Tuesday 30 November 2010

时光烤面包

这些年来,总听爸说这槟城新街后巷老档口的咖啡和烤面包有多美味,只是,这档口在非工作日的周末休息,所以始终只是听说而已。直到几个星期前,我们终于在机缘巧合之下,拜访了这大名鼎鼎的“多春茶座”。

仿如踏入时间隧道似的,一不小心就回到了50年代的槟城,那个我错过的美丽的南洋风情……

我是典型南洋人,烤面包+半生熟蛋+咖啡对我而言是难以抗拒的美味,我甚至可怕得可以在早、午、晚餐甚至宵夜时间吃这样的配搭。所以,多春茶座有多吸引我可想而知。



我们坐在小巷子里头慢慢地聊,让时间缓缓的在身边流过。我握着相机,不安分地,想把时光留住。当然,你知道的,谁留得住穿梭白马呢?应该就只有多春茶座吧,以油桶一物两用,上头煮水,下头火炭烤面包。在这繁忙大城市里,既然劈了一个生活步伐缓慢的小天地……

Thursday 18 November 2010

Kopi Cine

My first visit to Kopi Cine is on BB's birthday. We planned to have dinner at Ingolf actually but Ingolf is as full as usual. Being a usual food blogs bleader, I can easily think of several new restaurants (not really new lah, but those that I've never tried before) to try. So we ended up at the quite street of Stewart Lane. I've read about Kopi Cine many times and from the photos that those bloggers posted, I am expecting romantic warm straits style. I am correct :) I especially love the huge classic old counter, reminded me of all the old kopitiam that I visited as a child.  

Kopi Cine has an interesting menu, where they have separated section for breakfast, lunch and dinner. They have very limited choice of main courses for dinner (less than 8 to choose from). However, I'm sure, with this, they are more specialize in their food and the quality is great!

BB and I decided to share a mezze and a main. Their smoked salmon bruschetta is simply satisfying. I really missed the soft, fresh salmon and the simple combination of taste. The Parmesan Chicken Schnitzel is very interesting, with layers of texture and taste. The salad sauce is very refreshing too.

If there's only one thing that I can complain about this restaurant, it is their price! Of course, it is not really sky high but with both of us ate for almost RM100 with one mezze, one main and one drink each! At least, with this price, I would love to relax in air conditioned environment.

Smoked Salmon Bruschetta
Parmesan Chicken Schnitzel with Mash and Salad






Anyway, I went to Kopi Cine again last weekend, unplanned. (and hence without my DSLR). We were having Amelie Cafe in mind. We wanted to have a relaxing brunch and extremely long chat before I send Xiu Mei to the airport. However, to our surprise, almost ALL the cafes in Georgetown are close on Sunday!! We went round and round and round, until Kopi Cine finally came into my mind. We were so glad that it's open.

I had The Day’s Special -- Lamb Pie with Mashed Potato and Salad while Xiu Mei had Mushroom Bruschetta with Chedda and Parmesan Cheese. Both taste so good that we actually cleaned the plate despite being so full!

I regretted that I don't have my DSLR with me. It's a beautiful Sunday morning and we had great time there (the only complain I have is -- why there's no air-cond?? We are in Malaysia!!) It's so hot that even the cool refreshing lemon and mint frappes can't help to cool me down!

The brunch cost us RM66. Again, though it may not be sky high but it's definitely REALLY expensive for Penang standard. Having say so, I guess I'll still go back there once in a while. You gotta love the food quality that they offer.

Wednesday 17 November 2010

我不是要唱衰(四)有风味的泰国餐

槟城贵为美食天堂,要吃一顿美味的食物实在不是什么难事,只是,有时候我觉得有些部落客未免太夸张,好像凡是他们到步一尝的餐馆都是人间美味。总有一些中等或中下水准的吧?

比如说,那天我们就去了一家网上相当有名气的泰国餐厅。对我个人而言,这餐厅的地点决对是一流的。你想想,餐厅就在其中一条姓氏桥的尽头。我们到达的时候,老旧木桥配上蓝天白云,我们仿如浮在水面上,感觉特别有味道。

只是哦,食物一送上就大打折扣了。食物水准普通,Green Curry Chicken和东炎贡份量特小,我们一行七人,碗里头的鸡肉和海鲜都不够分我们一人一块呢!最令人失望的是那一碟lala,炒得太老,蚌类的特有鲜美香味尽失,可惜得很。还好蔬菜炒得还不错,只是份量也是特小的,小虾三两只、菜一两条……槟城人虽然以吃东西份量小著名,但这也未免太过分了。

食物水准普普通通也就罢了,价钱可一点都不便宜哦!我们七人吃了以下六道小小道的菜肴,和一人一杯的Ribine,总共花了RM138。

你要是和我一样,是为了拍照而去,那倒无妨。否则,免了吧~

Monday 8 November 2010

It's a New ME!!

I love to find every available reasons to celebrate this beautiful life, and what is the better excuse than my own birthday??

This year, I started early.

On the 31st October, instead of celebrating crazy Halloween, I invited 3 friends who share the same "birthweek" with me to my house for a self-celebration-birthday-breakfast-party in my garden. It's bliss to have my mum's fresh-from-the-oven-scones and cheesecake for breakfast, followed by "loh mee" for lunch.
We had great chat, laughter and tears. We shared secrets in the nice cool breeze.....




On the first day of my birthday month, En En and I persuaded mum to have early dinner. Why?? Because both of us want to make good use of my Haagen-Dazs Birthday Month 20% Discount Voucher. We can never resist ice-cream! We drove straight to Auto-City right after dinner. Despite heavy rain, taking home 4 pints of ice-cream is pure satisfying :-)







To make full use of Deepavali holiday, my colleagues had planned for birthday BBQ party for November "birthdayers", and of course, we invited Sasi too, since his birthday fall on Halloween. Thanks to James and his mum, we had great variety of extremely delicious food, and of course, great fun too! To our surprise, we can have the panoramic view of Kulim at Jame's house. When the clock strike 12am, Deepavali is officially announced with unstoppable fireworks!

Birthday present from Wah Chan
Wei Wei, En, Ah Chi, Ah Yuan and Ah Yao accompanied me to watch Megamind for my birthday-eve-celebration. As usual, we bombarded the cinema with our uncontrollable-unstoppable-laugh. After the movie, I collected my birthday present from Wah Chan. (OK, I think I really owe them an free advertisement: I bought a platinum necklace for Wei Wei as her graduation present a few years back. Ever since then, every year, I'll receive an absolutely free birthday present from them. Really, no purchase required! From time to time, I'll receive cards/sms regarding the members' day special. Of course, if you plan to buy some gold or real jewelries, they will give members some 50%~70% discount. However, for non-jewellery lovers like me, you can always go for free gifts, free Starbucks coffee and free sandwiches. I've had a lot of free stuffs at Gurney Plaza Wah Chan for these few years.)





I went for meeting / training as usual, and had another round of birthday cake cutting and birthday song singing session on my birthday-eve. It's a simple celebration but it's sweet to have a group of highly-motivated-positive-thinking-enthusiasts around, singing super high pitch "恭祝你福寿与天齐......"


After the meeting, after our usual post-meeting drinking session, finally, we headed to Uncle Zack by the beach at Parkroyal Hotel.

Wei promised that I can "thong" her on my birthday (and I'm kind enough to remind her to set a budget for me before I decide where to go). With her budget, there are lots and lots of choices in Penang. However, with my new Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G (oh, yes, I do buy birthday present for myself every year), I am dying to test the lens. Uncle Zack definitely is the best choice -- good food at beachfront of Batu Ferringgi. Unfortunately, it changed from drizzling to raining by the time we reached Uncle Zack's. We have no choice but to move to Cool Banana. There's no sunset or romantic candle-light dinner photos to share here but at least I still have the food shots to show off :)
On the actual day of my birthday (finally!), we had breakfast in the garden (yes, AGAIN!). Wei made me a cup of latte to go with the mango cheese cake that mum made a day earlier. Not only that, mum also made "Chai Tou Kuih" (raddish cake) and "Gu Chai Deh" (leek pancake). I can't resist so I end up had breakfast and lunch in one meal.

Latte

My favorite - Gu Chai Deh

Mango Cheesecake

Chai Tou Kuih

After the unplanned brunch, Wei started to get bored. She insisted that she MUST go to hair saloon, almost IMMEDIATELY. Not that I dislike going to hair saloon, just that I didn't see the point to be rush. I am still enjoying the lazy Sunday morning.....

En En is kind enough, willing to be her driver. He dropped her at the hair saloon first while I took my time to shower, chit chat at FB, continue eating, reading newspaper etc. 

When I finally joined Wei at the hair saloon, I requested to have my hair style change, again. The hairdresser probably already run out of ideas on what to do with my head. I guessed that's why he asked his assistant to dye my hair first, and he will come back to me later (take some time to think??). However, I think he likes my adventurous. It must be fun for him to have one or two customers that always challenge him to create something different, or always willing to try something new. When he's cutting my hair, he kept on explaining the style "I made here more bob, here more layered, here longer etc etc etc". He must have thought that I love to change hairstyle because I love fashion. Sigh..... pity him. "Playing guitar to the cow". I love changing hairstyle simply because I love changes :p I hardly understand 80% of his hairstyle-talk actually.

Anyway, I love my new hairstyle. It made me feel fresh. It made me wanted to shout "It's a new me! It's a new me!" as Donald did.



For finale, mum introduced a new recipe -- "酿鸡翅"(Chicken wings with glutinous rice stuffing).

This is a snapshot of how I celebrated my birthday - never ending eating and never ending fun. I am never a real fan of my own birthday celebration actually. I enjoy more on planning birthday celebrations for others. However, I love the feeling that I know I'm loved. I love the fact that life is always full of surprises. I love the self-reminder that I'm a new me every single day.

Monday 1 November 2010

三星堆的诡异

三星堆博物馆是我和薇此次四川行程上“非去不可”的地方。(每一回自助游,我总会要同行的同伴们把“非去不可”的地方都写下,好让行程安排上可以尽我们所能,即使绕个大圈子也在所不惜,尽量不让大家失望)

为什么我们俩都觉得这是非去不可的地方呢?因为打从我们第一次看见三星堆那些诡异的青铜面具,我们就爱上了那种远古的神秘。

走进三星堆博物馆,你必然会被五千年前的精致手艺给征服。我实在想不通,那个年代,他们究竟是以怎么样的科技,方能制造出那些或是精致小巧、或是威武刚猛的青铜器。当然,大家都喜欢那个“三星堆是外星人遗留下来的文化”的说法,虽然很不学术,但很科幻。哈哈!

博物馆的第一个展览馆为综合馆,循序而渐进地讲述着三星堆的历史和文化。当中包括了农业发展、商业活动、陶器、玉石器等展出。其中最令人叹为观止的,就是那个象征古蜀人智慧与精神的通天神树!我孤闻寡陋,不知道原来世界上许多古文明,包括埃及、印度等都相信“宇宙树”可以让人神互通。通天神树全是用青铜铸造,高度在4米以上。神树分上、中、下三层,每层有三枝,每枝上面挂满了栩栩如生的铜鸟等精美独特的工艺。

通天神树


第二展览馆是青铜器馆,全馆以“人与神”为主题。一进入一号展厅,你必定会被纵目青铜面具群给镇住。这一批一批的人面具与兽面具如众星拱月,列队布阵,围聚主体展品,非常神秘。而且,是在搞不明白,明明是面具,搞得比我还高,也不知道究竟是怎么用法?

不过,最诡异的,仍然要数二号展厅。一走入黑漆漆的二号厅,进入眼帘的是一字排开的森森群巫,暗红色的灯光柔柔洒满天花板,一颗颗青铜头像被腾空关在玻璃罩内。一不留神,还以为是荷里活科幻片内那些外星人标本。我们缓缓的,一格格玻璃柜慢慢欣赏,每个头像皆有不同造型,但除了其中一个头像比较像现代人之外,其余的全都没有人样。真搞不清,当年,他们究竟是崇拜着谁?摹拟着谁?







请你也读:
浪漫三国
悠游锦里
远去的.宽窄巷子
难以抗拒的可爱
蜀道难,难以上青天
错过木格措……
我心目中真正的香巴拉
来了就不想走的地方
乐山风云
三星堆的诡异