Of course GOHtk bloglah!

This is the shop where I get my banana cake in Johor Bahru. Traditionally baked banana cake, using charcoal oven (木炭烤炉).

Hiap Joo bakery & biscuit factory

Price = RM6 per pack, 12 pieces in a pack.
The shop is located at 13 Jalan Tan Hiok Nee, very near to OCBC Johor Bahru branch.

Good. I choose to agree with my friend KL’s recommendation.

The origin or story of marble goby fish 顺壳鱼 can be found here.

The steamed marble goby fish 顺壳鱼 we ordered yesterday night. Picture (Copyright) Garumon

Thanks to Jieyu for organising yesterday night net gathering! It was good to have old friends (Garumon, Huanzhang, Jieyu and XiaoKang) and new friends (::J::, money, snowmuncher and rabbit_pink) chatting happy and having a really good time at the coffee shop, besides a simple dinner.

We spent about $10 per person for a six-course dinner. Marble goby fish 顺壳鱼 is the main one, of courselah. Claypot tauhu 沙煲豆腐, vegetable, egg foo young 芙蓉蛋, seaweed soup 紫菜汤 and yam ring 佛钵飘香.

The next lap left 7 of us to drink tea. I had 钓鱼 (chinese tea), which becomes my daily drink nowadays. The gathering ended at about 11pm.

When is the next one? Very soon, probably this Friday.

“Ei, which Wantan Mee tastes the best?“, I asked my colleague S during lunch time on one afternoon.

“As far as I know, Koon Kee 冠记云吞面 at Jalan Petaling (opposite Popular book shop) is one of the good one. The noodles are self made, particularly the Char Siew, which I enjoyed the most.” I mumbled to S.

Koon Kee 冠记云吞面 @ Jalan Petaling, KL. Picture (Copyright) Howard Tu

S replied, “Oh, there’s a wantan mee at Katong. They make their own noodle and their chilli sauce, probably the best.”

Me and CS followed S’s family to Katong on one Saturday evening to try out his recommendation.

Yes, Eng’s noodles are slightly thicker than the usual one, cook to the right texture and best accompanied with their self-made chilli sauce. I finished my plate within 8 minutes. Whew!

Eng’s Wantan Mee 荣高云吞面 @ Dunman Road Food Centre

The waiting time can be quite long. You might want to call them in advance to place your order before arriving at the food center. The price is economic at S$2 per plate, a dollar more if you want extra Wantans.

Eng’s Wantan Mee 荣高云吞面
#02-19 Dunman Road Food Centre
Singapore 439188
Tel: 96497798
Business Hours: 5.00 pm to 11.00 pm / sold out (whichever earlier)
Off Days: Wednesday

Thanks for the recommendation, S! I will make my next visit to Eng’s 荣高 very soon.

Guilin Mifen 桂林米粉
One particularly well known rice vermicelli of slightly thicker variety, is called Guilin Mifen (桂林米粉). This kind of thin noodles are made from rice, originating from the Guilin, China.

Yangshuo 阳朔
A small town in Guilin, Guangxi Province, China, and the seat of Yangshuo County. Surrounded by towering karst peaks, is a popular backpackers place.

Guilin Mifen factory in Yangshuo

Targeting for a budget buffet where you can eat all you want rather than a single meal at hawker center or food court?

These places are getting more crowded nowadays. Believe it or not? $11.50 (GST included) can buy you a satisfying dinner to fill your hungry stomach on the weekdays.

Two days ago, in the end of a tiring day, my friend KT suggested a decent place to dine in.

“At Balestier Road, taiwan style porridge buffet“, he said. Later I came to know that his recommended place has more to offer other than it’s budget-conscious buffet.

Solid, recently renovated 3-star hotel. Probably the best digs in central Singapore. Free shuttle service also availble to Novena MRT and Orchard Rd from here. A room costs about $95. By the way, its located nicely beside the Communiable Disease Centre (CDC).

Quality Cafe at the Quality Hotel is our target. Their sweet potatoes porridge caught my attention. Good texture with a much chewier, firm and non-sticky feeling, best to eat with braised peanut, egg and duck is probably the best kick start for the meal.

I like porridge because it’s not oily. Advertised as Taiwan style, I feel Quality cafe one’s more like Teochew style, from the variety of dishes offered.

The only recommendation from me is the hotel chef should make salted duck eggs to replace the “ikan bilis”. How can a porridge meal without it? On the other hand, ikan bilis is more suitable as the supplement for Mee Hoon Kueh.

At the end of the porridge dinner, you can either go for ice-kachang, ice cream or even more water melon slices as dessert.

If you happen to drop by after 10:30 pm, the buffet only costs $7.80 (exclude GST). However, you need to finish your meal by 12:30 am.

Your take?

18 Agustus 06

I was sipping Teh Sosro at the night market near the port area of Tanjung Balai Karimun. The jasmine tea fragrance, though light, but it’s sweetness level is just nice and serves a relief and refreshing spree from the hot surroundings.

Teh Botol Sosro

Or… This Teh Botol Sosro produced by PT Sinar Sosro had conquered the beverage world of Indonesia, gripping about more than 2/3 of the non-carbonated soft drinks market, say some retail analysts.

Wah so steady! Really, for sure… You must try it on your next trip to Indonesia. Get the bottle that is ice-cooled, chilled one.

19 Agustus 06

Brought the Teh Sosro Celup, black tea packaged in tea bag version. However, this one is different from Teh Botol, stronger in flavor and perhaps contains more caffeine, I think.

Black tea is known able to retain its flavor for several years, hence we have Teh Sosro Celup in tea bag? Best to drink without sugar? I share this opinion, as what the expression of black tea describes: a cup of tea without milk (served black).

Teh Sosro Celup

Get one for you on my next Indonesia trip.

Past midnight, I was told about this chocolate fruit dip, while chatting with friend through MSN messenger.

Chocolate fruit dip, (C) Y

Q: Where is the chocolate?
A: Inside the ‘bowl’

Cost for making it: < RM20.
Hmm, I must try it… Just hope that it is not too sweet.

Chinese name?
巧克力火锅 or 巧克力锅

“Bang, burger ayam biasa dua” (brother, 2 ordinary chicken burgers please), I made my voice louder, to be heard by the stall owner. The surroundings of the Ramly burger stall was simply too noisy on that Friday night at the small alleys behind Jalan Wong Ah Fook, Johor Bahru.

RM2 each, still very economic. Eating the burger at the staircase of Johor Bahru KTM railway station with my friend W, my mind flowed back to Mar 9, 2002, where I have jotted down:

It took me almost 3/4 of the day to reach Larkin, after a long journey, looking for food, of course. Didn’t take much at Machap.

Saw Ramly Burger, located just beside Marrybrown. As its’ usual style, a small stall, same as you can see along the road connecting cities in Malaysia. Priced at RM2 for one chicken burger. Thick slice of chicken meat, sliced into half while grilling, add in the special self-formulated spicy flavour, not the kind of too “pedas” chili sauce, and finally wrapped with a standard white with brown colour wording Ramly Burger wrapper.

Hot and warm, I feel in my hand, not like the McChicken/Marrybrown style. The first bite, good! Soft and tender meat (thicker than Mc), covered with chili sauce, is another style compare to Mc/Marrybrown mayonnaise approach and at a low price!

My choice is of course Ramly Burgerlah, economy, tender and juicy, handmake burger, just nice after several hours of bus travel.

Unforgettable taste… Still the nostalgic taste of the old days.

Johor Bahru is particularly well known for light Teo Chew-style bak kut teh.

xxx xxx xxx

15 Sep 06

It was a heavy downpour Friday afternoon and that made the street quieter than I had thought. Well, most people will stay away from restaurant for lunch, but I was wrong.

Though raining heavily, with my friends, we headed to Taman Skudai Baru, in search of a Bak Kut Teh shop mentioned by another friend one week ago.

“Ei, this shop Bak Kut Teh very nice one, some more hah, you can’t request them to add soup one“, he started the conversation.

“Their kampong-chicken or Báijī (white chicken) has jelly-like skin finishing, some more the meat is tender and juicy“, he added.

“Their Ba Bao Cai, wah, must try, but you need more people, else can’t finish“, he quipped.

The shop is call “Restoran Tong“, near to Skudaiville Condo, located at Jalan Hang Lekir.

Restoran Tong Bak Kut Teh @ Jalan Hang Lekir, Taman Skudai Baru, Johor Bahru

We beat the rain to the restaurant but guess what? Full house! No choice, We placed our order first, a Teo Chew-style bak kut teh and 1/2 kampong chicken, while waiting for the seats. After standing about 10 - 15 minutes, we shared table no. 8 with 2 uncles.

Teo Chew-style bak kut teh delicious! Ho ho, the soup is not pepper based and this was what I prefer. The herb feeling of the soup stronger by the very end of the sip. The Bak (meat) and Kut (bone) were tasty and well cooked.

The kampong-chicken (Báijī) meat is really different from the normal chicken rice stall one, which doesn’t taste like much. This one is not just juicy, but tender!

Pricelist:

- Teo Chew-style bak kut teh RM15
- 1/2 Kampong-chicken RM16
- Rice RM1
- Towel RM0.20

Feel satisfied on that rainy afternoon.

Today: Scattered thunderstorms. High 94F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%.

Sent two friends to Tanjong Pagar railway station (TPRS) yesterday night. Didn’t go to this station since Sep 2001. When we first arrived there, it is still the old and quiet station we used to know.

It was opened in 1923 when the railway was extended from Johor Bahru across the causeway into Singapore. Situated between Tanjong Pagar/Cantonment estates and Keppel Road, you are feeling nostalgic once you step in the station, what a sharp contrast to the modern commercial buildings around it.

Familiar blue plates and signboard appears. “KTM” and “Tanjong Pagar”… Indifferent to those in Malaysia railways station. But some differences noticed.

Atmosphere Remaking/Reshaping/Rebranding of TPRS? From quiet to bustling…

A full long stretch of gerai-gerai, warung-warung and meja-meja appeared. Hustle and bustle, this is the newly opened roadside stalls, I guess. You can find almost all Malaysian dishes on sale here, satay, nasi lemak, rendang, roti canai and more.

Indeed, this station is really indifferent. Experience makan by the roadsides in Malaysia, a night out at the Railway Station could be an attracting one.