Chatter Of The Squirrel

Farewell Lunch at Danny’s

Last week at ABRIC. The boss’ PA insistently says that she will handle the menu so that I won’t over-order at her expense. But I think she might have shot herself in the foot in that regard…

We ended up with:

Some sotong fried in a salted egg marinade I think…

And the best pig trotters outside of Sibu.

Several places around KL boast their ‘famous’ pig trotters, but most places are quite crap. I dine with pork lovers a lot. And half the time, they’ll want to order this dish, but I’ve always found them decidedly inferior. It’s almost always over-dry.

But this place Danny’s at Solaris Mont Kiara does it right. Not as good as Sibu… But still the best I’ve had in W.Malaysia…

And apparently some people are more than happy to see me go.

Food: Char Kuey Teow for RM1.10

Seri Penang at Ikano Power Centre, (next to ACE Hardware), has a promotion all of April.

Char Kuey Teow promo from 3pm to 6pm, only RM1 per plate.

That’s why I rush out of work promptly at 5.30, and race to IKEA. I usually can get my ass in a chair by 5.54.

The portion looks kinda small, but well worth it for RM1. It’s got bits of shrimps, cockles and that funny green vegetable that looks like spring onion leaves, but isn’t. It’s really yummy.

Not 7.90 yummy (which is the usual price), but I am thoroughly enjoying it at this price. Have been trying to have my dinner here every evening since discovering it. It’s really great, cos right after dinner, I can hop over to Borders and read.

Today’s the last day of this promotion. For the month of May, it’s going to be Penang Laksa, for RM1. And June, it’ll be Yong Chow Fried Rice, for RM1. I know exactly where I’ll be eating my dinner for the next 2 months…

The restaurant is quite full these days, sometimes more than 20 people before 6pm. But everyone is only eating CKT. Sometimes 2 plates each. I hope the place will stay afloat at least till June. ^_^ The food is quite good, just ridiculously priced.

Food: Pork Innards Porridge

There’s a pretty good porridge place hidden in the back alleys of Petaling Street. There’s a whole wet market hidden away behind the main Petaling St where people buy knock-off DVDs and Guccis.

This old uncle makes really good pork innards porridge. The soupy porridge is smooth, something I’ve been trying to emulate but never with any success. And the deep fried intestines are crunchy and yummy. But they only do breakfast and lunch, and you need to be there before 1pm to get it.

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And just slightly north of the porridge place, there’s a half decent YongTauFu place. It’s often very crowded, and it’s self service. So when I go to town alone, I’ve never been able to sample it since I can’t hold a table and order the stuff at the same time. Managed to try it once during an outing some months ago. Not too bad.

Bukit Bintang at Night

In a somewhat common lapse of sanity, a friend (KinHup) wanted to go for dinner out in town a couple of weeks ago. Valentine’s night it was. And the traffic around Bukit Bintang area was really jammed. But we wisely parked the car in the basement of Swiss Garden Hotel and walked over to Jalan Alor. Parking is cheaper than the extortionate outdoor parking, and didn’t need to fight traffic for half an hour in and out.

Took a walk down Jalan Alor and found a random place where we could get some random food.

A bowl of KungPow Froggie, Yellow Wine Chicken, and Pork Innards soup. Just for 2 persons. That’s on top of the BBQ bacon strips we’re snacking on. The meal was so so. Not too bad. But touristy prices here.

While eating, we were also amused by the Valentine’s lovers going through the place. So many girls were overdressed, expecting a night out on the town, but their dates ended up bringing them to this road-side stall for dinner. Wahahahahahahaha!!

There was also an interesting exhibit across the road. A couple of China chinese had set up a table, with a projector and screen showing images of China, some historical clips, and random Karaoke/MTVs filmed in China. I couldn’t quite figure out what they were doing. There were writings on a small banner… I can Read the words, but they meant nothing. Took a while before I figured out what they were trying to do with a banner saying, “天灭中共”.

It appears to be an anti-communism protest… In Jalan Alor. What are they trying to achieve? There may be an interesting story behind those guys. Either of insanity, or of desperation. I can’t imagine a more ineffective campaign.

Our city seems to come alive at night in a manner that I never knew, even after having lived here for more than a decade.

After our meal, a walk down Bukit Bintang, we encountered a Golden Man.

Just a random old man that has painted himself up with glitter, poses at a street corner, and attracting a crowd. His partner is also there with a huge python. It’s a novel idea ot make a buck or two. Very amusing.

I’m also most impressed with my camera and the old 50mm f/1.7 lens that was able to capture this scene with ambient lighting. But with manual focusing, and the narrow depth of field, it was not easy to get a picture in good focus.

Down another street corner, there was a calligrapher performing his art. With no hands. He has two stumps ending halfway down both his forearms. No hands. Yet he was able to do amazing calligraphy.

In the same street corner, a bunch of hippies with a mish-mash of instruments were performing an odd sort of orchestra. Old beared guy with a guitar. Young men with bongos or violins. Just playing random music together while some histrionic Indian bloke danced some kind of Bollywood shuffle.

And while we were watching, some Ah Bengs did some breakdancing moves in another open area. A bunch of kids with no where else to go just started sharing and practising their moves on the pavement.

Hmm… Our city is unusually alive at night. Tourists are getting a glimpse of Malaysia that the bulk of its own citizenry never knew existed.

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