Hosanna at SS13 [next to 3K] Subang Jaya
Being a subang jaya person I try to find all the good places to eat here. My criteria for a good place to eat has 3 things that top the list - tasty food, must be cheap, comfortable ambiance. most of the time you'll only get 2 out of the 3 but IF you hit 3/3 you're lucky.

My favorite place to go to after church is this kopitiam at those SS13 flats. It's near to church, has a wide variety of meals to order and the owner lady is always smiling and friendly. there's wantan mee, curry chicken wantan mee, chicken rice, hakka mee, pork noodles, ipoh kueh teow, lam mee, char kueh teow and other things I dont remember. that's coz i tend to order the same thing every time i come here. the pork noodles [above] are always good, with a porky soup and smooth rice noodles. the only thing i dont like about it is how there aren't enough greens.
but some people like it that way.
the hakka mee is fragrant and slippery, with lotsa pork fat [hey that's what gives it the fragrance!] and minced pork, and sliced char siew and my favourite choysum greens. still not enough greens but im the sort who likes the greens to be more than the meat or carbs. anyway, the prices here are still in the region of RM3.80 per serving so it's the best place to go for tasty cheap hawker fare.

Ka Fei Tiam [or was it "Team"?]
around Section 14 we chanced upon this place. trying to mimic those other chains like uncle lim's or old town kopitiam or ipoh coffee, this place serves up all those usual things like all sorts of coffee in every combination imaginable, as well as staples like kaya toast and soft boiled eggs.
i tried to order the century egg porridge but they didn't have it, so i tried to order the wantan mee but they didn't have that either. finally i chose the first thing on the menu i saw, and ended up with this.
i THINK it's supposed to be "assam" beehoon with curry but it didn't taste one bit assam-ish. the sambal was tasteless except for sweetishness and HOT.[that's not a good sambal] i think sambal ought to be predominantly savory with a tiny bit of sour and sweet. the curry was not fragrant either...in fact it was just watery and bland.
gavin's fried rice. it doesnt look that appetizing either but maybe he liked it. i didn't ask.

Madam Lim's at Kelana Jaya [next to Giant]
I walk by this place everytime I go into Giant but until today had never eaten there. it's at the corner of the wooden "stalls" just outside the giant carpark. at lunchtime it's crowded and the aroma of freshly made nyonya food made me salivate so today we finally sat down there and looked at the menu. there were ala carte items as well as individual items like fried rice or fried noodles. we ordered rice and dishes. since it was crowded we expected the service to be slow but we were pleasantly surprised when everything arrived promptly, hot off the wok.

the stir fried kailan was good.
so was the claypot tofu with eggy sauce, bits of broccoli and cauliflower and fried onions.
the chicken paprik was not as spicy as it looks,in fact it was quite mild. sourish and saucy... i thought this one was only so-so.
the special "XO" omelette which was..... a very generous portion, moist and fluffy on the inside.
overall everything was pretty good and pricing is really cheap. most of the items are between RM4-5 each.

I love pesto. I used to buy it in plastic round containers from the greek deli I worked at in Hobart. I haven't had any for a long time though, ever since coming back to Malaysia. Delicious by Ms Read serves up a really good basil pesto pasta but it's really pricey.

When mum brought back a bunch of basil from the morning market, I had a great idea! The ingredients were really expensive but this time I really wanted to do it, so I did.

The recipe, from Jamie Oliver

1/2 clove of garlic
pinch of salt and black pepper
3 handfuls of fresh basil, leaves picked and chopped
a handful of pine nuts, very lightly toasted
a good handful of grated Parmesan cheese
olive oil

method:
pound all of the above, in the above order using pestle and mortar or food processor if u're lazy like me. season to taste, then add more oil or cheese according to taste.

it looks ugly but is really yummy mixed through hot pasta.

speaking of pasta, I tried a low fat creamy pasta recipe.
it turned out okay but of course...nothing beats the real bacon+egg yolk carbonara recipe.

creamy pasta

1. fry some chopped onion and garlic in oil till fragrant.
2. add 300g of whatever processed meat you have lying around, ham or sausage or pepperoni. also add 1 cup sliced mushrooms and 1 cup peas.
3. pour in 1/2 cup chicken stock, let it simmer. mix up 1/2 cup of cornstarch with water, then mix that with 375ml evaporated milk. add that to the pan.
4. stir, let it boil and thicken.
5. sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve over cooked pasta.

qatari food
the boyfriernd's stint in the desert is coming to an end. these are his favourite foods from there. not sure if this is a Lebanese restaurant though. perhaps all arab foods are the same. after all they're all in the desert and have no other animals to ea except lamb and camels..right? and they all love their flatbreads, roasted meats and yoghurty things. and dates.

grilled chicken wings with lavash bread. i think. or pita bread?
looks like KFC to me though.

instant noodles - at asia cafe Who'd have thought that people would eat out... and order instant noodles!!?? but in Malaysia we do. this particular one is from a stall at asia cafe, called "spicy pork noodles" I liked it so I've ordered is a few times. You can choose whatever noodle you like, whether kuehteow, or mee suah or "vit's mee". It's like what you'd cook at home but with added pork slices, tofu,meatballs, egg and bokchoy. I forgot to tell them to omit the liver slices though. i hate liver.

Sashimi is one of my favourite foods. One thing i really enjoyed at the sydney fish market was fresh sashimi, sliced up from a thick slab. I remember eating it with Foonch and Brenda in 2003. anyway, it's so fresh. look!! here's the oyster shuck-er
freshly shucked oyster