Jul 03 2009
Hi everyone! I have finally decided to change the previous blog appearance/theme of It’s a Mei Leng’s World! to the current one. What do you think? Nice or not? 
I personally like the new look for its colour scheme (knowing my partiality for bright colours, what’s with these dull background colour schemes, eh?) and its interesting feature of 8 rotating banners (redeemed myself with the strikingly coloured images, heh!) with 2 right side bars.
I am currently editing my posts and photos so that everything will look spick and span (at least to me lah!) which will take some time. Constructive criticisms, comments and feedbacks of the new look will be much appreciated!
Jun 10 2009
I loved the song ‘Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps’ by Doris Day ever since I watched the film Strictly Ballroom (love this movie and seen it many times!) by Baz Luhrmann who also directed Moulin Rouge starring Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor. Paul Mercurio carried the entire show with his passionate and intense portrayal of a professional ballroom dancer dancing to and following his own step and heart instead of blindly conforming to conventions. This song really flowed well with the dancing scenes between Paul Mercurio and his lady love of the movie. Doris Day’s sultry vocals give it a classy and timeless finish; just makes me want to dance whenever I hear this song
Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps
You won’t admit you love me
And so how am I ever to know
You always tell me
Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps
A million times I’ve asked you
And then I ask you over again
You only answer
Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps
If you can’t make your mind up
We’ll never get started
And I don’t wanna wind up
Being parted, broken-hearted
So if you really love me say yes
But if you don’t dear, confess
And please don’t tell me
Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps
Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps
If you can’t make your mind up
We’ll never get started
And I don’t wanna wind up
Being parted, broken-hearted
So if you really love me say yes
But if you don’t dear, confess
And please don’t tell me
Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps
Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps
Perhaps – perhaps – perhaps [fade]
Jun 09 2009
What are little boys made of?
Frogs and snails and puppy dogs’ tails,
That’s what little boys are made of.
What are little girls made of?
Sugar and spice and all that’s nice,
That’s what little girls are made of.
- English nursery rhyme -
Le Meridien KL Sentral is having different special-themed afternoon tea each month for the second quarter of the year at the Conservatory. The theme in April was ‘Chocolate’ followed by ‘Spices’ in May and lastly ‘Sugar’ in June. My sis-in-law took us and her friend M for the Spices Afternoon Tea recently.
Snapshots of the interior:
The menu for Spices Afternoon Tea as follows:
Caraway Cinnamon Spices Mini Croissant Filled with Butter Roasted Apple
Homemade ‘Pain D’epices’ with Honey and Salted Butter
Chicken Rendang Croquette Served with Tomato Tobasco Gazpacho
Passion Fruit, Orange Crush and Cardamon Shot
Ginger Tiramisu Cake
Pan-seared Tuna Loin Coated with Black Olive and Berbere Spices on Babaganoush Eggplant Puree
Chicken Satay in Golden Pie with Sesame Seed
Curry Prawns ‘A La Plancha’, Mango Salsa and Lemony Hollandaise Sauce
Amaretto Cherry Cheesecake with Cinnamon Whipping Cream
Homemade Lamb Keema Spring Roll
Crabmeat and Asparagus Rolled in Fine Crepe with Thai Chili Sauce
Button Mushroom in Tom Yam Cream Sauce
Overall, the food was delicious especially the desserts but the portions were too dainty for EL and I. Plebeians’ stomachs are too hale and hearty for the delicate appetites of the patricians , hehe
Our free flow of coffee and tea (Iced Latte, Iced Mocha, Chamomile Tea and Peppermint Tea):
Restaurant details:
The Conservatory Lounge,
Lobby Level, Le Meridien Kuala Lumpur,
2 Jalan Stesen Sentral,
Kuala Lumpur Sentral,
50470 Kuala Lumpur.
Operating Hours: 7.00 am to 1.00 am
Tel. No.: 603 – 2263 7888
May 29 2009
Phew, the weather has been erratic recently! It’s been mostly blistering hot and only occasionally we have some rain which traps in more heat making the weather warmer after the shower. As a result, I have been making more savoury and sweet soups for preventive health measures what with many people falling sick these days.
One of the new soup recipes which I tried not long ago is ‘Samgyetang’ (from Korean to English: Sam = Ginseng, Gye = Chicken and Tang = Soup; not too different from the Chinese language, huh?). This soup dish is traditionally served in Korea during summer accompanied by side dishes (Banchan) and a complimentary glass of ginseng wine. The Koreans believe in the adage of ‘fighting fire with fire’ as the ’hot’ soup replaces the body’s nutrients lost through sweating and physical exertion in the sweltering heat. The main ingredients of this soup is a whole young chicken and fresh Korean ginseng stuffed with glutinous rice, garlic and jujube. Other medicinal ingredients such as ginger, gingko nuts (pak kor), wolfberries (kei chi), Codonopsis pilosula (tong sam), and Angelica sinensis (tong kwai) may also be added. Samgyetang is a revered dish in Korea due its beneficial properties.
Samgyetang Recipe courtesy of Maangchi:
Ingredients:
1 small Chicken, gutted and cleaned (I used skinned ’Kampung’/Village Chicken for a healthier option; you may choose to have the skin intact)
1/4 cup Glutinous Rice (I omitted this)
12 Garlic cloves
Spring onions, chopped
12 Jujubes/dried Red Dates, washed and seeded (’Hong Zhou’ in Cantonese)
1 or 2 fresh Ginseng roots (I used dried Ginseng whiskers or ‘Yan Sam Sou’ in Cantonese)
1 pack of Samgyetang Herbs
Method:
1) Stuff chicken with half of the quantity of garlic cloves, spring onions, jujubes, ginseng and herbs.
2) Place stuffed chicken into a pot. Pour water until chicken is just submerged. Add the balance of the ingredients into the pot.
3) Boil soup for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. You may add a little salt before serving the soup with rice (omit this if you have added glutinous rice) and kimchi. I personally do not like to add seasoning into my home-cooked soups as the ingredients would have acted as natural flavouring agents.
Enjoy this highly nutritious soup!
May 21 2009
My sis-in-law TA took us out for lunch at Tony Roma’s (TR’s) during a recent weekend. The last time when we went to TR’s Cineleisure located at Mutiara Damansara, the place was fully booked and we (or rather our stomachs) didn’t have the patience to wait for our turn to be seated. Since then, EL had been hankering to go there and his gastronomic dream finally came true, haha! 
I noticed that generally steakhouses have woodsy interiors; possibly to convey an unpretentious and down-to-earth ambience (well, it’s quite difficult to act high and mighty when you’re chomping down on a slab of red meat, hehe). The interior design at TR’s had a nice blend of modern and rustic; even the brickworks are just facades concealing the concrete and wooden walls behind. Black and white picture frames lined the walls. TR’s does not have its own washroom which could be inconvenient when you want to wash up after eating with your fingers.
We were served complimentary baguettes with garlic butter spread:
The 2 bread pieces which were conveniently cut into slices were warm, soft and fluffy. The garlic butter scoop on the side was tasty although I would have preferred a more pungent garlicky taste.
Our Bottomless Beverages (models not included, hehe!). I wondered why the waiter gave EL a smaller glass than the rest of us though
Next up was a humongous Tony’s Sampler for starters:
The platter consisted of buffalo wings, onion loaf, potato skins and raw vegetable sticks with 3 different types of dipping sauce. I LOVE the celery sticks because I can ‘psycho’ myself that I am eating healthily while dipping them into the fattening but delicious sauces, haha! The buffalo (i.e. chicken) wings were spicy and a tad too salty for my liking. As for the onion loaf which consisted of onion rings breaded and deep-fried, it’s best to eat when still piping hot as the onions rings became soggy after a while. The potato skins topped with bacon and chives were okay; I still prefer the ones in Jack’s Place.
Our waitress recommended one of the new items on the menu, Wagyu Beef Steak:
Ooh-la-la, this steak dish is THE BOMB! 
Haha…seriously, it was the highlight of lunch for me. Served with steamed broccoli florets and baked potatoes with sour cream, bacon and chives, the super-expensive piece of meat was cooked to medium rare perfection thanks to the suggestion of our red meat expert TA as the meat gets tougher the longer it’s cooked. The taste is truly indescribable; so tender, flavourful and juicy without any sauce to mar its exquisiteness. Since then, I have been dreaming of eating Wagyu beef (yes, yes, continue to dream on, right?). Even while writing this piece and looking at the pictures of the glistening meat, my mouth starts to salivate like Pavlov’s Dog, haha!
Our second main dish was TR’s Bountiful Beef Ribs:
The beef ribs were basted in TR’s original sauce and we felt like The Flintstones while gnawing on the meat! You can choose from 6 types of TR’s in-house sauces (aiyah, can’t remember the names of the sauces as we forgot to snap a picture) to go with the ribs. I personally prefer without any sauce as the beef ribs had a lovely smoky, slightly spicy and sweet flavour of its own. TA and E commented that the coleslaw was nice; I could see that it striked a right balance of being not too dry while not drowning in mayonnaise.
The last main dish was Roma Burger:
By this time, all of us were stuffed to the brim. We decided to doggy bag-ed this burger of chunky beef patty served with french fries, Cheddar cheese (can you see the cheese oozing out of the burger?), shredded lettuce, tomato, red onions and pickles. Even after heating the burger up in the microwave oven for dinner, the burger tasted pretty yummy, so you can imagine how delicious it will be if we had eaten there and then in the restaurant!
Erm, maybe our stomachs were not too full for dessert, hehe
TR’s Chocolate Avalanche comes with a piece of moist chocolate cake and a huge scoop of vanilla ice-cream topped with hot chocolate fudge and Heath Bar crumbles. My verdict is ‘have chocolate, will work’, haha!
TR’s is a great dining place for family and friends as you can share the huge portions amongst yourselves. If you are one of those who survive on raw vegetables and water, do avoid this place as you will be in a food hell! (and why should you be torturing yourself with rabbit food in the first place?)
Thanks a bunch TA for the lovely ‘mucho meat-os’ and burp-a-licious lunch!
Restaurant details:
Tony Roma’s CineLeisure,
G29(II), G-32 and G-33,
Ground Floor, Mutiara Damansara,
47800 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor Darul Ehsan.
Tel No.: 603 – 7728 7833
Website: www.tonyromas.com
May 15 2009
‘Kongnamul Guk’ or Bean Sprout Soup is a popular Korean side dish soup. It is normally taken as part of the breakfast meal. Apparently, this clear and healthy soup is a great hangover remedy. So for the merrymaker who had too much to drink and wakes up to a splitting headache and ‘hairy’ tongue (hehe), get someone to make this pick-me-up soup for you! Besides that, Kongnamul Guk is also beneficial for people suffering from cold as bean sprouts are high in Vitamin C among other vitamins and are a good source of dietary fibre.
This soup is very easy to make with relatively few ingredients needed. The recipe below can easily serve 3 people.
Ingredients:
2 fistfuls Bean Sprouts
Dried anchovies/’ikan bilis’
Dried kelp 10 X 10 cm in size (please refer to my ‘Korean Food Ingredients’ post for the product picture)
1/2 tsp Minced Garlic
1 Green Chili, seeded and thin sliced (I omitted this)
1 tsp Salt (I used 1/2 tsp)
6 cups Water
Method:
1) Rinse bean sprouts and drain. Discard rotten/bad sprouts.
2) Pour water into pot. Add dried anchovies and dried kelp then boil for 20 to 25 minutes.
3) Remove kelp and anchovies from the soup stock.
4) Add bean sprouts and boil for 1 minute (Note: do not overcook bean sprouts to retain the crispy texture).
5) Add minced garlic, salt and green chili.
6) Boil for 30 seconds then switch off stove fire.
You can enjoy this healthy soup on its own or add some rice into the soup (called ‘Kongnamulgukbap’) for a more substantial meal.
