Snapshot : A little girl with a cow @ Bandar Utama, Selangor, Malaysia

Fine Dining @ The Quad, UCSI North Wing

A few months back, I was 'invited' for lunch at The Quad, a restaurant managed by the UCSI School of Hospitality. My reaction was erm... students? cook? restaurant? But seeing that it was a very close friend who asked me and not just because she was going to be serving me, I decided to give it a try. 

Driving there wasn't an issue. Set in the UCSI North Wing Campus, parking was a breeze. However, finding the restaurant wasn't. After some directions, I found myself infront of a glass enclosed restaurant. The door opened even before I touched the handle and I was greeted with a smile and a 'welcome'. 

I was handed the menu and since they were having a Mother's Day promotion, I just had to decide on whether I wanted fish or chicken for my mains. The wait wasn't long and the glass of white wine helped to passed the time. 

For appetizer, I started off with a slice of Bruschetta topped with tomato and basil salsa. I'm not a fan of tomatoes, but the mix of vegetables blended well together. The bread was crispy enough. Not a bad start to the meal. 

Next, I was served with pipping hot Pumpkin Soup. Delicious, thick and yummy pumpkin taste. All I can say is that I wish I had a bigger bowl. 

I decided on fish and shortly after I finished my soup and my bowl was taken away, my mains came. Grilled Teriyaki Salmon! The Norwegian Salmon was served with layonaise potatoes, vegetable tempura and teriyaki sauce. I started with the tempuras which tasted just OK. The fried onions was good but the ladyfingers were tad too old and tough. 

The salmon was on a whole different level. Grilled to perfection and topped with teriyaki sauce, it was enough to wet my appetite. The fish meat was so soft and fell right off without even me slicing it. Pink and delicious, I slowly took my time to savour it. The sliced potatoes hidden beneath the fish was just right. Slightly crispy, yet soft at the same time. 

After the hearty meal, I ended it with Strawberry Millefeuille for dessert. Since it was my fast time hearing about this, I didn't know what to expect. According to Wikipedia, mille-feuille originated from France and is made up of 3 layers of puff pastry, alternating with 2 layers of pastry cream. My millefeuille is slightly Italian-nized. It contains 3 layers of soft biscuit-like served with strawberries and cream cheese. The biscuit was a tad bit dry, and I wished they served more cream. 

And complimentary on the house, I was given a glass of their specially mixed cocktails - watermelon with mint leaves. Me being a fan of mint, really like it but I think that the mint leaves will be took strong for most people. 

A bit of hit and miss, all in all, a very satisfying meal. And to top that, the entire set meal was only RM25!! (including the glass of wine). How's that for a really fantastic deal? And not forgetting to mention that the servers were helpful and courteous. Considering that they are just students, I would say they beat certain dining establishment any time. 

I know its long overdue and this promotion have already ended but its still not too late. They are serving Ramadhan Buffet Dinner on selected days and its only for RM38!!! Not sure what will be served but I'm sure am looking forward to it. 

Anyone keen to join me next Wednesday? Let's buka puasa together :)

p.s. If you do miss this, its OK. They do served alacarte on weekdays with prices starting from as low as RM8 for mains. 


p.p.s  Directions : On Taman Connought highway heading towards Kajang, turn left after the BP Petrol Station onto Jalan Waras. Go straight and you'll see UCSI North Wing on your right. Parking is only RM2 per entry, I think :)


p.p.p.s Reservations required!!

Cafe Maraschino @ Rantau Panjang

A couple of months back, I was in Kota Bahru with my family and we decided to go shopping at Rantau Panjang. Rantau Panjang is a dusty little town right at the border of Thailand & Malaysia. It wasn't surprising to meet lots of Thais there. At least not at this cafe. 

Set in the midst of old shoplots just opposite the Maybank in Rantau Panjang, Kafe Maraschino is a sight for sore eyes, an oasis for the weary and a tummy-filled happiness for the hungry. Ok, I just made that up. But seriously, if you are ever in Rantau Panjang, drop by this cafe. 

Run by a group of young Malaysia & Thai people who speaks good English; Maraschino its modern, clean, artfully decorated and they served really delicious Thai & Western food. 

Phad Si Ew RM7

Phad Ka Pae/ Phad Prik RM7

Kaeng Keow Wan RM10

Tom Yam Noodle RM7

Khao Phad Thale RM7

Their coffee were great, according to my dad, and he ordered a few different types to try during his long wait for us. Besides coffee, they also serve tea, ice drinks, frappe and some others. 

Raspberry Mist RM7.50

And to top that, they have a in-house baker, who kept baking while we were having our lunch. It was hard to resists not tasting some of the cute looking cupcakes. 

Cafe Maraschino is a must if you are ever in Rantau Panjang. Its modern feel is a big contrast in the dusty kampungish town, like a sore thumb. But I give them thumbs up for that. Being in it makes me feel like I'm in Kuala Lumpur, not some small little northern town. And that's they appeal. Not to be afraid of change but to embrace it. I hope they do survive the heat. 

Cafe Maraschino
Pt 154, Pusat Perkedaian Baru Rantau Panjang, 17200, Kelantan
09 - 795 3448

Wedding Invitations

Some updates about my wedding...

ITS ALMOST HERE!!!

So since I've already asked the most important people here, the next ones in line were the rest of my entourage and VIPs. I decided to make 'official invitations' to make it more special. Here's what I did..

1. Design and printed out invitation cards. Something more informal for the kids and a formal-ish ones for the adults. I also printed out the needs-to-know/ info for my Page Boys and Flower Girls, aka attires. 

2. I bought gifts!! What's an invitation without bribes incentives anyway ;p I wanted something related to my wedding theme, something garden-ish feel. Girls were easy. I got them colourful cute soft toy bugs. For the Page Boys, it was slightly harder. What to get that are garden related? Gardening Tools? Kinda out my budget. Anyway, I popped into Toy 'r' Us with Lydia and managed to find some tractors. Red and Green. The yellow didn't really count but I bought it just cos the colour looks good with the others. Oh, and tiny little bug clips for the adults. 

3. Next, I made holes on the cards, dug out some ribbons from my craft drawer and tied them nicely with the gifts. For the adults invitations, I clipped the cute bugs clips at the top. 

4. Lastly, I stalked them and delivered the bomb legally binding documents. None of them can back out now. Muahaha!!! Nah, I did asked them nicely and so far none turned me down. Yay!! Am crossing my fingers that the last person wont turned me down. 

It was a joy to see my gifts happily received. Especially when all 3 flower girls were together hugging their new pet. They are going to be so cute ;p These people are important to us and we wanted to make them feel special. I hope they did. Thanks everyone!

p.s. Hot of the press!!! My invitation cards are ready. Its so pretty. Thanks BIL. 

Snapshot : Hawkers hawking their wares @ Tangkuban Perahu, Bandung, Indonesia

GAB Foundation River Carnival Water Project

Last weekend, I woke up early, got dress and drove to Zoo Negara. 

Once we reach, we unload and drag our barang-barang (belongings) thru the zoo till we reach the carnival area. 

We set up, arranged our stuff and got ready for a long day. 

Finally, ready to meet the crowd. 

Our last minute creative looking info board - where children can see and choose the craft they wanted to do. 

Poster for Upcycling Nature Art Workshop - that's us!!

Some craft/ art on display. 

  

Snow Ball, the clown. 

The event started with speeches by the YBhg Datp' Haji Zaharin Haji Md Arif, deputy President of the Malaysian Zoological Society ; Tan Sri Saw Huat Lye, Chairman of GAB Foundation and YBhg Dato' Dr Mohd Ali bin Mohamad Nor, Deputy Secretary General 1, Ministry of Natural Resources & Environment. 

Follow by an amazing pre-performance by the River Musical Team.  

And then it was work, sweat, work, sweat, work till 5pm. Here's our handiwork. 

  

A very tiring day, but couldn't have done it without this fantastic people. 

It was a really good experience for me, learning about saving our rivers at the same time, helping teach others to recyle. All in a few good day's work :)

p.s. If you want to see more pictures, click here.
p.s. If you want to know more about the event, click here. 
p.p.s. If you want to find out more about the team or craft pieces, click here.