Brickfields - A Journey down Memory Lane

Mention Brickfields and one immediately thinks of a bustling, chaotic neighbourhood with cheap food, drinks and brothels. I suppose the addition of KL Sentral brings about some semblance of respect to Brickfields, but I wonder, does Brickfields really need that?

What I like about Brickfields is the appearance of uncomplicated life.

Where the uncle selling newspapers greets you every morning, whether or not you will be getting the papers for that day.

Or where the aunty selling roast pork at the wet market sells you that small portion of roast pork at a privileged price of just RM2 for your breakfast.

Where the man at the chicken rice stall asks you where that curly haired friend who normally frequents the stall has gone.

Where the uncle at the teh tarik stall in front of the Petronas petrol station takes the time to sit down with you to have a chat while you enjoy a packet of packed nasi lemak with your usual ginger tea.

We decided to go to the Lido kopitiam at Brickfields for lunch today. This is the kopitiam that is located behind the old Lido cinema, now the site for Public Bank, and opposite the YMCA. There are two dishes which I find particularly delicious at this kopitiam: char koay teow and pan mee.

The char koay teow is fried with crunchy bits of lard, lup cheong (chinese sausages) and kerang (cockles). It is hard to find a good char koay teow, and this place gets the thumbs up from me.

The pan mee stall has a strong following too. Be prepared to wait before you are served as the queue is pretty long. What makes the pan mee special here is the sambal belacan which is hot and sour. The aunty who dishes out the pan mee is quite generous with the ikan bilis (anchovies), minced pork and sweet potato leaves.

After wolfing down our lunch, we made our way across the road to a stall selling kuih and other savoury treats. The husband and wife duo have been running this stall for as long as I can remember, and it always gets crowded at lunch time. They sell an amazing variety of kuih and I hardly ever notice the aunty taking a break.

I am always filled with a sense of nostalgia when I am at Brickfields. The familiar faces remind me of simpler times.

Lunch at the Westin KL

When my boss asked me if I was interested in attending a commemorative luncheon organised by the Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants (MICPA) at the Westin Hotel, I said yes for two reasons: the speaker, the eloquent Dato' Shahrir Abdul Samad, and the location. I never pass up an opportunity to visit the Westin.

As expected, the Grand Ballroom at the Westin was delightfully decorated and brought out the oohs and aahs from all of us. I couldn't resist the urge to take out my mobilephone (on the pretext of answering an SMS) and snap some photos.

I love the refreshing and tastefully arranged bouquet on our table. I couldn't resist photographing it at all angles:

And best of all, my cameraphone didn't misbehave the way it did in all the previous photos. ;-) My ego has received a substantial amount of bashing due to the substandard photographs that I have been posting on this blog, but in my Nokia's defense, one can only do so much with a cameraphone, you know. :-)

I like the way Westin works with colours in the table presentation:

I don't usually enjoy food that is mass-produced, but this time, I was pleasantly surprised.

I enjoyed the crispy cod fish with a lemongrass sauce that was not too overpowering. The starter included a miso-picked cream cheese served in a tart shell, and I thought it was absolutely heavenly.

As I looked heaven-wards (up), instead of the usual ornate chandeliers, I saw glass sculptures illuminated by light. I am quite sure they were designed by the famous Dale Chihuly (see www.chihuly.com). I first chanced upon his works at the Kew Royal Botanical Gardens in London, and I have been a fan ever since. See if you can see the similarities:

At the Westin

At Kew Gardens

Hmmm. The more I look at it, the more it reminds me of my hair.

Petaling Street hor fun with shredded chicken and prawn wantan

It was a really hot Monday, and I had a meeting scheduled for 3.00pm, so when Pretty Pui suggested walking to Petaling Street because she was craving for hor fun (flat white noodles), I hesitated. But her pitiful looks brought out the compassionate side of me, and I gave in.

The coffeeshop we were headed to was not the more popular hor fun place in Jalan Tun H.S.Lee. This place is located in the heart of Petaling Street opposite Tang City and Kiew Brothers and is known for dishing out a decent bowl of hor fun noodles, with the specialty being the prawn wantan.

I like the look of the coffeeshop. It was clean - you could almost see your reflection on the table, and there was a large mirror facing the entrance of the shop if you are into some preening, although I'm sure the greater purpose would be for some sort of feng shui.



The noodles came fast enough. I had ordered the hor fun in soup with shredded chicken, while the two girls got the dry and soupy version of hor fun with prawn wantan. Ecstatic Eeyore preferred the dry version of the hor fun with shredded chicken.



After seeing the girls' glistening prawn wantan, I couldn't resist the urge to order a bowl of wantans. Eight pieces cost about RM6.50. And the verdict? Ditch the hor fun, and get the wantan. The hor fun is not as smooth as the Ipoh version, and I must say that the KLCC foodcourt Ipoh kiosk has a better version. The prawn filling in the wantan had a nice crunch to it, although it was a little salty.

I went for my meeting that day, RM13 poorer, and with clothes drenched in sweat.

Coming out of the closet

"Don't come into the kitchen. I'm cooking!"

"Stay away from the hot stove!"

"Don't touch the oven! You'll burn yourself."

Familiar words in my childhood. I was familiar with good food, but not with the preparation.

When I was in Form 1, I was initially not given a choice but to enter the Sains Rumahtangga (Home Science) stream. I cried for days. My biggest fear was lighting the gas stove. I didn't know how to. When the school subsequently announced that the Perdagangan (Commerce) stream was available as an alternative choice, I grabbed it and never looked back. That choice eventually shaped my future as an accountant.

Mum sometimes allowed me to enter the kitchen. When she wanted someone to prepare the ingredients for the rasam (an Indian hot and sour soup), I was the girl for that job. I would pound the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek and garlic in the stone mortar and inhale the smell of the concoction I had just pulverised.

But when it came to the big jobs, like chopping up a chicken, it was a job for a grown-up to do.

I experienced the joys of cooking after I got married. Because my husband wasn't too fussy about food, I would bravely throw in different types of ingredients to come up with my own recipes. When the food turned out delicious, I knew that it must have been a blessing, for what other explanation could there be for someone who had no knowledge of ingredients and how they worked together?

So there is the odd day when I would put too much salt into the food, or burn my chicken perattal because I was too busy reading the newspapers. But seeing my husband gulping it up anyway and saying "thank you for the lovely meal, dear" motivates me further.

Ampang Yong Tau Foo

Friday lunch, and this time we knew what we wanted to eat. I was in the mood for Roti Babi at Yut Kee, Jalan Dang Wangi, so we all piled into Ecstatic Eeyore's car to make that journey to the other side of town. As luck would have it, it was the first day of the Malaysian Mega Sale AND PC Fair @ KL Convention Centre, so a quick change of decision was made as we waited impatiently in the traffic jam on Jalan Tun Razak somewhere near KLCC where it was ALL happening.

10 minutes later, thanks to the blessing called the Elevated Highway, we (and our growling stomachs) were at Ampang to eat the famous Ampang Yong Tau Foo.

Having lived in Ampang practically all his life, Ecstatic Eeyore managed to find parking easily. I did, however, notice that parking in front of the restaurant is crazy, and I wouldn't risk it on my own.

There were a couple of options to choose from, but we decided to go to the original yong tau foo place known as Restoran Foong Foong.

I was fascinated by the system in place in the restaurant. After giving your order at the counter (just tell them how many pieces you want and what you don't want), the person at the counter relays the order to the production line via microphone. Then the mechanism begins whereby the items are fried/prepared and passed to the next station where the food is put into the correct receptacles and subsequently presented on our table. The downside is that one can hear ALL the orders being given via the mic!



The yong tau foo selection consisted of fried sui kow, chilli, brinjal, ladies fingers, fish balls and soft beancurd. We all had our personal favourites, but the general consensus was that the fried sui kow was the best. I enjoyed the stuffed chilli which was not overpoweringly hot (pedas) and the fish paste used to stuff the yong tau foo was sufficiently salty without making you want to reach for your drink. The red and dark sauces were excellent and perfect complements to the yong tau foo.