to keep at it home.

I needed drink ideas that will keep me warm and it has to be something else other than coffee, tea or hot chocolate. First, because i can’t sleep if i drink caffeinated drinks (well, to be honest i become super energetic and started to clean the entire house if i do drink coffee). Secondly, i always put condensed milk to go with the coffee or hot chocolate (KAMU GENDUT!!!!)

So, you get the idea. Thus, the barley drink. I love love love barley drink, i only discovered them when i went to singapore recently, i know..it’s way too late…plus, we have plenty in indo eniwai..

I don’t know how to make ‘em so i googled it and found this recipe from Curious Foodie. Since hubby is not interested with the barley drink, i am only doing a single serve, a little bit modified from Curious Foodie’s recipe.

Ingredients

1/2 cup uncooked barley

3 tablespoon rock sugar (rock sugar is very mild, at least in my opinion… do adjust accordingly)

5 cups of water

Method

wash barley in a couple of change of water, I soaked them for 5 minutes because i like my drinks to be a bit cloudy and starchy. Bring the water and barley to boil in medium heat then i spoon out the bubbles. Lower the heat, add the rock sugar and bring to boil. Remove from heat, let it cool and serve.

Note: to check whether the barley is done or not, it should be slightly translucent and chubby looking barleys!

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here are some of my favourites:

if i’m not mistaken, the kopi is also called Kopi Medan, I’m assuming they use beans from Medan. There are lots of people from Medan in Muara Karang neighbourhood.

My dad’s favourite meal, he can eat Kwetiau for every single day of the week and not get bored.

After a decent breakfast, we usually have a look at the market and see some interesting things.

These funny looking meat is one of life’s simple pleasure, pork intestines. Though not everyone’s favourite, but it is very popular in some chinese background cultures. Cooked with sweet soya sauce and spices, these are best eaten with a warm porridge for breakfast.

One of my childhood favourite savoury snack, Cha Kue. Crispy hollow bread usually eaten with mild chili sauce over the top. Comes in a pair and it is very fun to watch them fry the bread.

This somay is definitely a must for takeaways!

Even though it can be quite hot and packed in the weekends, we always love to go to our local market, even if we are not buying groceries. Now, you know why.

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So, here we go. We managed to arrive in Chiang Mai on sunday afternoon, just in time to see the famous Sunday Market held in old city of Chiang Mai. It also helps to stay in a hotel that is smack bang right in the middle of the sunday market.

We love our hotel, 3sis bed and breakfast, a family run b&b, mostly by the girls. Clean, spacious, strategic, very very gentle people, soft linen, do i need to say more? and oh, not expensive at all. Photos of the hotel can be viewed from my flickr on my thailand set.

Chiang Mai is a very nice town with great food. It is generally a quiet town but during the festivals like Loy Kratong, it can be a tourist destination from all over the world. This is the sunday just before the Loy Kratong week, so i’m assuming it is busier than normal sunday market.

Temples and streets are decorated with colourful lantern. Stalls are preparing for hopefully a busier and profitable sunday from the people who are coming to see the festivals.

Unfortunately there’s only so much room to taste the food. We had a hard time deciding which few ones we are going to try. One bad thing with culinary trip is that I almost feel guilty if you are eating the same food more than once on a trip, because, what if the other dish is the dish that you will love for the rest of your life?

This Khai Pham is omelette with three different fillings and you can choose, mushroom, seafood or crab. On the left of the image you can see the eggs are still being cooked. Taste wise is mediocre.

Next, we have the Thai fish cake, small pieces dipped in Thai sweet chili sauce.

Hubby loves this thai salad/fried rice kinda thing, it’s called Nem Kuk and it is with young papaya salad, mixed with balls of fried rice like this. It is so fresh and yummy. Hubby asked the lady to make it spicy, he said he can eat spicy food, but it was so hot that i got angry eating it (i know, i’m weird, i got angry if i eat food that is beyond hot… hehehe).

So far, we had good luck with the dishes we tried and we love the mini portions, that means more sampling with less food. I had my eyes fixed on the thai desserts, oh yeah, i don’t mind not trying the savoury ones as long as i have my sugar fix.

This is called Thai Kheb, it’s crepes with soft meringue filling and choice between carrot shavings or coconut shavings. 10 baht for 4 pieces.

Most of these street vendors have motorcycles attached to the cooking area, that way, they can set it up almost anywhere. Plus, they have a place to sit while waiting to sell their food.

Some of you probably have seen this in indonesia. It is called Look Chop in Thai, they are made with mashed green bean paste mixed with sugar and have gelatin coating with some colouring. It is then shaped to mini versions of vegetables and fruits, most often is the chilli, carrot, tomatoes, capsicum and others. I didn’t try this because i already know what it tasted like. My grandma made this few times years ago.

As you have guessed it, we are not there for the shopping, even tho they have some unique stuff that is NOT made in china, for a change.

They also have few entertainers singing and dancing. This group that we saw was all performed by the visually impaired. Their music is modern, fresh, good rhythm and they use the simplest music instruments. Watch out, they might be the next big thing, just wait till some producer discovered them.

You would’ve taught that having all that music is going to be really loud and you can hear it from a kilometer away, but Thais are so polite, they have enough sound just to be heard by their surroundings, so they are not fighting for attention with other singers nearby. How considerate.

We stayed for few days in chiang mai, taking our time to actually rest, it is a holiday after all. Where is the resting if everyday is a full day tour and sight seeing (or eating) annnnddd… we found out that chiang mai morning is absolutely to die for. Their gentle breeze and cool mornings (like the one when u wake up at 5.30 in the morning) lasted till about 10.30. It was so fresh i felt i woke up at 5.30 every day. When you say chiang mai, it would be the mornings that i would remember.

Next post should be very interesting, about my cooking lesson in chiang mai. Watch this space!

The chicken was moist and tender, accompanied with this compulsory fried tofu and mayonnaise.

Of cos with some veggie.

We went all the way to Katong just to visit Boon Tong Kee, a simple eatery and arguably one of the best chicken rice in singapore. Katong is also known as the peranakan area.

Another place that serve great chicken rice is Lucky Plaza food court right in the middle of the shopping district, Orchard Road. Personally I prefer the chicken rice in Lucky Plaza just because they serve better ginger and chilli paste.

How to get there? You can get MRT to Paya Lebar and i would suggest to get a taxi from there (or you can take the bus to Katong Mall and walk a bit).

199 East Coast Road

+65 6478 1462

Happy hunting!

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I googled gelati and I found out the difference between gelati and ice cream is the absence of eggs in gelati mix and has less air compared to its counterpart. Thus, the texture is less creamy in gelati.

Outside this old shop, some savoury snack vendors stand by to serve sate ayam, asinan and others.

My personal favourite is this kerupuk kuning also known kerupuk mie or kerupuk asinan. Poured over with their sauce. Mantep!

Jl. Veteran I no 10
Jakarta Pusat
+6221 3849 123

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4 thumbs up for the fish head curry at Banana Leaf Apolo Restaurant @Little India.

we came across this restaurant over a travelling show by Anthony Bourdain, No Reservations (Discovery Travel and Living). He is one funny man, i tell you that. Try reading his book Kitchen Confidential, u’ll fall in love with him.

Anyway, Tony loved singapore and he said that this restaurant is really good. Tony and his companion ordered the fish head curry as spicy as they can cook it. It was spicy allright.

So after watching this, hubby and i determined to taste the famous banana leaf’s fish head curry.

it was THE most delicious dish ever… we ate there at 4pm and we did have a really late brunch (it’s called lunch then) but i could’t stop eating the fish… it was THAT good. *my mouth just got watery imagining the fish*

the fish was super moist and tender, the curry was just the right amount of kick, yet suttle and you can’t stop wanting for a little bit more… and a bit more…the briyani rice was ok if it was eaten individually, but it was super when combined.

for sure i’m gonna do a compulsary visit everyyyyyyyyyyy time i’m in singapore in the future…. everyyyyyy single time… that’s how crazy i am with this restaurant.

how to get there: Stop at Little India MRT station, exit at the art centre.

54 Racecourse Road

+65 6293 8682

PS: order the teh tarik as well, quite nice.

enjoy!

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So, here’s some of my post… will update according to the mood of my internet connection (i’m sure people in indo truly understand what i’m going thru)

Chilli Crab at Jumbo Restaurant, Katong East Coast. 

To get there: stop at closest MRT station at Bedok then catch a cab

They have a lot of restaurants that serve chilli crab at East Coast, Nosignboard is one of the famous one, known for its chilli crab and expensive price (they open one at Pacific Place too… ground floor). Also, Long Beach and they open one in Senayan City basement, also quite expensive. 

But hey, we are talking about crabs here, seafood is expensive anyway… i pick the least expensive one. How’s that?

Some people love crab roe, some say it’s too high in cholesterol. Too bad, i only eat crab roe. 

Can i say that unfortunately i have to dissapoint you, Sedap Malam has better black pepper crab compared to this chilli crab or kepiting saus padang as we say it here in indo. I think this chilli crab is overrated and it is expensive too. It was SGD 40 for 1 kg of crab = IDR 280,000. 

at least i ate it…so i won’t be curious… rite?

more posts are coming (still figuring out on how photoshop works… geez… technology.. they are supposed to help you)

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Everyone probably has their own story about eating seafood at Jimbaran overlooking that big orange sunset on pinkish clouds. Some kids running around and playing with the waves, some tourist is trying to take picture of a silhouette and put the sunset on their palms. Some are taking pre wedding photos with balloons in their matching polo shirts and khaki short… (oh wait.. that’s me.. hehe)

Anyway, everyone knows menega and always full with people enjoying the seafood accompanied by the one and only live accoustic music band. So, i’m sure you can imagine what it’s like there.

Everything is grilled there, and mostly with one sauce. My favourite menu is the shellfish and they are the yummiestest… unfortunately the photos are soooo dark cos sunset was gone a while ago.  At least you get to see what you eat tho.

hm…. i can smeelll thee sea… and the sound of the waves… while the band are playing … “fly me to the moon …..and let me be among the stars…” complete with the coconut!

Menega Cafe - www.menega.com/cafe.html

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Bali is famous for their Nasi Campur. Here in Jakarta, we are able enjoy the nasi campur that is very similar to the one in Bali.

Steam rice with three different pork styles. One is pork sausage, one is pork chopped thinly mixed with vegetables and there is pork satay. You can also see the crispy pork skin on top of the steam rice.

Sambel Matah is the traditional sambal from bali, made with vegetable oil, cut red chilli, very fine lemongrass, and finely chopped onion. I love sambel matah, it is very nice. The best sambal matah i had was the one from bebek bengil.

Warung Tengil in Muara Karang tries to immitate the ambience at a local balinese warung with lots of bambu and checkered fabric. One thing though, they don’t have teh botol, which is very weird I think.

I will come back for more. It is very nice nice campur and very similar to the one in bali.

Muara Karang, across Sedap Malam.

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Sashimi – Glass House

Originally uploaded by ooooooohhh dear…

Sashimi on rice – Glass House Pluit

Do i need to explain how fresh this sashimi look?
Weelll ok, i didn’t eat this, my friend did… see how honest i am?
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hehehe, i just had to take photo of it, i ordered chicken wings and sandwich, not as exotic as the sashimi.

Glass House, a nice place to hang out, food is so so.. price is also ok for Pluiters. One thing that i really really like about this place is that they have the mist spray every 30 seconds so that you can enjoy the warm night outdoory feel without feeling too hot.

I don’t have the address and i googled it, nobody has the address.
So, to get there, if you know the bridge to Muara Karang, turn left before the bridge and it is on the left, you wouldn’t miss it. Next to Simpang Tiga, Padang food.

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