The Bakerzin experience

The Bakerzin restaurant in Queensbay Mall, Penang, is relatively new and probably does not receive as much attention as it is used to in KL or Singapore. The place is awfully quiet during weekdays and gets several patrons during the weekends, mostly for the cakes. It is probably due to this reason that they ran a promotional Buy 1 Free 1 period, valid ONLY for Queensbay Mall. Aren't Penangites lucky? ;)

I have never frequented Bakerzin prior to this promotion period, and that was largely due to its location just next to Paddington House of Pancakes. I mean, who could resist pancakes, right? If given a choice, it would always be pancakes, always. So, poor Bakerzin will pale in comparison. That is UNTIL there was this huge poster on display. :)

If my memory served me well, the promotion lasts until end of January 2008. It is valid for all items in the menu and the menu only, which means cakes on display are excluded. I ordered the Seafood Pasta which looked palatable from the menu picture, and I must say it did not disappoint. The serving portion was huge and there was a generous number of clams, prawns (fresh!) and a crayfish to top it off. Pasta sauce was tomato-based, just the way I like it. ;) I think this is probably the ONLY pasta dish that is worth trying in the menu, and I urge you to do so as well. :)


Seafood pasta


Seafood pasta (close up)

For dessert, who could miss out on the Warm Chocolate Cake? It is yet another version of chocolate molten or lava cake that is widely popular in most restaurants right now. Bakerzin's version is nothing less than what other restaurants can offer, in fact it is more superior, in my humblest opinion.

Warm Chocolate cake

The portion is just nice for one person, after having entree. This is a plus point considering most people are already rather full after eating the main course, and too large a size of dessert would just be overwhelming, to the stomach and to the waistline!

The best way to eat the dessert has to be eating the ice cream, cake and the warm chocolate, in one bite. The feeling is nothing less than heavenly, I kid you not.

Warm Chocolate cake

Most chocolate molten/lava desserts have the same effect but somehow the warm chocolate in this particular dessert is prepared just nice. It is neither too rich or too bland. I definitely do not feel guilty eating this. *LOL* Seriously, no amount of words would be able to do justice to the amazing pleasure that this dessert offers. Try it for yourself!

Warm Chocolate oozing out...

Happy New 2008!

This post is largely outdated, I know. But the sad fact is that I have never had time to complete the questions. Anyway, it's always the case of better late than never, right? :) Happy new year to everyone and may the new year bring along with more health, wealth, luck and everything good! :)

1. What did you do in 2007 that you’d never done before?
Went for qigong classes that cost RM500... Didn't put into practice after 6 months *shakes head*

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I never made any resolutions before... We don't have to change only during the beginning of each year, right?

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yes, a colleague's wife, my ex-boss' wife

4. Did anyone close to you die?
A distant uncle

5. What countries did you visit?
Australia, Singapore

6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?
Time to exercise, sleep, a healthier diet on Friday nights, more novel time

7. What dates from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
15th of November *wink*

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
To be able to get through working and studying part time the whole full year!

9. What was your biggest failure?
I did not take care of my body well enough

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Lots of food poisoning and diarrhea, I don't even wanna mention :(

11. What was the best thing you bought?
A really nice Somerset Bay white skirt *LOL*

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Those who stood up for their rights

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Cowards and liars

14. Where did most of your money go?
Well this year, it has to be on my studies :P

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Going to Sydney with my parents :)

16. What song will always remind you of 2007?
Way Back Into Love, Ever Ever After

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?
a) I'm definitely sadder now, literally, because I have to work during weekends for the past 2 weekends :(

b) Thinner

c) Richer in terms of feelings, of friends, i mean. :P

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Just chilling out stress-free, travelling, reading, watching movies

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Procrastinating, worrying

20. How did you spend Christmas?
With my family in Kampar

21. Did you fall in love in 2007?
Yes

22. What was your favorite TV program?
Heroes, Gilmore Girls

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
Hate is a strong word, I wouldn't use that word on anyone

24. What was the best book you read?
PS I Love You

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Did not discover any *frown*

26. What did you want and get?
Ipod Nano

27. What did you want and not get?
Digital SLR

28. What was your favorite film this year?
Enchanted, Ratatouille

29. What did you do on your birthday and how old were you?
Lunch with my colleagues at Little Italy, had dinner at Victoria Station - I'm quarter of a century old.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Less stress, more travel

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?
Capricious

32. What kept you sane?
Music, movies, friends, love

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
None

34. What political issue stirred you the most?
Not much of a political person

35. Who did you miss?
My parents, my grandparents, my brothers

36. Who was the best new person you met?
Someone special *wink*

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007.
To believe in myself

Some nice Singapore food

This is a final follow-up post on my Singapore trip in December 07. Lately, I have been so busy with work and studies that I had to procrastinate updating my blog. :( I just wish there were more days in a week, more hours in a day sometimes. Oh well, we don't always get what we wish for, do we?

Anyway, let us start with the first and only frog porridge that I have ever tasted! It's apparently a famous delicacy in Singapore Geylang road, Lorong 9. Well, Geylang is also famous for 'other' activities as well, if you know what I mean *wink*. I tried at the coffee shop which was located at the corner of the shop house, but I don't remember the name of the shop *frown*. But I did take a picture of the stall which was located inside this coffee shop. :) Erm, sorry, but I can't read Chinese, so please don't ask me what's the name of the stall... :P


Clay pot frog porridge

If you look at the banner, they have 3 main varieties of clay pot frog porridge available, and I chose the Dried Chilli version. It came served with a big pot of porridge as well.



Dried Chilli Clay pot frog


Clay pot porridge
Believe me, the porridge was amazing! It just did not look amazing in the picture, but when I tasted it, I could honestly say it's among the best porridge that I have tasted so far. And the portion was extremely big! Coupled with the dried chilli frog, the taste was just more than a perfect match. It was definitely worth a try. :)

Next place I wanted to share is the famous Din Tai Fung restaurant in Wisma Atria. The place has been a legend on its own for a long time but I have yet to taste it until last year. I have to say, I am not surprised why it is STILL a legend now. I ordered the unmistakable dumpling, also fondly known as 'Siew Long Pau' in Cantonese. It came in a plate of 5 pieces, and tasted wonderful. As usual, the soup just oozed out with the very first bite into the dumpling. Add that with the flavourful marinated meat and the thin dumpling skin, it was indeed gorgeous. :)


Siew Long Pau

I also ordered the hand made noodles which was also a specialty in the Shanghai-themed restaurant. It was not exactly the greatest noodles that I have tasted, but I could say that it was definitely better than Dragon-I in Malaysia. *sorry!*


Mushroom noodles
Another one of those featured food in the menu was the Pork Chop, which I also ordered. It did look great on plate, but the taste was just OK. It wasn't too bad, but I suppose the meat was not really marinated. So it was just like eating normal pork which was fried?


Pork Chop

Finally the one thing not to be missed was its glorious mango pudding dessert! I am a fan, always a fan of mango! Only the sweet mango, mind you. And it NEVER goes wrong with ANY dessert at all. Hence, came the last item in my list. :) I do not know what those small sago-like pieces were, but they did taste fine in the combination. The pudding was just marvellous. Or it was just the mango. Either way, I will never say NO to mango. Give it to me anytime and I'll take it! :)

Mango pudding dessert

Indeed, Singapore does have a lot of nice places for food, if we really go and explore and ask the locals around. I'm sure there are still loads to be discovered. :)

Christmas month at Singapore...

I have always heard from my friends and colleagues that during the Christmas month, Singapore is always very nicely lit up, especially at the Orchard Road. Well I was lucky enough to have the chance to experience the night scene in Singapore just recently, and I was not disappointed. *wink*

On my first night there, I went to Bugis and saw very pretty decorations outside of Bugis Junction Mall. Somehow, the spiral lightings reminded me of the Chinese spiral joss sticks... :P


Outside Bugis Junction Mall and BHG

Then I walked from here towards Suntec City, and asked for directions to the Esplanade. I suppose being a foreigner, I should feel rather proud to be able to make my way to Esplanade without much fuss. *LOL* It was a weeknight and drizzling as well, so it was very much quieter than usual.


Esplanade at night

After walking such a long distance :P, I thought it was only fair to treat myself to a supper, somewhat. Anyway, I tried the famous Singapore Hokkien noodles which was very much different than the one found in Penang. However, I regret to say that the taste did not live up to expectations... Or I just didn't go to the correct stall. Too bad for me...


With a full stomach, I then proceeded to the nearby Merlion. Of course, you wouldn't have been to Singapore if you had not visited this landmark, people say. True to its legend, the Merlion indeed fascinated me with its majestic size and posture. It was as if its presence demanded full attention. Truly amazing...


Nearby, the skyscrapers lit up magnificently and made the whole night scene look alive.


Fullerton hotel

The next night, I ended up at the famed Orchard Road, which was also the busiest part of Singapore, according to the cab driver. He didn't even want to drop me at Orchard Road itself, for fear that he would not be able to get out of the terrible jam himself. Instead, he dropped me off at the end of Orchard Road, which was actually fine for me, since I wanted to experience walking along the busiest road in Singapore during Christmas month. ;) Might I say, I was not disappointed...





Some of the malls were also decorated very nicely in the interior, such as this one I took from Wisma Atria.


Xmas @ Wisma Atria


And who could have missed the gigantic Christmas tree which was propped up at the entrance of Paragon in Orchard Road? I swear to you my camera just did not do the justice as to how HUGE the tree was. And it was nothing less than magical. It was definitely my favourite Christmas tree out of all that I've seen so far. :)



Outside Paragon

Across Scotts Road, near Orchard
Overall, I have to say that it is really true what they say about Singapore becoming alive at night during the magical month of December. Experiencing it for the first time made it all the more special to me. Since it's so near to Christmas, it is apt to wish everyone a very MERRY CHRISTMAS! Time to start with your New Year resolutions list right now... ;)

My best friend's wedding...

I've known her for only 7 years but it feels like I've known her forever. We met in the university about 7 years ago. It was very coincidental that she knew one of my friends and I knew one of her friends beforehand. I still remember, I was the only one in my school who managed to get a place in the university, and hence, I had no friends there. I was nervous beyond words, worried about who I was going to hang out with, who I was sharing my room with, who I was going to walk to classes with, lunch with... just everything! And I was sharing my fear with one of my friends on the night before the first day at uni. It so happened that this friend had another friend who's also attending the same uni as I, and he told me her name and gave me her picture and assured me that she's a lovely person and asked me to go approach her.

So I remembered her name and on the next day, nervous still, I went to uni, surrounded by a sea of hundreds of strangers and started proceeding to different counters for registration. I was sitting inside the hall filling in my form, when I saw her. She was sitting right in front of me, filling up her form as well and I saw her name on the form. It rang a bell. And I was so relieved to know she's there, even though I did not really know her yet. After registering, we all proceeded to our rooms and I was the first one to reach. I was supposed to have another 3 room mates, and I guess fate really planned it. She was in the same room as mine! So we met and got to know each other.

7 years down the road... we're still very close friends. I cannot possibly imagine how my uni life would be without her. She's always there when I was up or down and I could just rely on her for advice and for her ears. Of course, I loved the time when both of us sat in front of the PC and watched downloaded The O.C. and ate junk food! Or the late nights that we stayed up just talking, even when the lights were already off. Those were the good old days... days that I would never be able to experience anymore... simply because... she's married! And words could not really express how happy I am for her. :)


This post is especially dedicated to her, and also to all the great years of our friendship. You know who you are. I was there when you got to know him, I was there when you were smiling every time after you came back from your dates, I was there when you cried for him... But ultimately, I was extremely touched when you told me he's the one you could call your own. That was so sweet. Deep down, I know that he's the one who could make you happy. And I could see that from your face on your wedding day. It was as if this was what you've been waiting for all your life... It was so... meant-to-be. Perhaps that's why you told me you were never scared or nervous of getting married to him. It was just... natural. :)

I would be lying if I told you that I never envied you. When I knew you back then, I was never in love before. I did not really know how love was supposed to be. But I guess you just showed it to me. And I wished I was able to share your experience, to exchange stories with you... but I guess love didn't come to me until much later... LOL.

Now you've moved on to the next stage in life. You've become a Missus, OMG! Can you imagine? And soon you're going to be a mother! I can't believe how time flies and how things have changed since then. You do realize that you're always walking the path earlier than me, right? Which is actually a good thing, because I will ALWAYS have a reference when the same thing happens to me in the future. :) That aside, I have every faith that you will become the fabulous wife that every man dreams to have, the greatest mother that every kid will become proud of, the daughter-in-law that every mother wishes to have... and most of all, I know you'll still be the wonderful friend that you are right now.

May you have all the happiness that you very much deserve... and may our friendship withstand the test of time and distance! *wink* Congratulations from the bottom of my heart, girl!

Can love change a person?

I was having a discussion with a good friend of mine (you know who you are, girl *wink*) this morning and we were talking on the topic of love and personality. Well, we were talking about how couples have to be compatible in terms of character and personality in order to maintain a long-lasting relationship. Of course, we do not believe that there is one such couple that could be compatible in all senses without having to compromise.

My argument was, if one loves someone enough, then one would not mind going the extra mile and changing to be a better person for him/her. For example, I used to have a male friend who was always the clubbing and flirting king. Practically every girl in school knew who he was and he must have attended clubs way before we're even allowed to. Then, he met someone.

Someone who changed his life, literally. I've never seen him so in love before. He went to such an extent just to get to know that girl, and to get her number and finally to get her out. And the transformation from then on was just amazing. I couldn't believe it myself, and so said my fellow friends. He minimized his outings to clubs just for the girl and he became loyal. =) I was always very amazed by the power of love, and I respected him tremendously. So I said love CAN change someone.

But on the other hand, my friend was saying a person's character just simply cannot change. It is only a matter of compromising. When one is willing to give up his/her bad habits, it doesn't mean he/she has changed. It merely means that he/she is compromising and trying to avoid doing things that will create unhappiness. All because of love. And I believe she does have a point. Changing a habit/character means that it stays on forever, no matter there is love or not... but Compromising... means that it is only done purely out of love.

I suppose there is a bit of truth in both our stands. I believe it takes more than a great man to make a change for the better, for his loved one.

And that man... earns my respect. What do you think? :)

P.S. I Love You...

I have just finished reading this wonderfully amazing and lovely book by Cecelia Ahern, called P.S. I Love You... and might I say, I am now obsessed with waiting for the movie to be released! I really hope it reaches Malaysia! :) This is the book...

Sometimes, you have to live life one letter at a time

It is about a young woman, Holly, who's so very in love with her husband, Gerry. Unfortunately, Gerry passed away because of brain tumor, and Holly was simply devastated. She used to live her life, used to exist just because of Gerry. After his death, she was simply shattered, broken, falling apart and crying every single minute. She was lost. She was unfocused. She just didn't want to live anymore.

Gerry foresaw this to happen and he thoughtfully prepared a bundle of messages to be addressed to Holly after he passed away. He wrote her 10 messages, all in different envelopes, meant for different months of the year. Each message was filled with either notes of encouragement or things to do to make her life better. But on top of it all, each message was always ended with P.S. I love you... Isn't that the sweetest thing?

The book revolves around Holly's friends as well, namely Sharon and Denise... and their amazing bond and closeness. It makes you reflect on who your real friends are, and to appreciate them more. The book is definitely a good read to get some light-hearted laughs, to discover one's romantic side and to have a good cry!

The movie apparently is coming out on the Dec 21st '07 in the US and Jan 4th worldwide. I really can't wait! :))) Official site