I am a Reader-holic

"Hi everyone. My name is Cheryl ... and I think I'm a reader-holic"

For the past year I have been averaging 4 books every 3 weeks. That, (quick mental math here) would equal 56 books a year. No, I don't buy the books that I read. If I did, I would have a serious hole in my pockets. While I love reading, I do not have the need to possess the books that I read. As such, my source of books have been the public libraries around Canberra. Its great that libraries in Australia have such wide selections for every type of reader.

On top of that I read newspapers, news online, blogs and even online tabloids. The latter is a guilty indulgence to keep on top of entertainment news and also in a twisted sort of way, seeing pictures of slim celebrities keeps me in line in the form of exercise and cutting down on fatty foods. But thats a whole other point for a different blog entry.

So ala Yoda, a lot of reading I have done.

Last weekend, Lifeline Canberra held their yearly book fair. Lifeline is a community organisation that does fundraising through various projects to support its crisis telephone counselling program. Each year, Lifeline holds 2 book fairs raising funds through the sale of second hand books donated by private owners and shops from all around Australia.



In the name of supporting a good cause, we went to the fair and bought our fair share of books :) I thought that by being the bookworm I would be the one walking away with the most books. But I was wrong. My in-laws bought more!




The book fair was every book worm's fantasy. There was a huge selection of books, magazines and dvds, suitable for all ages. Any category you can think of, they had. Most were sold at prices between AUD 1-5. It was affordable, a real bargain and all for a good cause. Its no wonder this fair attracts huge crowds every time it is held. If you missed out on this one, look out for the next one in Autumn.

In total I spent nearly AUD 100 that day on books. So yes, I think I am a reader-holic. Maybe not a full blown one, but I certainly read more than the average person. A rough count of BBC's Top 100 Books list, I counted 23 that I have read. ( Note: This list differs slightly from the one that has been passing through Facebook )

I reckon if you have read more than 20 on the list, you too qualify as a reader-holic as I am sure you have read many other titles apart from those that appear on the list.

So how many have you read? Are you a reader-holic?

cheryl

International Talk Like A Pirate Day - Sept 19

" Arrr!"
" Land ahoy!"
" Ahoy me matey!"
" Shiver me timbers!"

Last Saturday was the International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Did you know of such a day? It was the first I had heard of such a celebration and apparently it was only created in 1995 by two men, John Baur and Mark Summes. (Wikipedia)

The crowd outside the bar. The rest of the crew were probably inside.

I was quite captivated by the costumes worn by the revellers so I whipped out my handy camera and sneaked a couple of quick shots from across the street. The photos are not as crisp and sharp as I wanted it to be - had to take the shots real quick to avoid having to walk the plank if I were caught by some grouchy pirate who didn't appreciate being caught on lens.

These 2 pirates stood out - blue in a sea of black and red.

I probably wasn't as discreet as I hoped to be. Check out the glare this dude here gave me....

Pretty lady pirate here

Till my next post, " May the winds be at yer back! Arrrrrr!!" :)

cheryl

Penang Food Adventures - The Sire Museum Restaurant

Our first meal with friends was at the new-ish restaurant named The Sire. This place opened sometime late 2008 and is unique as it offers a dining cum history lesson experience all within the same building. One half of the building is designed specially for dining while the other half houses antiquities from the home of Yeap Chor Ee - a prominent businessman in Penang, founder of the Ban Hin Lee Bank. Entrance/tour to the museum part of this place is RM10 but this is waived if you are a diner at the restaurant. The decor is breathtaking and gives insight into how the Chinese came about to be in Penang.

While the decor was a sight to behold, the food did not disappoint either. Alex and I shared a soup for starters and ordered our mains separately.

Norwegian Seafood Soup - This was a creamy soup with mussels and salmon. Lemongrass added another layer of flavour to the soup and to our surprise there was a tangy end note to the soup. That unexpected flavour made the soup a winning dish so much so I think it beat out the two mains to win the title of favourite dish of that night.

Alex ordered this - a steak of some sort. I forgot the name :) To its credit, the steak was cooked perfectly to our request and was well seasoned.

My dish - a stuffed chicken of some sort. I forgot the name too. It wasn't a cheesy dish. And again it did taste good. I remember liking the mash that came with it but I don't think it was a potato one. To my defense I did say the favourite dish of the night was the soup right? Everything else was quite a blur after that. Haha..

After our nice meal we took the tour around the place. Photos were not allowed beyond a certain point hence what you see below is only the start of the tour. The museum contained precious possessions from Yeap Chor Ee's previous home - The Homestead. His mansion was donated for educational purposes per his will and all the antiquities in his wealthy home was then moved to this place.

Note the intricate woodwork on the door panels. This was in the function room.

There was some hanging greens separating the function room from the museum. This was a very nice touch, breaking up the space and it looked nice from all directions.

The walkway from the function room to the museum. I believe the ironwork you see on the rails came from the original home as well.

Some of the antiques - 5 piece dining set with a marble table (as in the olden days), antique clocks in the background and other antiquities in the glass cupboard.

For more info about this place and a map to it, go here. There was a lot to take in and if you are an antiques buff, I believe you will enjoy this experience. If you are a curious cat and just want an insight into the beginnings of the chinese people in Penang (a very successful one at that), then this is also a place for you.

Just remember to order the soup.

cheryl

Penang Food Adventures - Hot Wok Restaurant

Hot Wok is another restaurant in Penang which serves nyonya fare.This place first open its doors sometime in 1994 and since then it has built up a pretty good following amongst Penang people. Last I heard, they had opened a branch in Kuala Lumpur.

I was meeting up with my high school girlfriends and this restaurant won the popular vote. Here are some of the dishes we had for lunch.

Jiu Hoo Char - this is a complicated dish consisting stir fried thinly sliced dried squid turnip, carrot, celery, shittake mushroom and pork bits. The Penang way of eating this is to wrap this stir fried combo in a lettuce leaf with a dollop of chilli and following that, pop it into your mouth for an explosion of flavour balanced by the crisp freshness of the lettuce leaf. Yum....

Kiam Chai Ak - Salted vegetable duck soup. This is a very appetizing dish. A top choice as a starter dish to wet the appetite.

Otak otak - This is a dish which consists of fish mixed with garlic, shallots, tumeric, lemon grass, pepper and egg. All of this is then wrapped in a banana leaf before steaming resulting in a very fragrant eggy, fishy dish of which I never get enough of because it is always made in small portions.

Tau Eu Bak - Pork belly cooked at a slow simmer in soy sauce, dark soy and chinese five spice powder. I love how the meat feels like its melting on your tongue. Very yummy. The magic of this dish is in its meat and the sauce. Here it is served with hard boiled egg that has also been simmered in the magic sauce. This is my favourite way to have a hard boiled egg.

Sago Nangka - We had this for dessert. It is chilled sago served with fresh jackfruit and coconut milk. It was refreshing and the coconut milk was of just the right consistency, not watered down or too creamy.

For more details about this restaurant, go to their website. There are directions and contact details with short write ups about its food, atmosphere and history.

cheryl

Penang Food Adventures - Golden Triangle Restaurant

One of my favourite restaurants to eat at in Penang is The Golden Triangle. This place serves up IndoChine food and as described on their webpage, a mix of Thai, Vietnamese and Laotian cuisine. I love this place because each visit promises an explosion of flavour on my palate. The Golden Triangle has 2 outlets, one in Queensbay Mall and another in Auto City.

Moving on quickly to pictures and food... :)

The set up of the restaurant at Queensbay.

Belacan Fried Rice - This dish, paired with the sambal makes a beautiful duet

Garlic Kangkung aka Chinese Water Spinach

Deep Fried Soft Shell Crab

Lemon Steamed Fish - This is my ultimate favourite. The broth that accompanies the fish is a wonderful mix of sour and fragrance with a hit of heat from the thinly cut chillies. Also the fresh coriander adds a further dimension to this dish. If you love sour stuff, this dish is a winner. A very good start to a big meal. Very appetizing.

We actually ordered a lot of dishes that night even though there were only 3 of us - Mace, Pin and I. We ordered 9 dishes and 8 drinks between us three. 8 dishes are usually served at a Chinese course dinner to feed 10 people. Us 3 ate enough for 10 that night. :) Unbelievable? I'm so proud of us. Haha.... Eating with friends who also appreciate food is the best! Below is a list of the 8 dishes we ordered that night.

1. Belacan Fried Rice

2. Garlic Kangkung X 2

3. Deep Fried Soft Shell Crab

4. Claypot Glass Noodles with Prawns and Squid

5. Curry Powder Prawn

6. Otak-Otak

7. Thap Thim Krop - a dessert

8. Pumpkin & Yam Cake

I took only 5 pictures of the dishes before I was completely lost in my enjoyment of the food and forgot all about my camera.

One of the desserts we ordered - Pumpkin & Yam Cake. This was sticky and not as pumpkin-ny as I envisioned it to be. It wasnt too sweet and quite palatable. I think I would have enjoyed it more had I not been so full.

I'm very much looking forward to January when I can relive these memories again. So friends back home, go on a diet now and prepare for when Cheryl comes back again! :p

cheryl

Penang Food Adventures - Mama's Nyonya Restaurant

Our trip back to Penang was made extra rewarding with my many food indulgences which included proper restaurant dining and street food. This blog is the perfect fodder for photos accompanied with short notes about those experiences. Memory lane stuff :) Here, I start off with a short post about one of the restaurants we visited.

Mama's is a restaurant serving nyonya cuisine located at 31-D, Abu Siti Lane. There are quite a number of nyonya restaurants in Penang and in our opinion, Mama's serves one of the best versions of nyonya cuisine. We had dinner there to celebrate Pin's birthday.

Traditional Kebaya top adorns the wall to carry the nyonya theme of the restaurant

I got carried away with eating and chatting that night, I dont quite remember what this dish was :) Think it was beef rendang

This was Cashew Nut Prawn Curry. I liked this a lot. It had a very unique flavour - probably brought on by the use of cashew nuts. This is not a spicy curry and unlike any 'curry' you have tasted.

Ooh... one of my favourites. Garlic and dried shrimp eggplant. Yum!

Perut Ikan - translated, it means Fish Stomach :) This is normally a favourite with ladies but unfortunately it doesnt quite strike a chord with me.

For dessert we had Bee Ko Moi - a thick, rich dessert of black sticky rice topped off with a rich helping of coconut milk. This was really good but I could not finish it after everything else that I had... so I tapau-ed. Which means take away :)

As mentioned before, we were there to celebrate Pin's birthday. We ordered cake from Humble Beginnings, a somewhat new business venture that sells its cakes mainly through word of mouth via their website. All cakes are delivered and while the price of these cakes are pretty steep, it is so worth every dollar. They are well known for their crepe cakes. What is a crepe cake? :) Visit the webpage and order one! I would most certainly do so again when I return to Penang in January.

The crepe birthday cake

The birthday boy with his cake

Layers of goodness... Ooh the memories of this cake! I was very naughty that night. I loved the cake so much, I had two helpings of it and I wasn't who the cake was for! Greedy, greedy....

On that sweet note, we ended our nyonya night. There were more main dishes but like said, I got carried away with eating and forgot to take pictures. Heh... that happens a lot to me.

More details about what nyonya cuisine is about here.

cheryl

Fancy some fancy Mcdonalds?

A couple of years ago McDonalds announced the arrival of McCafe in a bid for a bigger chunk of the morning caffeine market and I guess to also cater to the needs of breakfast folk looking for something other than burgers to break their overnight fast.

And I suppose with the current economic situation - the US market being unstable, jobs being a little uncertain, a drop in public spending and more people resorting eat home to avoid having to spend while eating out, the good folk at McDonalds probably thought... why not bring a little taste of gourmet into our menu? Why not bring a little bit of posh to the average person on the street? Why not offer something a little fancy yet affordable in our burgers?

Voila..the introduction of Angus beef burgers.

The Grand Angus

The Mighty Angus

Alex and I could not resist but to try the new offering to decide for ourselves if we liked to be a little fancy :) Our conclusion? We LOVED it. There are 2 burgers on offer, the Grand Angus and the Mighty Angus. You can see the difference between the two burgers in the picture but both have a thick, succulent and tender patty of Australian Angus beef served on a sourdough bun.

We loved it so much, we had it again the next day. My favourite is the Mighty Angus sans onions.

Oh and what is Angus? Well in the US it is the preferred breed of cow when it comes to steaks. With that being said, it has also been mentioned that the Angus brand was created by cattle producers to increase demand for their breed of cattle by creating the impression that the Angus is a high quality beef with superior taste - This, I quote from Wikipedia.

If you are in Australia, go try it for yourselves to see if you are after all a little bit fancy :) All this writing up about the Angus burger is starting to make me crave for one.

Oooh... Angus! ;)

cheryl

Eating with Friends

A meal is best shared amongst friends.

And that was what we did .. A LOT.. of in Penang. We ate out mostly with family and while there is no doubt that I am very good at searching for yummy food on my own, we also met up with friends to have plenty of 'makan' time. As you can see from our smiley faces, the meal was good and very satisfying to our tummies. Gluttons we are not but its the love and search of good food that Penangites are most known for. Here are some pictures of our catch ups with friends over a table of plates and bowls.

After a meal at The Sire
Wide smiles all around - induced by cake :)

The best of Penang - Durian! In this case, a very potent Ganja

With Diane, Ai Hong, Li Foong and Lee Lee before our seafood dinner

With Li Foong and Hon Leong after our seafood dinner

With Chin Chooi, Ling Tze and Joyce after a nyonya meal

With Yee Long

With EuniceL and Jami

With Pin and Mace

One last big meal, celebrating Pin's birthday

I missed some photo taking oportunities because I got too carried away by either the company or the delectable food placed in front of me. On my next trip back, I've got to remember to take group pictures before the food arrives :)

More on Penang food in the next post...

cheryl

Spring has Sprung...

Budding pink and other homes down the street

We are back in Australia. When I arrived on Friday morning, I was greeted by the sight of pale pink flowers budding and blooming on every other corner of every street. It was a very different sight to the one I saw a month ago before I left for Penang. Soon these pale pink bunches will change into green leaves and the very brown landscape of Canberra will be transformed green.

Today marks the beginning of spring - a very windy season with plenty of pollen balls rolling around with the wind.

I will post pictures of Penang soon.. many pictures with friends and food :)

cheryl