Just Another Eating Trip

I visited Sushi Zanmai at The Gardens, Mid Valley for the second time about three weeks ago. This is not a serious food review, so I won't be commenting much about the taste of the food. But frankly speaking, although the food tasted okay, there's really nothing much to shout about. Here are some food pictures that I've painstakingly taken with the ultra-sensitive digital camera...

This is the Kakiage Don (small) that I ordered. The topping of the rice as you can see in the picture, is supposed to be tempura made with mixed vegetables and prawns. Sadly all I ate was a little bit of vegetables with thick layer of flour and I can hardly see the prawns; well okay, there were a few tiny ones.

Ben ordered Sukiyaki, which consisted a hot pot of soup and vegetables, a plate of thinly sliced beef and a bowl of raw egg. He was rather suspicious when I told him that the raw egg is for dipping the ingredients before eating. :) Anyway, since he's not a person who is used to the idea of consuming raw food (fish, meat, egg etc), at the end the whole egg went into the hot pot instead!

I didn't had a very pleasant time with Ben sitting beside me having Sukiyaki. The truth is I've phobia with the portable mini gas stove, which in my personal opinion doesn't look very safe at all. If you've seen the email with photos of the seriously injured and disfigured victims after a gas stove explosion accident that were being circulated around the Internet about a year ago, you'll know what I mean. Yup, they were having steamboat/hot pot in a gathering and they were using the same portable mini gas stove you can see in the picture below... Maybe it was just an unlucky accident, but I still prefer electric stove, at least nowhere near the fire, haha!

Home Alone #2

When you're a working adult living in the city, reading can be a true luxury even if it doesn't involve a big amount of money. Yes, you don't need a lot of money (except the cost of purchasing the book itself), but having the time and the perfect setting for reading is difficult enough to achieve, if you know what I mean...

I was studying my Java (it's a type of programming language) book in the living room, because I need to do some hands-on practices using my laptop, so I definitely need my study desk, which forced me to moved out from the comfort of my bed and pillows. Only about fifteen minutes later when I was seriously absorbed into the book, there came an irritating high decibel sound of children screaming and shouting as if they were being chased after by the psychotic killer in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I forgot to tell you that I'm actually living on the eighth floor of the apartment, if the children's screaming is loud enough to be heard as if I'm standing less than 3 metres in front of them, that's just plain ridiculous. I can't imagine how they're able to produce such earsplitting noise. Okay, you might think that energetic and playful children are adorable, but I personally prefer quieter children who are able to sit still to appreciate music and books.

Then, the screaming finally came to an end (yup, meals are served, it's dinner time!), there comes another source of noise pollution; the engine sounds of vehicles. My apartment faces one of the main road, even though the block I'm staying in doesn't face directly to the road itself, there is no way it could help in lessening the dreadful engine sounds. While the TV or music is on, the noise is still bearable. However, if you need a few peaceful hours to study or just read a book, I guess that is merely a dream unless you start consider about getting some soundproof walls.

Living in the city can be rather stressful, despite the conveniences to be able to access to loads of information, opportunities, entertainments, and of course those not-too-great-anyway sales and promotions. The noise pollution alone is enough to drive some people crazy (people like me...).

Guess it's time to prepare my own dinner now! And of course, I won't forget to turn on the TV to block off the intolerable amount of noise. Talking about quality of life in the city, suddenly it sounds all so senseless...

Home Alone

There is nobody around the house from today until Sunday. One of my housemate went back to hometown, while the other one went to Langkawi for a vacation.

Contrary to the common belief that I might feel lonely being alone at home, I quite enjoy some precious moments of tranquility. This is the right mood and setting to pick up a book and read. I've not been reading for ages (except casually flipping some lifestyle and fashion magazines), so this will be the perfect time indeed! My bookshelf is currently filled with more than a dozen of unread books, which I got from various warehouse sales and promotions. I guess that instead of becoming an avid reader, I now look more like a greedy collector. :)

Besides of doing some readings, I've to do the household chores such as cleaning up my room, decluttering my study desk in the living room, and doing my laundry. Is there time to sense the loneliness of being the only living soul in the house for two days? Well, I guess not. Doing the laundry alone requires me to spent a whole day, or at least half a day. To add to my chores list, there are pots and dishes to be washed after cooking my meals. It's a long and neverending list...

I'm going to enjoy my two days home alone, and maybe, I'll pick up Java again for the sake of my long malfunctioned brain... Adiós for today!

A Hearty Meal of Couscous

I cooked couscous for lunch the other day. It's a pretty simple dish, as I used instant couscous that takes only 3 to 4 minutes to cook. Instant couscous are packed in boxes and sold in nearly all major supermarkets, so you wouldn't have a hard time looking for it. :)

The couscous has to be cooked in hot water until fluffy. I added a pinch of salt and a tablespoon of butter for richer flavour. Other ingredients (chicken meat, sausages and frozen vegetables) were cooked separately with dried herbs and then served with the couscous. All it took was only half an hour, and "tadaaaa"...! A deliciously healthy meal.

Events from the past 2 weeks

It's been more than two weeks since I last updated my blog. Plenty of things happened during this period and I really don't know where to start, so I guess it'll be easier to make a list instead...

• My wardrobe arrived a day late due to some transportation issues on the furniture store's side. It's not the ideal size, but guess I've to accept the fact that I'm short of cash to get a larger one.
• Quite a number of people in the company were retrenched. I'm not one of them. Is this good or bad for fishes in a bowl of stagnant water?
• Coach is having a sale and I succeeded in resisting the temptation to get one!
• I had my first visit to an Izakaya (a Japanese style bar); Izakaya Shuraku in Solaris Mont Kiara. The place is pretty small and crowded, nice for chilling out with friends, but definitely not one for a nice and quiet dinner.