life$tyle ab$olute!

Album Review by NST

2009-09-13T23:24:00.000-07:00

ALBUM REVIEW

Publication: Sunday People, The New Sunday Times Magazine
Author: Subhadra Devan
Date: 13 Sept 2009

Album: Eleven
Artiste: WVC TRiO +1
Label: Black Machine Music Production

GruvAvenue stalwarts Tay Cher Siang, Vincent Ong and Adam Osmianski have teamed up with Julian Chan to record an experimental album under a new band, WVC Trio +1.

The “+1” means the trio (Tay, Ong and Osmianski) can be plus any other musician, and any instrument.

Eleven is filled with jazzy, classy originals. This is not big band or dancehall jazz. It’s Dave Brubeck plus Keith Jarret and Herbie Hancock.

The guys — Chan on saxophone, Tay on keyboard, Ong on bass and Osmianski on percussion — are each outstanding. They gel on Eleven like steaming-hot roti kaya with black coffee.

Standing In The Rain On Euclid Ave is lovely straight-ahead jazz. Thumping percussion beat against a wistful piano tinkle. The beat is picked up by the piano, which still plays lead, then again by the drums. Ends with tinkling black-and-whites.

The Art of The Windup Alarm Clock was inspired by a Chinese adage, “An inch of gold can’t buy an inch of time”. It’s a melodic, uptempo tune which ends, yes, with an alarm clock ringing.

Hunger Strike has a long segue with drums and piano while Little Steps is no warmup tune as initially intended by Ong. This and Merry-Go-Around have a modern, New York sound.

Caipifutra is cute, even a little house, while Dawn is more smooth jazz in the GruvAvenue style. Eleven is a good album by hot local jazzsters to hold on to.

New Band: WriteUp Styling? :-P

2009-07-14T00:13:00.001-07:00

INTRODUCTION: WVC TRiO + 1

In the fall of 2004 at West Virginia University in the US, the WVC TRiO was originally formed as a class for three music majors: Adam Osmianski, Tay Cher Siang, and Jon Cavendish. The three immediately noticed that they had musical chemistry and began holding extra rehearsals and continuing the class semester after semester, building a very large book of repertoire containing original materials, and the groups’ own unique arrangements of jazz standards and rock tunes. Drawing inspiration from the great trios of the past like Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans, and today's modern counterparts such as Brad Mehldau and The Bad Plus, the WVC TRiO has developed a sound of their own. In the summer of 2008 the trio toured Malaysia and Singapore for 7 weeks, and recorded their first studio album. The spring of 2009 sees Adam's return to Malaysia for another tour, while Vincent Ong from GruvAvenue stepped into the bass chair. To complete the +1 formula, we have Malaysian “Man in New York” Julian Chan on Saxophones. WVC TRiO had toured TianJin and GuangZhou in China, and throughout Malaysia this June 2009.

WVC TRiO +1 is presenting a variety of musical styles and premiering many brand new, original compositions penned by Cher Siang, Vincent and Adam. Experience this vibrant and original music from July 16, 2009 at various CD stores in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia:

Rock Corner Bangsar Village, KL

Rock Corner One Utama, PJ

Tower Records Lot 10, KL

and many more.

BIOGRAPHY OF PERFORMERS

Tay Cher Siang – Pianist, Composer, Producer
Tay Cher Siang began studying jazz as a teenager in Melaka, Malaysia after learning classical piano for a time. Tay later went to United States to study with Dr. James Miltenberger, and Prof. Paul Scea at West Virginia University. Here Cher Siang earned a Bachelors degree in Music Performance, and a Masters of Music in Jazz Pedagogy. While at WVU, Tay was a graduate assistant to Prof. Scea which gave him the opportunity to direct the school big band, small ensembles, as well as teach classes in jazz improvisation. Also at WVU, Cher Siang won the “WVU Young Artist Competition”, and received the “HERF Top-Off Award” and the “Valerie Candy Award".

Throughout his stay in the US Tay performed regularly as a soloist and with many ensembles such as the West Virginia University Big Band, the Mon River Big Band, the Jenny Menna Trio, the Washington Street Jazz Band, and the West Virginia University Wind Symphony Orchestra. He also performs regularly in Malaysia, China and the United States. Not only a performer, Cher Siang composes, arranges music for various ensembles, and gives music master-classes throughout Asia.

Since returning from US in Dec 2006, Cher Siang had performed in numerous festivals and concerts. These included Melaka Strait Jazz Fest 2007 at Riau, Penang Island Jazz Fest 2007, Kota Kinabalu Music Fest 2007 & 2008 (consecutive 2 years), Mosaic Festival 2008 & 2009 in Singapore, Malaysian Youth Orchestra Foundation Closing Ceremony 2007 & 2008 and “The Awakening” Jazz Concert 07. He represented Malaysia to join another four stellar musicians within Asia for the Unit Asia “Southeast Asia Tour” between Oct to Nov 2008, organized by Japan Foundation. Tay currently resides in Kuala Lumpur where he teaches at UCSI, the University of Malaya and running his own studio. He is an active musician on the KL music scene, performing with Boplicity, GruvAvenue, Rizal Soliano Band and his band WVC TRiO, as well as a number of vocalists.

Vincent Ong – Bassist, Composer, Producer
A graduate of the International College of Music, Vincent started playing bass professionally while he was in college. He then formed the jazz band “Black Machine” in year 2000. Black Machine was re-branded as “GruvAvenue” since 2005 and released their eponymous debut album on the same year. Vincent performs regularly within various set up from a trio to a seventeen-piece band; from relaxing hotel lounges, exclusive clubs, grand conferences as well as jazz festivals throughout Malaysia. These festivals included Sunrise Jazz Festivals 2004 to 2006 (3 consecutive years), KL Music Fest 2006 at Istana Budaya, Miri International Jazz Festival 2007, Johor Bahru Performing Arts Festival 2008, Promotional Activities for Genting International Jazz Festival 2008, HSBC Wind Festival 2006, and “Jazz Oasis” charity concert at Manila, Philippines. Vincent had organized and produced three concerts namely “The Awakening” Jazz Concert 2007, “Jazz Only!” 2002 at The Actors’ Studio Bangsar, and “Black Machine's Debut” concert at The Actors’ Studio Box and Theatre beneath Dataran Merdeka in year 2002. Vincent is a Music Production & Engineering graduate from SAE Institute. He was joined by Shazee for the mixing (post production) of GruvAvenue’s second album.

Besides multi-tasking as the founder, producer, band leader and songwriter of GruvAvenue, Vincent has performed with British chart topper jazz artiste Peter Grant for a two-weeks showcase of his “New Vintage” and “Traditional” albums shortly after Peter's sold out performances at Ronnie Scott's. He performs regularly for Malaysian jazz luminary David Gomes (North Sea Jazz Festival 90 & 91) at music festivals. Vincent had performed with many Malaysian artistes including Noryn Aziz, Atilia, Adibah Noor, Sean Ghazi, Izlyn Ramli, Juwita Suwito, Casey Subramaniam and Francisca Peters; jazz exponents such as pianists Hakan Rydin (Swedish), Jeremy Monteiro (Singapore), Don Gomez (Aust), Kom Wongsawat (Thai National Jazz Competition Champion 06), Adam Dennis (British), drummer Louis Soliano (Singapore Recipient of the Compass Artistic Excellence Award, “Best Drummer in Asia” by DownBeat), Boon Ghee (Singapore), Malaysian jazz legend saxophonist Salvador Guerzo and The Soliano Family, yogi extraordinaire and Saxophonist David Muehsam (New York), vocalist Rachel Guerzo, Junji Delfino, Marcela Panilla (Columbia) just to name a few.

Vincent is also the guitarist of an electronica-duo, “Severe Vain Syndrum” (SVS) which pushes the boundaries of modern DJ music by injecting organic improvisations, and for a jazz trio at the Executive Floor Lounge of Hilton Sentral KL for two years. Commonly referred by his peers as a stylistic chameleon, this go-getter with unique musical vision and diverse artistic tastes joined Asia’s leading music icon Lewis Pragasam (of Asia Beat) and top notch producer/pianist Mac Chew on 25 July, and ethnic-blues artiste Karen Nunis Blackstone on 1st & 2nd August to entertain the public at the Sunrise Jazz Festival 2008. GruvAvenue had performed at the Mosaic Music Festival 2009, hosted by Singapore National Theatre, the Esplanade in March. Apart from his busy schedule, Vincent runs a music production studio specialises in live bands, mixing for jazz recordings, and a graphic suite.

Adam Osmianski – Drummer, Composer
Adam Osmianski studied music from a young age in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. After finishing high school, Adam went to West Virginia University to study with Professor Paul Scea and Al Wrublesky. While at WVU Adam performed in the school big band, small jazz ensembles, percussion ensemble, symphony orchestra, various world music ensembles, and continued to perform in his home town of Pittsburgh. After placing 7th in the nation in the “Percussive Arts Society International College Tenor Drum Competition”, Adam spent two summers touring the US with the “Glassmen Drum and Bugle Corps” from Toledo, Ohio. After touring with the Glassmen, Adam was appointed as the Percussion Coordinator and Arranger for WVU's award winning marching band.

Adam earned a Bachelor Degree in Jazz Performance and immediately began work on a Masters in Jazz Pedagogy where he was graduate assistant to Prof. Paul Scea. This gave Adam the opportunity to teach the school's big band, small groups, percussion ensembles, and classes in jazz. While working on his masters, Adam toured China and Malaysia in 2006 with the WVC Trio and the Paul Scea Quintet. Again with Scea's quintet, Adam traveled to Brazil in 2007. After finishing his Masters Degree in 2008, Adam again toured Malaysia and Singapore with the WVC Trio, and performed with Paul Scea's RA Ensemble at the “International Society of Improvised Music Convention” in Denver Colorado. Adam's other performing credits include jazz great Joe Negri, and appearing on the David Letterman show with the “Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps”.

Julian Chan - Saxophonist
Julian Chan has been playing the saxophone professionally since the age of 21 after studying accounting in Perth, Australia. Since returning to Malaysia he has studied with English educator/ saxophonist Greg Lyons, and performed in various musical settings including the 19-piece “Emergency Brake Ensemble”, The “Greg Lyons Nonet", and the funk band “Biophonics”. Julian continues to be an active performer on the KL music scene, performing with David Gomes, the “KL Hardbop Band”, Michael Veerapen, and Farid Ali among others, as well as running his own bop group called “Boplicity”. Not limiting himself to KL, Chan performs at music festivals throughout Southeast Asia and Australia. He is currently pursuing a Masters Degree in Jazz Performance at the Aaron School of Music at Queens College in New York City, USA.

When not playing jazz, Julian is doing session work for various pop artists both at home and abroad. This work has taken him throughout much of Asia, most notably with Taiwanese singer/songwriter Jonathan Lee Zhong Sheng's “South East Asian Concert Tour".

MORE INFORMATION

kindly click on the following links:
WVC TRiO +1 at ReverbNation
Manager's Blog

GIGS, BAND BOOKINGS, ARTIST COLLABORATIONS
please contact our manageress Sun at +6012 395 0670 or directly email me.

Welcome 2008!

2007-12-26T00:04:00.000-08:00

Welcome year 2008 and
kick start your NYE celebration with
SVS @ Vincenzo Ristorante Italiano! Details as following:

Date: 31 Dec 2007
Time: 9:00 PM - 11:00 PM
Venue: Vincenzo Ristorante Italiano
Address: One Bangsar, 63H Jalan Ara, Bangsar Baru, 59100 KL.
Reservation: 6(03) 2287 1686

What other's have said about this cozy ristorante?
Mama Mia!
Blogger
Oriental Daily (for mandarin reader)

Off the record

2006-12-27T09:22:00.000-08:00

Here's something not food related. This will be my last gig for year 2006 as it falls exactly on the last day of the year. So Come on, and let your hair down. Details enclosed here.

"Thank you" for your tremendous support and love all these times!

As we come to the closing of year 2006, let's have a great party!
To Recap All the Wonderful Moments we had in 2006!
To CELEBRATE Love and a Greater Life ahead of us all in 2007!

Title: Presto CountDown Party with Brandy & Cindy
Date: 31 Dec 2006
Time: 10 PM Onward til early morning
Venue: Bangkok Jazz Thai Bistro
Reservation: 03-2145 8708
(if you insist to have a table than hang onto the bar)

Let's Count Down @ Bangkok Jazz!
and Kick Start the New Year with a bang!

May all your dreams come true.

from my archives

2006-10-14T02:51:00.000-07:00

Thinking about food is probably a suicidal act especially when one is hungry. While i'm going out for dinner real soon, these pictures from my archive of food-i-ate lately should work just fine as a measure of 'temporary relief'. You too, can check out these yummies if you happen to be in Klang Valley.

Pizza with all the toppings of Mediteranean vegetables and beef salami from Vincent's favourite italian restaurant, Nerovivo. Literally the toppings should be referred as stuffings cos its's all wrapped within the dough. So the outcome is very moist and juicy veges. A must try for people presume pizza toppings are nothing but oven-dried and burnt charcoals. Strongly recommended to the elders.

We check out the pasta buffet available at Italiannes every wednesday night. There's about five choices of pasta, five choices of sauces and five choices of toppings and eat all (pasta) you can policy. It's very thoughtful of them serving in smaller portion, so that one can try the different sauces and toppings. But you still need to bring your appetite. The caesar salad with deep fried squid is really huge and taste equally as good. Not Vincent's favourite eat-out place cos he persisted that i could cook these at home, if i practise and put some efforts in my irregular cookings.

We went to Low Yatt Plaza to buy some hardwares the other day. These curry mee and yong-tau-foo are simple comfort food that's served warm. The store is situated at the basement near the escalator. Food with soup is served in SQUARE bowl. i think they're halal too. So if you prefer an eatery that's clean with air-conditioning within the plaza, this is just nice.

Try the O'Brien sandwiches and salads if you're bored of the typical chinese, indian or malay food. Prices are reasonable. Portions are average. It's pretty much a chain store, meaning you can find them in most shopping malls and plazas. A good choice for some quick bites.

There's still plenty of food within my archives but if you would excuse me, i need to run.

A Great Place for Italian Food

2006-09-22T11:32:00.000-07:00

After a long rehearsal in Gombak, we finally arrived Nerovivo around 8:15 PM. Parking spaces are very limited and most of their patrons came with much bigger cars and drivers in uniform waiting in the cars while double parking. There's no reason to feel intimidated if you arrive without a driver, because this is not another cut-throat restaurant. The exterior is very simple - a small white bungalow house. The interior is very lovely and space are used wisely. Each table is nicely set apart and the setting is efficiently spacious. A good way of testing this is trying to hear conversations of the couple in the next table. If you can listen to them, they could listen to your conversations over the table!

There's two main sections for dining: Outdoor or indoor. For outdoor seatings, you will be greeted by sight of a wooden oven and the heavenly aroma of freshly-baked pizzas. If you prefer some air-conditioning, the indoor decor guaranteed to 'wow' with the simplicity of white wall, wooden paneled windows, minimum lightings and oil paintings of Sandra Knuyt. Patrons are usually greeted by Paulo, the owner who at the same time supervises the operations throughout the evenings. A bar near the entrance provides a comfort spot for diners who didn't make reservations, and those who prefer to talk over few drinks. Wines are reasonably priced. There's plenty of choices for both sales by bottle or housing pouring by glass.

Services are fast and good. Upon we're seated, menu were handed over and the hostess informed us of some 'specialty of the day' which were fresh products e.g. yabbies (crayfish) and etc. A bowl of bread & pizza crust with olive oil & balsamic vinegar dipping were served while we read the menu. If your favourite dish is not in the menu, do what Vincent did. Ask the hostess nicely, chances are their kitchen could make it just for you if circumstances allowed. This is a great PLUS point!

The pictures of food, food, food... here they come.

Our birthday boy, Vincent got his favourite spaghetti Bolognaise with beef, while i ordered the seafood spaghetti in light tomato sauce. The seafood are clams, scallops, mussels, octopus, and prawns but X-tra large in size and X-tremely fresh. It might looked a bit plain in 'a sea of red tomato sauce'. But the greatest part for me was actually the service because the food are piping warm with sight of smoke while brought to the table.

Here's a serving for one person. Check out the plate, it's as wider as my shoulders. Pasta dishes are generally huge in proportions. The prawn were bigger than my nose! Almost the size of my palm.

After the pasta, we tried the gelato, ice-cream in wild berries and vanilla with chocolate flavours. Berry sauces were 'stroked' on the plate. Kinda like artistic calligraphy. Though i prefer the tiramisu. Vincent on the other hand was very full.

This is one of the very few restaurants which provides good food and services, with reasonable price. Definitely worth regular visits. Reservation is strongly recommended. Guess it makes sense, after all...

good food + good service + good price = good business!

recipe written by the dumb and lazy (2)

2005-12-11T08:46:00.000-08:00

since many despice my fool proof recipe of chicken porridge i made another attempt and managed to modify it towards a healtier version... the vegie version, suitable for all vegans, vegetarians, and also anyone with a slow cooker. This is a recipe for the lazy... that's me! for anyone from three to ninety three. Very simple.
1. Change the chicken drumstick to a handful of shredded cabbage.
2. Don't add the pao-sum, as they don't go along with the cabbage well.
3. The rest is the same as in recipe 1.
4. Leaving it cooking for about five hours.
I strongly recommend this to the strict vegetarians, you know who you are lar...

the road is... long

2005-12-11T08:39:00.000-08:00

that's how i would describe my driving trip back to KL right after the penang jazz fest. The road is long, with many winding turns... la la la... and if singing keeps me awake, you can consider it too!

a journey home (part 2)

2005-12-11T08:17:00.000-08:00

We went for my mom's medical check out last friday. Apparently she hated the disinfectantish smell and reluctant to be hospitalised, so the nurse put on an ECG suit for her to monitor the heart beats for a day. It's equipped with a tiny recorder at the size of a walkman, and all the patient need to do is to press the "record" button once they sensed irregular heart beats. So we went to returned the hi-tech apparatus the following day, and waited for the reports. Thanks to my father who's taking good care of her. She was diagnosed to be very healthy. So now she was recommended to return for lateral healthy monitoring once a week.
After fetching my folks home, i drove back into town for vince's favourite tam boon pia. Since the time was early, i popped by to Sommerz to have a look at the workshop by Steve White. After spending more than half an hour to look for the exact place, i don't think i should give up finding. Luckily the workshop hadn't finished when i arrived. Steve plays the guitar, harmonica, shaker, and sings... all at the same time! The style is pretty much folk with some rhythm and blues. Normally he starts a tune with a rhythm riffs and talks a little bit before progressing to sing. Quite a humorous guy though the audience was very polite. I left early after finding myself the only one laughing at his story telling. And reached Him Heang to buy the last couple packs of the freshly baked tam boon pia, while other delicacy like the sweet tau sa pia was sold out hours ago!
It's my mistake to assume there's no traffic jam. So i was stuck in a jam for almost an hour nearby the race course all the way to the tanjung tokong. Hence missed the first performance! The second performance was Shannon and himself on the ivory. Sound kinda like broadway singing. Followed by Sufiah and friends.

These friends included Julian on sax, Eric on Keyboard, Fly on bass, and John on drums. And the best is yet to come.

More people entered after eight. Some actually were well equipped with mat, plastic or leisure chairs. There's also few attap huts, booths selling light snack & drinks and a lot of heineken banners which compliments the green-color atmosphere. After Sufiah, Mr. Zailan went on stage in clutches due to slip disc. Danial, his six year old prodigy son surprised the audience with his virtouso playing and great ability in tackling the complex rhythms. After about five to ten minutes break, Steve White went on stage to amuse everyone with his funny story of playing in a one-man-band.

Next, we have Greg's Nonet enthralling the people with their lush horn voicings. Few of the tunes were newly adapted for the nonet, which i heard in his quartet before. And i noticed an example of smaller people likes bigger instruments! The smallest people in the horn section was the baritonist!

Whereas on rhythm section, greg had the all star made up of mac on keyboard, andy on electric bass and lewis on drums.

The finale act? Saharadja from Indonesia. Everyone was astounded by Australian Sally Jo's beauty. When i say everyone, that includes quite a numbers of the musicians i was visiting as well. The band made up of Rio on vocal and trumpet, Sally on electric violin, edy on drums, Badut on fretless bass, Barok on banjo, sitar and tabla, Gede on vocal and guitar, Ajat on didgeridoo and zambre. Few of us there were very impressed by Gede's pitch-perfect super high falsetto singing and Ajat's superb groovy expressions by the steel didgeridoo. While i was standing by Charles, watching Gede playing the guitar with precise technique and great consistency, the gang of Julian, Eddie and a japanese kawaii were dancing and attempting the high kicks... as those you could imagine... as in the cabaret! And i should keep my mouth shut on this matter before revealing too much!

a journey home (part 1)

2005-12-07T03:29:00.000-08:00

It isn't much fun to drive long distance, especially after a stretch of twenty-four hours' work. And this was my last cup of coffee before the night fell last friday. At RM 7.50 standard or RM 8.50 large for a latte, this should be a real steal. And the sugar container actually gave this whole posh segafredo coffee the penang feel. A back to basic treat!
I went to Alliance Francaise in Jalan Phuah Hin Leong to buy the Penang Jazz Festival ticket. The people is much friendlier than you could imagine, especially Sophie and Yann. They gave me directions to find the place, suggestions for car parks and even offered food while i was there! The art-pieces you see here are “Colours of Jazz Exhibition” by Christian Vey. "very illustrative!". There's a lot more paintings and the exhibitions finishes on this Dec 10, 2005.
About 8:30 PM the workshop started with Mr. Gambus telling us a bit about his modern gambus, which has a flat-bottom and installed with pickup. The strings are guitar strings. One could experiment with plenty of modes since this instrument's main characteristic are the micro or quarter tone, and also the 'thrill' musical expression. The sound is very subtle and mellow because the original gambus was commonly used to perform for the king during his majesty's lullaby hours. Other musicians include fly on electric bass, and eric on acoustic piano and a drummer missing in action.
Japanese kawai, Chie Hanawa amazed the males not only with her smooth complexion, but her aggressive virtuoso playing on the shamizen! This ancient japanese instrument is using only three strings, instead of the common six strings for the guitar. The acoustic volume is range from medium soft to extreme loud! The character? Bright. Percussive. Unique. Yes, it's the one used by the geisha, but the repertoire and style was totally different, as explained by Chie. This baby is not pratical for chordal playing, and it's fretless! Here's something interesting about the pick. It's made of tortoise shell and ivory. Guess there should be some synthetic alternative, in order to prevent these two animals from extinction. A note about playing the gambus or shamizen? One must be equip with very very good ears!
Now, where is Julian?

recipe written by the dumb and lazy (1)

2005-11-28T08:23:00.000-08:00

alright! since we received our medical reports last month which were not so positive with the highlights on cholesterol levels, i tried to be a responsible partner and took up the task of whipping up some home cook goodness. Of course, the first few attempts failed miserably with some tasteless soups and salty veges. Nevertheless, i managed to pull together few proven and tested comfort food effortlessly. *Phew!* Though i'm still failing every time i try to cook something new. These are the dumb-prove recipes for the dumbiest dummy exactly like me, and i strongly recommend it to the gents who's soloing too. Here you go :

Sun's recipe 1 :

revitalising chicken porridge (serving 2)

Ingredients :

4 pc chicken drumsticks

4 - 5 cups of water

1/2 - 1 cup of rice

1/4 cup of shredded "pao sum" (optional)

pinch of salt

Tools :

Electric slow cooker, bowl, spoon & etc.

Method :

1. Rinse the rice with water couple times.

2. Put in 4 - 5 cups of water and the rinsed rice into the slow cooker.

3. This is important. Switch ON the eletricity of slow cooker. Turn the heat to "Fast".

4. Wash the chicken drumsticks, and de-skinned if you prefer.

5. Put in the drumsticks and pao sum.

6. Turn to "Slow" heat, if it started to simmer.

7. Go to sleep.

8. Wake up. The revitalising porridge is ready! Add pinch of salt to your liking.

Tips:

1. Use boiling water if you have little patience like me.

2. The amount of rice and water is totally up to you. A ratio of 1:8 will give you creamy & watery cantonese porridge. The ratio of 1:4 is more towards the baby food type. So anything between that, you're safe.

3. Cooking time is around 3 - 6 hours, depends on how long you want to sleep.

4. All ingredients including water should fill not more than 1/2 of the cooker.

5. Turn to "slow" heat so the ingredient won't overflow.

6. The pao sum can be brought from traditional chinese medicine hall.

Difficulty level : 0

If you have any problems with this, let me know. i'll be happy to share some thoughts.

convenient store.

2005-11-24T10:56:00.000-08:00

The idea of 24-hour chain-store is brilliant. They sells anything you need in any hours, enough said. Though i hardly caters any 7-11 in KL except an occasional urge for a slurpies. We basically walked into a convenient store few times a day in Shanghai. So what the heck were we buying? Nothing for emergency use, but gallons of purified water to drink, and beers! There are too many Quik Stores in Shanghai! You'll come across a Quik store in almost every ten minutes walking distance. Here's my precious find : The Pudong packed Suntory Beers, ranging from RMB 3.20 for standard to RMB 5.60 for premium. They manufactured the Ching Tao beers and other soft drinks. While i didn't dare to try others, the Budweiser was also a good choice at RMB 5.60 for a huge bottle. And mind you, the Oolong tea in a 500 ml bottle is about RMB 2 to 3. So the beers are obviously better choice especially when you're thirsty and cold at the same time.

Other good finds are this "smart" soft drink, which i haven't felt any smarter after drinking the whole can by myself. *grin*. If snacking is your favourite, try some dried beef, spicy meat floss, or my strong recommendation, the de-shelled sweetened walnut. Crunchy and ready-to-eat at RMB 15 per pack of around 450g. All these can be found at the Jia Te Li store, across my room in Aomen Rd. But they close around 9:30 PM. And obviously you can't bargain here. It's not necessary.

If you take a cab, you'll probably see the signboard of 'imported cigarette' once in a while. This is not the advertisement board. Do bring your own supply of cigarette, if you're a smoker; that's if you don't want to spend money taking cabs to specialties shops, and pay extra to get your usual brand. One of the common preference by the local are this "si" brand, made and packed in Shanghai. Since i don't smoke directly, can someone tell me how would it taste?

S.O.S.

2005-11-24T10:40:00.000-08:00

This space needs a facelift!

The past fortnight was my nightmare with the GruvAvénue feature in Bangkok Jazz Thai Bistro and few last minutes press releases. If you think that i wasn't really eating much or paying any attention to my food, you're totally wrong. Chances are, i experimented with my limited cooking sense and made some comfort food which i should write a separate chapter about, and survive on takeaways most of the times. Now stay tune for my picture closet clearance and 'dumbest dummy' comfort food preparation guide. Is it a manual? i shall leave it to your judgement.

tau foo farrrrr.... yum!

2005-11-10T21:33:00.000-08:00

On Day 4, we made a detoured back to Nanjing Rd for my favourite yung her tou chiang. 6 things i love about their tau foo far are: 1. It's warm. 2. It's smooth. 3. They have two flavors : sweet or savoury. 4. The shop wasn't too crowded or noisy. 5. The shop is clean! 6. The staff are friendly. A rarity! 7. Picture of food is part of menu. 8. Price around RMB 4 - 6 per bowl. It's beyond comparison to any other warm desserts / drinks one could find within walking distance. A cuppa coffee or tea at any cafe is around RMB 45 - 60, and the taste, rather similar to charcoal.

finally...

2005-11-10T00:00:00.000-08:00

something very delicious! On Day 3 in Shanghai i lost my appetite. We were woke up by a morning call from old friend, Ng. Supposed to meet him at McD in Xing Si Chie. Upon arriving we received another call. There're too many McDs, about 6 or more within the area. So he's confused. We waited, and called again, and waited. And finally we found each other! Phew!
Taking the tunnel exit at Xing Si Chie Mall and walking toward Nanjing Road. Nobody will miss the exit. It's too busy with too much pedestrians. I planned to eat from the first til the last stalls. And taa...daaa... (drum rolls, please). It's a dream too impossible to be fulfilled. The weather was as forever - cold. We're lured by a nice aroma in the air... it's nearby! A Ma-Lat steamboat in the left alley! Let's have a look! It turned out to be spicy soup steamboat like our local loklok stall. Recalling our bad experience of spicy soup last night, we gave it a pass. Next!

Xiau Long Pau, anyone? ...ok! Let's try this shanghai delicacy. There's also the Xie Wang Dang Pau, which means crab roe soup in dumpling casing at the top of the menu signboard. Should be good lar... i murmured to myself. Ng was delighted with his pork and mushroom noodles, while my century egg porridge was averagely fluffy and warm.
Now each one of us was given a small plate with shredded ginger and a dash of black vinegar. What was this going to do with my pau? About a good ten minutes, a plumb fella shown up with a steam-filled-hot bamboo container. He put on a plastic glove. This puzzled us more! Opened the container, and took out the globe-like pau with great tender care! and put it on our respective small plate. The pau casings were of membrane-thin skin like those used for har kau! How to eat this? with your mouth lar, idiot! Said the two hungry guys going with me. *bite* The soup flown out and mixed with the ginger and vinegar, igniting a wonderful smell. Rather similar to shark fin soup, but so much stronger. We ended the meal, slurping like happy puppies!
What a lovely day!

huo kuo!

2005-11-09T07:58:00.000-08:00

Huo Kuo means pan in fire, or in our malaysian terms "steamboat". This was fantastic! The Nan Hua Huo Kuo is a restaurant chain. This one nearby had two floors, with ventilation windows on their roof. We waited for 10 minutes for our table. Not bad at all.

Here's the utensils: bowl, sieve, chopsticks, plates and spoons! There're spicy sauces, chinese sauces, and asian chinese sauces. i ordered the latter and found out it's a horrible imitation of our malaysian sate sauce. How bad could the rest be?

First, choose a soup base. Without hesitation, we took the signature soup. A duo of spicy soup, and 'fish soup with pickled vege". As frequently heard on my astro channel 11, travel with a big heart and a sense of wonder, or something like that. The spicy soup turned out to be too hot and tasteless. But the Fish soup knocked us out. i ate all the fish fillet like a miao. The other servings of meat were large. The best part was both the pork and beef were paper thinly slice, and hence, once you put them in the boiling soup, it's cooked within seconds!

It's not so cheap as we over ordered. But definitely way much cheaper than our local COCA restaurants. Consider the best steamboat i had, with little msg. Once more, i surrendered.

The best is yet to come!

don't play the fool with mee!

2005-11-09T07:07:00.000-08:00

After nearly one month's hiatus, i'm gonna bring you some common stuff people eats on the streets of shanghai. First of all, it's not recommendable to eat food that cooks on a push carts. Both the front officers and taxi drivers screamed, "Cannot! Not hygenic. Later you'll get diarrhae!" Though the mutton sates and baby squids sates were very tempting. So where can we all eat? Any restaurants! Luckily there's few around the place we stay. Hmmm ... since i did my homework and studied the mandarin, that should be enough for me to avoid body language or appeared like an idiot! First night, my leg wasn't getting used to the walking, thus we went to the restaurant next to our motel. A nice restaurant with traditional chinese motif decor... pricing, moderate. The menu was rather long, and giving me headache. So i ordered according to the pricing : stir fried celery, and braised beef. When the dishes were served. We're surprised! For the vegie, there's of course, celery, and...nothing more. No condiments, no garnish. It's the simplest thing i'd ever tried in my entire life. The braised beef was unique in a sense i couldn't describe the taste or figure out the seasoning, and mind me, the taste was good! And servers were, not rude, but fierce!
Day 2, i woke up very hungry. Blame it to the weather! We walked around 100m parameter and found a 24 hours chinese eatery. No fancy decor. Just plastic tables and chairs, and dirty floor. But it seemed like a place where they had operated for decades. So according to my limited logic, the food should be reasonably good! The menu was very very long. And again, my headache started. There's more than twenty types of noodles, left alone the rice variety! And by looking at the menu one never have any idea how would the food taste. Ok, there's description of it whether it's chicken, pork, beef, duck or whatever the meat it was. How it's cook? Don't ask me!

We ordered, and at the same time kept our fingers crossed. After 10 minutes, two bowls of piping hot noodles were put on our table. The one with stir fried beef and a lot of celery was for me, whereas vince ordered mee (malaysian pronunciation of noodles) with pork. And he got deep fried pork ribs. The bowls were huge. but wait a minute, where's the spoon? We asked the staff who couldn't be bother. And great! There's no spoon! After struggling with the mee for an hour, i surrendered.

asian noodle

2005-10-15T00:25:00.000-07:00

In vietnam, it's phoa. In thai, we called it lok chin. In Malaysia, you can called it kuey tiew beef or gau yok fun as commonly known in cantonese! This variation of beef noodle is one of the best in the heart of KL. Popularly patronise by local chinese community since it's opening in 1954, the interior of this kopitiam maintained it's unpretentious old world charm. The soup, an authentic base flavoured by strong spices in well-balanced harmony is the soul in this wonderful bowl of surprises. Paired the noodle with a dash of their original chillies sauce made from scratch, this beef noodle made it impossible for others to emulate.

Where can one savour this? in one of the kopitiam within few blocks from Sing Mah Building near Central Market. Pretty easy! *grin*

fried chicken?

2005-10-11T09:08:00.000-07:00

Look closer! We found this interesting signboard while looking for directions in Taman Desa. If you haven't got an idea, think of fried chicken, red background color with white words, and KXX. Got it?

do not attempt this alone!

2005-10-11T07:40:00.000-07:00

If you frequented the local hong-kong-style char-chan-sud, you would have came across this eye-catching bowl of yellow mountain. Piled with shred ice, red bean, cincau, and corns, top with slice of mango. Thy shalt not attempt this alone, i warned you! Half way through, i surrendered since my gums were dumb, and felt the pin and needles on my cheeks. Taste might not be as good as our air-campur, but definitely a better choice as a cooler on a super hot day. Those who are diabetic-prone, stay away.

lobster!

2005-10-10T02:25:00.000-07:00

This is by far the most delicious meal one could order while enjoying a jazzful (zestful?) friday nite, looking at the limited choices of jazz-themed outlets within twenty km radius from the heart of KL. *grin* A hearty dish for those with savoury palate. This emsemble of spaghetti and lobster, cooked with a healthy dose of herbs and olive oil makes a sinful indulgence, packed with good chrolestrol. Pricing might seems to be on the expensive site, but look again! It's an italian fare slightly cheaper than those offered at piccolo mondo. Plus points? the complimentary crunchy breadsticks.
A little whale?

oom...pah!

2005-10-08T07:34:00.000-07:00

The arrival of october is always welcome by the local, especially the beer converts! Last week, we patronised this outlet in Jalan Yap Kwan Seng, which is also Vincent's favourite of all time. If you've no idea of what to order in a malaysianised european restaurant and have phobia for gigantic slices of pork chops, try the sausages! Choices of any combination of three sausages would be a safe gastronomic journey. We're also glad that this deli had made the change and give us choices of side dish : mashed potatoes or potato salad.

My favourite moments here involve a tall glass of cafe latte, and warm rays of sunlight from this window in the middle of the air-conditioned deli.

There's beer competitions and lucky draws on every saturday night in conjuction with the octoberfest! The slim glasses are for the ladies, and the huge glass... are meant for the macho male competitors. So what are you waiting for? head down to Jalan Yap Kwan Seng and have fun at this oom-pah! deli. This is not an endorsement program, so i'm not going to give you the name of this shop! But i would love to share, so here's the hint : it's beside a bridal house.

sweet surrender

2005-10-08T06:54:00.000-07:00

donuts with ice-cream? Not quite! It's three rings of warm pineapple fritters, served with maple syrup and vanilla ice cream. You'll love it, only if you've a sweet tooth, and don't know what diabetes means!

i dare you !

2005-10-06T10:32:00.000-07:00

Have you seen this before? Frankly speaking, it's my first encounter. This exotic nuts with stripe similar to the king-of-the-jungle prints is a specialty from a little town called Raub. The local called it kacang harimau, thus the english counterpart, "tiger nuts"!

my supper at two a.m...zzz

2005-10-05T10:08:00.000-07:00

There isn't much choice of supper, especially in the middle of the night, or more accurately, early morning in my neighbourhood. The only available hot food around these hours is the mamak store serving piping hot nasi lemak with sunny side up, mutton soup and deep fried chicken. Their location is in Taman Connaught, in front of the Domino Pizza shop, which is about fifteen minutes driving distance from my house, that is of course, without traffic jam in the wee small hours. My favourite is the deep fried chicken thigh. And attention! This is not just any other ordinary fried chicken, but a fried chicken with a trademark, Ayam Maya! It's served straight from the hot oil frier, with a wedge of lime, cucumber, red chillies sauce and a green cili padi, which is more like a garnish to me. And if you don't like chicken, there's always the burung puyuh, though it's seems very cruel to eat a tiny bird even when it's cooked.

mooncake fest

2005-10-04T09:19:00.000-07:00

These lovely pictures of last mooncake festival were met by accident, while i was looking all over for our GruvAvénue group pictures. The mooncake fest which is held on every fifteen of month number eight according to the chinese lunar calendar fell on sept eighteen this year, which was also vincent's birthday. After the reunion dinner, the fun begun with all the kids, namely vincent's nephews and nieces, started their lantern lighting sessions. It's very easy. First, lit the candles. Put it on top of the candle holder within the lantern. Slowly lift the paper rim. Wow! An instant lantern! Repeat the process, and lit all the lanterns you've brought. And beware of fire.

The legend story revolving around the moon, the rabbit, the tree-cutter, and of course, no story is ever complete without a female lead - the beautiful chang-er, is proven to be a myth, since the astronaut Neil A. Armstrong landed on the moon surface in year 1969. But this tradition does has its' wonder! It brings us together and reminds us to spend time with our beloved ones and family, not forgetting the most important part - we really really love the seasonal pameloes, tiny yams, diabetes-prone mooncakes and luminious lanterns.

Congratulations to Victor & Ashley!

2005-10-03T09:04:00.000-07:00

Once again, "CONGRATULATIONS!" to the lovely bride Ashley and charming groom Victor. Vince and i wish you guys a happy new life as one, and a lot of grandchildren in future. The dinner reception was fantastic. To those who wonders what's served, let me tell you this! i can't even manage to shot the pics! It's so delicious that we cleared our plates within seconds. To those who didn't make it to this reception, as you know who you are, namely TTL. *grin* Here's the report :

managed to take pix with loving couple Nicole & KS, and hunky Kenneth in between the courses. If you look hard... there's the current Malaysian Idol, cute Daniel singing at the back.

These two guys can't keep themselves away from YK & Sophia the entire night. Hehe! Hehe!

hehehe! Eric, your hands shaking la.
First "Cheers!" to the beautiful bride and handsome groom.
Second "Cheers!" to you & BP and "kung hei" on the second baby. yum ... yum ... yum ... seng! the top five forever smbb hot babes finalist taking a pic towards the end of the evening.

national hobby

2005-09-07T07:42:00.001-07:00

Everything has its pros and cons. Being a Malaysian, i'm proud to celebrate our country's 48th national day, with great friends on the merdeka eve. Plans were made. Time was confirmed to be around eleven. Not too late. We could still have the chance to profess "Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka!" when the moment came. It's also an informal farewell to S.Ann & Hock since they'd be going back to States soon. We arrived at the Curve around eleven. The initial venue was Halo cafe. Damn, it's fulled. We strolled along the section where all the F & B outlets are, hoping to find a place to accommodate our troupe of ten pax. Starbucks? No luck! Finally we settled at coffee bean & tea leaf cafe. Happily chit-chatting until two in the morning. Alas! how come we didn't hear any merdekas? Did i miss it?
For those of you guys out there with no idea of what malaysia is like. please allow me... Malaysia is a country in south-east asia. Our society is constituted of diversed races mainly malay, chinese, indian and bumiputra. We live in peace and harmony. Our national hobby is ... either eating or lepak. To my fellow malaysians, do you agree? Any way, for other smbb-ites and lick hung-ites who's not in the pic, we miss you guys!

round two : stick to the tradition

2005-09-03T22:50:00.000-07:00

This is definitely Vincent's favourite eatery in mid valley. The char-kuey-teow tasted exactly like it was in the olden days in penang. The whole thing is rather savoury with a hint of sweetness from the crab floss. The difference? for the price of RM 9.00 per dish, you'll get two big, read my word, BIG prawns! Not served on a green plastic plate. No smoky, noisy nor greasy wok nearby or in sight. The downside? every serving is fried individually upon order. so be prepared to wait for 20 - 30 minutes! Certainly a must try if you're not in a hurry. And remember to ask for the 'extra spicy' version!

True to the tradition, it deserves the title penang char-kuey-teow!
And the quest... would continue... as i'm always...hungry!

round one : teow chew vs penang!

2005-08-23T09:48:00.000-07:00

We found two stalls dishing out this delicacy within a radius of five metre in Jalan Imbi hawker centre. Both stalls are equally busy, charge at RM 3.00 per plate and serve with green plastic plate. Here's the outcome from the sampling. The one with the penang label is slightly too sweet, with soggy shrimps, rubbery cockles, and served on a small piece of banana leaf. The one labeled as teow-chew is rather savoury, no shrimp, cockles are soft, and no banana leaf as garnish. Overall, round one, sad to say, goes to the teow-chew! If you want to spot a penangite or a hokkien, here's a little clue. Listen carefully. When it's pronounced as fried kuey teow, you'll know the speaker is from some where else. We, the penangites, still love to call this, char-kuey-tiao!

isn't it romantic?

2005-08-22T10:52:00.000-07:00

My good friend, Mr. T and his mysterious japanese fiance suggested to have their wedding reception in this posh restaurant. All for the sake of this piece-of-art. What a loo!

my favourite tea...

2005-08-22T10:38:00.000-07:00

If you have couple of hours to kill in the bukit bintang area, try this! Warm muffin, Sport Cup and free wi-fi. Other recommendations include caffe latte with fresh pastries baked daily. Where's this place? *hint* answer in pic.

knock! knock!

2005-08-21T09:35:00.000-07:00

A praying mantis was resting at my gate this morning. Consider a giant in its own league! It measured three to four inches. Guess the deluge overnight forced it to seek refuge in our place. Everyone has hard time, so as this little stranger. If you want to survive, leave your comfort zone and explore the unknown! Your prayer will be answered soon.

Quest for Penang Food...

2005-08-16T08:36:00.000-07:00

Mind me, if you're coming from a food paradise like penang you'll tend to have a tendency to find the food that best capture the strong color and fragrance, and feeling! Yes! there's feeling involve as well when we savor our food. Vince and i stumbled upon this outlet at mid valley some time ago. From there, we're hooked instantly. Their nasi lemak penang is definitely out-of-tis-world. I personally favors the fish over the chicken. For RM9.00 per dish, it's a good steal! Comes with three distinctive flavours of sambal. One with ikan bilis, another with the fish slice. The sambal next to the egg as pic is the best among the rest. The udang asam are firm and fresh. The kopi-tiam interior is friendly and simple. i wonder what makes one takes the madam kwan version at RM13.30. Could anyone tell me?

Welcome to the first step of my insatiable quest ... for the best penang food!

Test... Test!

2005-08-16T05:05:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my new blog!
This would be a blog that focus on my favourites.
Stuff featured would be food, drink, decor, music, and loads of "according-to-me!"
So if you stumble upon anything interesting, mind blowing, with a zing...
let me know!