Trivandrum trip in a snapshot

Last month, we were in Trivandrum, Kerala, India for Rommel's cousin, Nicky's wedding.

It was a Catholic wedding held in St Therese Lisieux Church of Trivandrum so I didn't get to witness the full scale, Hindi-movie style wedding. But, it was a really sweet and simple affair and it was fun meeting all the relatives.

The wedding lunch was typical Keralan fare: buffet spread consisting appam (which ran out by the time I got to the queue), veg rice, fried chicken, mutton curry (yum!!), fish moilee (a bit too watery for my liking) and an assortment of veg somethings (I dont remember the names!).

We also had other meals with the family. Here we are in a vegetarian restaurant called Ariya Nivaas in Trivandrum.

(L-R): Auntie Celine, Auntie Iris, Nicky, me and Rommel

(L-R): Colin, Auntie Iris, Nicky, me and Rommel.

Their veg thali meal costs 60 rupees (RM4.60) and tastes good! I especially loved the rassam (sort of like a spiced soup).

Here's what Rommel and I wore for the wedding. My silk salwar was bought the day before at Parthas, one of the leading clothing retailers in Trivandrum. I spent so much money there... Ooops...

Rommel's outfit was bought at some craft place our driver took us to...
And I wore another one of my newly-purchased salwars for Auntie Iris' surprise birthday party the next night. Salwars are so comfy to wear and pretty flattering too! Highly recommended for fat days!

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Wishing everyone a Happy and Prosperous Year of the Ox!

(I can hear a chorus going "Moo" in my head)

Busy time of the year visiting relatives and pigging out like crazy. So that means yummylicious pictures to come.

Back from India....

....and the workload piles on in the office.

Just stopped by for a quick update.

India was a fun adventure:
Ate alot and tried many new dishes.
Met a whole bunch of people - mainly Rommel's relatives.
Bought loads of saris and salwars.
Pictures to come when I have time.
Didn't do much knitting though since I didn't have much time.
Read a book (something I have not done in a long long time).
Bought books for 100rupees or Rm7.65 (real bargain).

Anyway, I'm off now, despite the traffic outside looking like it wont be letting up anytime soon. Gonna brave it and see what time I get home. Sigh...

Piggin' out: Bavarian Bierhaus, The Curve

Restaurant: Bavarian Bierhaus, The Curve
Address: Lot G66, Ground Floor, The Curve, Mutiara Damansara
Tel: 03 7728 8269
Other reviews: Food4Thot, bernsy, Lim Mei Yen, benghan

We were at The Curve/Ikano 2 weekends ago hunting for stuff to buy at Ikea (because we never really NEED to buy anything but are always on the lookout for anything interesting).

The parents couldn't decide what to have for dinner and Italiannies was full so I thought they could try the Bavarian Bierhaus.

We were greeted by this fella next to our table. Shen/Fatteh, doesn't he remind you of a certain godbrother of ours???


Of course we ordered beer. A nice refreshing Paulaner.

And some Emmental sausages to share. Loved them and the brussel sprouts! (although I do have a slight fear of brussel sprouts from my boarding school days in England.)

And the highlight: the Pork knuckle served with sauerkraut and crispy bacon.

Sadly, the meal really isn't Ma's type of food so she barely ate (except for some salad which we also ordered). We only got through 1 of the knuckles and had to pack the other. Don't think the parents really enjoyed the meal because after that, we headed to the local food court near our house and had wantan mee and char kuey teow instead.

Would I go back? Yes, but only if with a bunch of guys who love a lot of meat and beer. No taking parents there again.

Piggin' out: Boon Boon Cafe, Taman Desa

Restaurant: Boon Boon Cafe
Address: 29A & 30A, Jalan Desa Jaya, Taman Desa 58100 KL (Next to Faber Towers)
Tel: 03 7987 5272
Cuisine: Casual local and western food
Highlight: The drinks and simple home-cooked food
Other reviews: Two superheroes, Decorateur

It's odd how I spend my time scouring the streets of KL and PJ hunting down "new places to eat" but yet do not bother with places just 2 minutes down the road from my house.

Just like this place, for instance. Boon Boon Cafe.

Boon Boon offers simple home-cooked favourites like the claypot loh shu fun I had.

Or the seafood and veg claypot combo served with white rice that Rommel had.

My other favourites here are the cornflakes fried chicken wings, the chicken chop and the sizzling chicken.

But what I enjoy here are the drinks. Think Kim Gary-type beverages - Iced Honey Lemon is my favourite. And at affordable prices too. And there's free wifi so you'll find people chilling with their laptops and a large glass of iced lemon tea/iced milk tea/iced almond tea or whatever... In fact, on days when I used to curse my streamyx connection (I've since moved on to Maxis broadband for less headaches), I'd head out to Boon Boon with my laptop and work from there.

* Apologies for the bad photos - dim lighting + crappy camera.

Piggin' Out: Yuzu, The Gardens

Restaurant: Yuzu, The Gardens
Address: T236, Third floor, The Gardens @ Midvalley City
Tel: 03 2284 7663
Other reviews: Masak-masak, Two Moo's & A Foo, Lim Mei Yen

We had our New Year's Day dinner at Yuzu - brought our godbrothers Sunny and David to try it out. Since all of us pretty much eat everything and anything (excluding my mom), we left most of the decision up to Raymond, the restaurant manager to decide.

We started of with the sashimi platter. Key highlight was the uni.

Sorry I've forgotten what fish this was but it tasted good with some spring onions and ponzu dressing.


Semi-cooked octopus tentacles.


Crispy deep fried salmon skin salad.

Kobe beef tataki.

A simple soba with egg to end the meal.

We paired the dinner with these wines:


And we brought our own kuih (bought from Bangsawan in The Pavilion) which the chef dressed up and served with matcha icecream.

Piggin' out: Downtown KLIA wantan mee

What do you usually eat when you're catching a flight from KLIA in the morning? McDonald's? The nasi lemak stall in the airport? The food court perhaps?

Well, those "in the know" (i.e. the taxi drivers) come to Downtown KLIA, located just across the road from the Concorde Inn KLIA. There's a Caltex station at the entrance into this commercial area. Not many shops are open and there's only 1 Chinese shop at the end selling wantan mee so it shouldn't be difficult to find.

My dad took us there for a New Year's Day breakfast when we sent the two brats back to London.

The nondescript, local setting....

The steamed white chicken (bak zham kai).

The siew yoke and char siu platter.

And of course the wantan mee...

And the perfect accompaniment: Milo.