The Fist Story...

Jun Lee in blue, Jun Yen in white...

Few weeks back Jun Lee has began to suck at her fist, and I recall one night when they were sleeping with us, wifey woken up in the middle of the night by the sucking noises. Jun Yen caught up with the fist sucking a week or so back, but somehow was never as interested as Jun Lee.

The good side is that the sucking seems to act as some sort of pacifier, and nowadays Jun Lee is far less likely to start bawling for milk the instant she's hungry (as she was doing before). When she's hungry, she begins by sucking at her fist and letting out small cries, which at least gives us a warning that she's hungry and will break out into full scream soon!

Triple Antigen Shots...

Jun Lee & Jun Yen visited the pediatrician yesterday for their triple-antigen shots. I was actually a bit worried as this vaccination is known to cause fever.

Thankfully it went okay, the twins cried a bit when injected, but settled down quickly. In fact they went back to sleep in a flash!

The dreaded fever was also kept at bay, thanks to some liquid paracetamol. This was a thick concoction that was orange in color, smelled quite strongly of orange flavouring, and which I basically shot into their mouths with a syringe.

It was funny with Jun Yen as she reacted to it with a frown at first, then was quite happy licking her lips when she realised it was sweet, and certainly something she's never tasted before. Jun Lee didn't like it, and spit out half of it.

The Christmas gluttony...

Christmas was spent rather quietly at home with 4 other friends who came by and did a potluck. We overdid it a bit with the food, and ended up with more than we could handle. Imagine, 2 large Domino's pizzas, 2 roast chickens, 2 large bowls of salad, 1 VERY large container of fried lohshifun, and you can tell we went overboard.

Despite that we made quite a respectable job of it and polished off almost everything but 20% of the lohshifun. Not that it wasn't good, mind you, but its just too much food to handle.

Also had a bottle of 99 Fox River contributed by CK, the opening of which splattered SC's beautiful white Nautica tee! As I didn't have one of those low-effort corkscrews, we did it in the old highly exaggerated fashion; with one guy holding on to the corkscrew and the other holding the bottle... definitely not recommended. Repeat "I will buy a proper wine-opener" a hundred times... Hope the stain on his shirt washes off...

Shanghai Wind...

View of Pudong from the Bund...

Okay, not so much wind, but certainly a ridiculous bit of rain! My flight left KUL at 1000 after being delayed by 30 mins, and was striding my way towards immigration at PVG by 1530. Got into a taxi at a little past 1600.

As luck would have it I got the blurrest taxi driver in all of Shanghai! (or so it seemed after stopping twice to consult his map...) and at one point even asking me if I knew where the Radisson Xing Guo was!!! And when we got to Xing Guo road, he insisted that there is no such hotel. A minute later he sheepishly remarked that there is such a hotel after all, as we drove past the entrance!

The hotel is nice, located in the midst of a park. Of course I didn't know about this till much later as I arrived at past 1700, and darkness had fallen. To cut a long story short it was raining when I arrived, and didn't let up until Monday night, and even then still continued sporadically.

Had dinner on Monday night at a restaurant on the Bund called Finestre. Food was good, wine was good, and the view magnificent. When we got there it was still drizzling. The top "pearl" of the Oriental Pearl tower was shrouded in fog until halfway through dinner, when it lifted to reveal an icon of New China in all its glory. Nice...

Took the really awful noise-riddled picture above from the Finestre balcony, with a Nokia 6300 which is a pretty bad camera even by phone standards! Considering the device and the conditions, I'm surprised it came out at all!

On the whole the conference was very informative, and gave us different perspectives of the business. We all got a lot of networking done too, which was great. Wished we had more time though as some discussions were truncated due to time constraints. Oh yes, the Ronnefeldt tea they served for breaks was a nice touch... hehe...

Christmas is here...

Yet another year goes by, and yadda yadda yadda... the usual moans about how time flies. And whaddaya know... It's Christmas again!

What I cannot understand (and for that matter cannot stand...) is every Christmas the radio stations' insistence on playing Wham's Last Christmas!!! For starters, it has very little, if anything to do with the spirit of Christmas, save for the word "Christmas" peppering the lyrics.

Secondly, it's a very sad song, and certainly if you pay enough attention to the words you will see it too. It's possibly one of the saddest pop songs I know, notwithstanding Tony Rich Project's Nobody Knows. Now THAT is downright miserable.

But hey, we're in the midst of the holiday season, so no more mention of gloom. Look forward to turkey, cranberry sauce, pudding, and all the yummy Christmassy grub. Ho ho ho!!!

As a footnote, I think it's very strange how so many people think about Christmas when they are not even Christians... I for one am not, yet I am actually having a dinner at my place on this occasion?! Must be the atmosphere created by the sheer force of commercialisation. I read somewhere that many people don't even know the meaning of Christmas. Not that I'm surprised, Christmas today is more about snow, Santa, presents and turkey! A pity, for what should be really associated with Christmas is Jesus Christ, Three Wise Men, Bethlehem. And still no, I'm not Christian, though I was brought up with a lot of education along those lines... Another story for another day...

Le Francais, One Bangsar...

Got back from Shanghai late yesterday night, in time for our anniversary! Took Friday off as I wanted a bit of rest after the trip. But somehow, felt like I might as well have gone to work as the day just flew by, and visions of a long restful day went poof...

Spent a good part of the day thinking where to go for our anniversary dinner. Wife as usual heaped this burden on me... After much deliberation settled on Mexican food at Sandias in Plaza Damansara. And whaddaya know, when we got there it looked like it was closed. For good! Chap-lap already! If anyone knows otherwise lemme know...

Okay, no problem, just hop to Mango Tree in nearby Bangsar... I've been there quite a few years back and remembered the food as being quite good. Also remembered the location, or so I thought... When we arrived the sign said Cafe Citron?! What the...!!! Yes, it definitely was the Mango Tree place. Why, the bloody tree was still there! So I'd assume chap-lap also... Until someone tells me otherwise...

In a state of near panic now (and near-rumbling tummy) I suggested to wifey to go get something at the nearby One Bangsar restaurant strip.

To cut a long story short, we ended up at Le Francais. Place looked a tad dim (aren't all fine dining places...) and attractive. We particularly liked the velvet drapes separating the tables which afforded diners some privacy (aesthetically if not sonically...).

We ordered duck salad and cream of garlic soup (yes, you read right, garlic) to start with, mains of swordfish and chicken, and no dessert. I suggested dessert at Delicious at Bangsar Village as I was craving bread & butter pudding. In case I haven't mentioned it, I love that stuff!

Things got off to a good start with the bread basket. Bread was warm, crisp outside and moist and soft inside. Butter was smooth and fragrant. In case you think I am being particularly obsessive, I'll say that the number of times I've been served bad bread is more than I care to recall. It was so good (and I was so hungry) that we finished the basket. (4 rolls only la...)

The duck salad was quite good, with a decent amount of iceberg, butterhead, romaines and rocket. The duck slices were very good, not too chewy yet flavorful and a tad gamey. Soup was quite a surprise, and did not really reek of garlic as expected. It was creamy and smooth with the occasional small bits of garlic. All in not too bad although a bit on the salty side.

The chicken my wife ordered was quite outstanding. Wasn't overcooked to the point of toughness (very easy to fall prey to with chicken breasts) and tasty with a hint of the marinade. The sundried tomato sauce was really nice and went well with the pan-fried chicken.

The swordfish was another story due to the chef's over-enthusiastic use of salt! I cannot remember what exactly it was called, though I can tell you that it was basically a rather large piece of swordfish that was poached in a broth with vegetables. Sadly the broth masked most of the flavour, and it certainly did look like the chef had served me the court-bouillon with the fish! Not good!

I did complain about the fish, and was actually told that was how it was supposed to be. Sorry mates, but you guys don't really seem to know a lot about cooking as i am certain no school of cooking would demand covering everything with the taste of salt! It was a good thing the rest of the food was alright, otherwise I would have made a bigger fuss.

Stick with the less exotic dishes and you should be alright.

The service was rather good, with little of the pretentiousness or haughtiness that seems to plague French restaurants. It was very attentive but unobstrutive. Paid something like a little less than 200 for the whole night, so other than the swordfish, not too bad.

Full Moon Celebration...

18 Nov 2007, 6pm

Jun Lee & Jun Yen with Papa & Mommy...

Look at our presents!!!

Dressing up for the party...

Thank you all for taking the time to be with us on this joyous day. Thank you for all your gifts and kind wishes. Until I get around to uploading all the pictures which Simon so kindly took during the event, here are a few taken on the day. Babies were quite sleepy that day, and slept through most of it despite the comings and goings of family and friends.

More pics...

L-R Jun Yen, Jun Lee

This is our favourite picture so far. They were put very close to each other and that is Jun Yen's hand in between. Jun Yen was nibbling her mitten, and Jun Lee, seeing something in front of her, joined in! One of the rare times they are awake together.

Jun Lee

Jun Yen

Together again...

Jun Lee & Jun Yen

Most of the time when they're in the cot they're separated by some bolsters. The only times they're this close (since they were in the womb...) is when I'm trying to take pics of them together.

Today when I put them together Jun Yen was awake and moving about a lot, while Jun Lee was asleep, and occasionally opened one eye to look at her sister. Usually Jun Yen would start crying after a while when lifted out of the cot, but today when she began to cry, she would see Jun Lee, and stop for a while. It was as if she felt comforted by the close presence of her sister...

In the first pic you can see Jun Lee giving a cute expression that looks like she's smiling...

These two picture are my attempts at a different angle as opposed to the usual face up view. Very shallow depth of field though as the low light in the room dictated a large aperture.

They're different...

Jun Lee & Jun Yen

Many people have asked if Jun Lee and Jun Yen are identical or fraternal twins. The obgyn didn't want to say anything definite on the subject and remarked that the only sure way that we'd know was when they grew older and we could see if they look really alike (or not).

The nuchal scan we did in the 11th week with a different obgyn indicated they were fraternal. Don't ask me how they see lah, but she did mention something about the sacs, something or other...

At this point though I'd have to say they look and behave really differently. Jun Lee moves a lot, stretches a lot, makes a lot of noise (mostly gurglings and soft cries). Jun Yen on the other hand is more restful, but if disturbed, oh boy... will bawl with a volume totally disproportionate to her size! She also loves to be held.

Of course appearance wise they're also very different. Aside from the rather obvious difference in size, our family has come to be able to tell them apart from features (not always easy with babies, and twins at that...)

First Picture Together...

10 days old...

This is one of the first pictures I took of them together. The lighting was bad, and I couldn't use a flash... okay I'll stop whining...

I also tried getting pictures of them awake together, as they are so much more adorable then, but I gave up after sitting in front of the cot for an hour and still they slept... Waking them is not an option!

The prelude to this picture went like this... I lift Jun Yen and put her beside her sister, and whaddaya know, they decide to each face sideways! So I gently turn Jun Yen's head to face straight up, okay easy... now go on to turn Jun Lee's head in the same direction... Easy... Yes!!! ...And then both turn sideways again... Before I could even get my finger to the shutter release!!! And that my friends, was a problem anyone with only one kid would NEVER have experienced. :)

So if they look grumpy in these pics, it was the result of moving them around, which they clearly didn't like. My bad...

Welcome To The World...

Chan Jun Lee


Chan Jun Yen

Dear Family & Friends,

On 22nd October 2007, we have 2 new family members; twin girls Jun Lee and Jun Yen, born at 1034 and 1035, at 2.5kg and 2.2kg respectively. (on the left and right respectively)

Here are the first pictures I have taken of them, still in the hospital blankets.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for visiting the babies and mommy, and for all your good wishes!

Jarrod & Rawlins, Damansara Heights

Just to kick things off, a review of Jarrod & Rawlins at Damansara Heights. They've got another place in Hartamas which I went to a while ago and that experience almost deterred me from going to this one.

Service at the Hartamas outlet was achingly slow, the "gourmet" burger I ordered was so-so with a lacklustre pork patty and a bun with the admirable combination of being squishy and crumbly. The sausages were good though, and Hoegaarden at RM19.50 was reasonable.

The DH outlet then. I actually came across this place a few months back when I was in the vicinity for a meeting. Its located in a converted bungalow lot, somewhat sloping down from the road, which does not make it that visible unless you are near it. Plus the usual monochromatic unassuming J&R signage didn't help.

Last week I finally got around to trying out the place with a business acquaintance. Having been through the Hartamas one, I steeled myself for a similarly lacklustre night food-wise. Got there around 7.30pm, and it was still quite empty then. An hour later the place filled with people, most of them taking a bite and drinks after work, and quite a few expats.

As you go in the small front entrance, you're greeted by the deli counter on the left with its mouthwatering array of meats, cheeses, pickles and sauces. Head on up to the more formal restaurant area, or head down and out to the garden seating area. We opted for the latter. The atmosphere is really nice, a covered seating area amidst the garden. You'll have to see it for yourself.

I ordered chorizo, pork bangers, streaky bacon, a pork chop, goat's cheese, olives and some crackers to go with it. And Hoegaardens to down it with. The meats came on a single large plate, and was served with apple sauce, mustard and some kind of pickle. I'll save you time by saying that everything was good.

Especially the chorizos. Bacon was a tad salty, but its bacon, and you kind of expect that. Pork chop was great, in contrast to the uninspired piece of meat at the Hartamas place. It was well and lightly seasoned, juicy and done just right. Goat's cheese was delectably smooth and tasty. Olives were a tad spicy, which I didn't expect. Perhaps a different pickle recipe then.

One thing though, we asked for bread, and they brought us slices of white bread. Should have asked for rolls as they're likely to go down better with the butter and cheese.

Very satisfactory, and all for a grand sum of just under RM90. Considering the beers alone cost close to RM40, its a pretty decent deal.

Liew Kee Chee Cheong Fun, Teluk Intan

After having read through quite a few reviews of "Teluk Intan Chee Cheong Fun", I was positively aghast at some that tries to pass off as the real thing. Those quote marks you see above are no accident...

The thing is, I have yet to come across any decent Teluk Intan Chee Cheong Fun (for the rest of the article referred to as TICCF) in Klang Valley. For some odd reason this is one of those things that rarely tastes right outside of its place of origin. For the very same reason, Penangites whine about the state of the laksas and char koay teow here compared to Penang.

Most people think of TICCF as simply your usual CCF with fillings in it. Be it dried prawns, pickled turnip (choi boh), spring onions. I have had some with one of the above, some with all of the above, some even with sweet CCF sauce (horrors)... And quite frankly, before I met my wife (whose hometown is Teluk Intan) I thought all those pretenders tasted okay, but really nothing extraordinary. Couldn't for the life of me understand what the fuss was about.

Then one night in 2002 enlightenment set in... From the CCF point of view anyway...

Arguably the most famous of the establishments that produces TICCF in Teluk Intan, Liew Kee is located in a wooden house somewhere near the town centre. Dont have the exact address, but any true blue TI-an would be able to tell you where it is. This place also goes by the name of Ah Lek, so if one name draws you blanks, use the other. Same thing.

Watching the workers is a treat itself. Here they make the TICCF from scratch, grinding grains of rice to make the rice paste. They take up a large rectangular aluminium tray, slop the rice paste over it, roll it around to spread the mixture, toss in some dried prawns, some choi boh, and feed it through the conveyor.

This conveyor thing moves the tray through a steamer. When it emerges from the other end another worker uses a spatula-like thing to scrape the solidified TICCF and roll it up, cut it into smaller sections, pack it in plastic sheets, toss in some pickled green chillies, and wrap it up with newspaper. Finally, it makes its way into your hands in exchange for RM2.50 a pack.

The taste? When you unwrap the newspaper and plastic packaging, the aroma of rice, and the fillings waft out in a combination of what I can only describe as heavenly. Open up a pack in front of me, and even if I have had a 8 course dinner beforehand, I'll still find room.

Use your chopstick (or fork, or hands if you're desperate) pick up a piece of the TICCF and the pickled chilli, pop it into your mouth. The texture of the thin rice paste is smooth and firm, the dried prawns add a bit of crunch, the choiboh adds a savoury element, and lastly the chili throws in a bit of fire and tanginess to the whole mouthful.

There are a few things you need to be aware of Liew Kee though. Firstly the best time to buy is at night, all the way till midnight (and later). Secondly, the lines get impossibly long during weekends and public holidays.

If all else fails, you can still get a pack in the morning from many coffee shops and stalls throughout Teluk Intan. Liew Kee's main business is after all, making and distributing the TICCF. Be warned though, once you've tasted the stuff you got from Liew Kee on a cool breezy night, these too will seem like shadows of the original...

Ka Wha Korean Restaurant, Bangsar

Very active today aren't I? Catching up on 2 years' worth of backlog kinda forces that on you...

I actually read about this place on some blog, though I can't remember which one exactly now, otherwise I'd credit the blogger.

Wife and I tried to have dinner at this place a few months back (vague time and dates, a result of not posting earlier...) and found the place full. Think it was a Saturday. We both thought it was certainly worth another attempt, judging from the crowd, and we eventually got round to it on the 30th Sep, a Sunday. This time we made reservations.

When we got there at 6.30pm, it was quite empty, and at its peak around 8pm the place was about 3/4 full. Saw the All-you-can-eat deal at RM38+ (no tax) and went for that. Banchans (side dishes) started coming and we ordered refillable iced Korean tea and green tea. The banchans numbered around 10 (again the effects of memory or lack of) and were nothing particularly special. Few types of kimchis, beansprouts, fried anchovies and peanuts, potato, radish, etc.

For the price you get a long list of food you can order. We started off with pig intestines, samgyeopsal (pork belly) and the "beef with egg yolk and pear" whilst waiting for our 3 friends. Barbecued the intestines and samgyeopsal. Former was tasty though chewy, and latter was like unsalted bacon. Great stuff! Samgyeopsal was however one of those few items on the list you could only order once. Pity...

Our friends then arrived as we were downing the pork belly, and the gluttony then truly began! Suffice to say the list of things we ordered were too numerous to recount one by one.

Notable ones include the beef with pear and egg yolk mentioned earlier. I had no idea I actually ordered the (in)famous Yook Hwae! And in doing so I conveniently forgot that it was to be eaten raw! Now, I'm not the squeamish type, but the raw beef and raw egg yolk did have me fazed for a while. Sounded like a salmonella nightmare... All was well though, as it tasted very good with the crispy Korean pear. And with the benefit of posting this weeks later, I can safely report that it was not diarrhoea inducing.

The soups which my friends ordered were also very nice. Both the seaweed soup and the beef soup was flavorful yet light. The pancakes were also good, though I preferred the kimchi pancake to the seafood one.

Our friend who had been to Korea ordered a can of some sort of rice wine that was milky in appearance, and tasted slightly sourish. Not really my tipple of choice, but hey, here's to variety.

Good points were the fast and friendly service, and they were very diligent in changing the grills after every round of barbecuing. Price-wise no complaints at all. All in a good experience although food wise I'd say that Dae Sa Kwan is slightly better, though that's ala-carte only.

Only complaint from wife at the end of the meal was that we reeked of barbecued meats, but then that's not something that's specific to this place.

Food blogging?

Well, not to make this a dedicated food blog, but rather jottings about the places I've been to. May not have many photos, if at all, since the only serviceable camera I have at the moment is an SLR, and whipping it out at restaurants is probably not a convenient (or endearing) thing to do. And being used to the kind of pics from a DSLR, camera phones make me weep, and loathe to post up the grainy, noisy blurry results here.

The Debut...

It's finally online! And finally an outlet for my scribblings!

Been thinking of doing it since a few years back, but never got around to doing it because...

I couldn't think of a decent name nor title for the blog!!! (I still can't...)

Imagine, going to blogspot's setup page, and a few clicks away from starting my own blog, and being held up by the page asking you for a title, and name! Though the blog is finally up, I'm still not happy with the title, and the one you see here is simply waiting for a decent one to come along...

Thought is the sail, knowledge the wind, and mankind the vessel...
Its an old quote by a certain Augustus Hare. Don't ask me for any insights into it, ask the great man yourself, if that is indeed possible... It's just something derivative of Scirocco, which was a nick I picked up at random many years ago when registering for some motoring forum.

If you have to know, a scirocco (alternatively sirocco or qibli) is rather furious wind that blows primarily in the Mediterranean (of which I am a few thou miles away from...) or worryingly, to quite a large amount of people, a Volkswagen coupe, thanks to VW's tendency to name a few of its models after types of wind.

So without further ado, unleash the wind!