Marutama Ramen @ Fahrenheit 88, KL

Just like how people go gaga over bubble tea,

we may noticed that ramen shops are mushrooming at the Klang Valley now.

As for myself, I've been loving this Japanese noodle for years,

I've tried a few places and still looking for one specific exquisite taste - Dusukoi-alike ramen.

That place holds a special place in my heart,

coz that's when I fell in love with ramen.

Recently, I have heard much about Marutama Ramen.

There are two franchise at Klang Valley itself,

one at Fahrenheit 88 and another at Empire Gallery.

Curious to find out what all the buzz is about.

Went to Kota Damansara to pick up Rachel Lee on Sunday,

then drove all the way to the heart of KL just for a bowl of noodles at Fahrenheit 88.

Looking thru their menu, I observed that the ramen broth is made of chicken soup.

Was doubting if it's gonna taste as good as the usual pork broth ramen.

They offers choice of spicy and non-spicy too.

We ordered spicy Kakuni Negi Tamago Ramen (RM25) 

which came with a slice of roast pork (cha siu),

two pieces of pork belly, seaweed, spring onion, and seasoned egg.


Added with free flow of fried garlic and sesame, the ramen broth taste heavenly!


The noodles is springy, and kinda taste like wantan mee texture... (aiks!),
well in a good way.


Cha siu and pork belly is soft and tender, and with fats as it should be,
but if I get to choose, would prefer leaner meat tho'.
 

Karashi Ramen (RM18) + Kakuni Pork Belly (RM7)

Ramen's seasoned egg is always my must-have-add-ons-item.
Marutama's seasoned egg is done perfectly.

Am missing it while blogging now...

Aji Tamago (RM2)

We also added another bowl of seaweed.

Taste so good being soaked in the broth.

Rachel enjoyed every bit of it.

So do I.. kekeke!

Aosa (RM6)

Another side dish we had that day as the sourish pickle raddish.

Wasn't very impressive this one.

Namuru (RM5)

Facebook eat first, we eat later... :P

My long drive to KL is worth it.

Although many would say that Marutama serves the best ramen,

I may not agree entirely as there are many more ramen outlets to try out before

I could make such judgement.

My ramen hunting so far has been good at Mai Ramen @ Jaya 33.

But I wonder where they moved to as the outlet there is closed.

 Hokkaido Santouka @ Tokyo Street, Pavilion on the other hand was great at first, 

but it disappointed me during my last visit with Alex.C seven months ago.

Wonder if they have improved since?

Another small ramen place is Ton Chan @ Wisma Cosway

This is the BEST... for Vince. 

Am planning to visit Ippudo. Heard that they are popular among the Singaporeans in the island.

 Menya Mushashi is another place I wanted to try out.

Nor forgetting Kayvin's review on Ikuzo ramen - this I must not miss!

Anybody interested in ramen hunting with me?!!

WARNING : You May Not End Up FAT, But You Will Definitely Gain Some Weight!

 yummylicious!

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Climbing up Batu Caves

Been a Malaysian for 29 years and had never climbed up Batu Caves,

with 272 steps on the staircase, and having the world tallest Lord Murugan statue!

We are proud Malaysien, eh!

Woke up at 6.30am and get ourselves ready.

Expect to meet Chriz at Subway, Petronas beside NKVE but she is no where to be seen.

Called, SMS and Whatsapp her, and the first message I received

from her that morning was... "SHIT !!!"

She overslept!

... asked us to go ahead but we waited for her still. 

Manage to fly over to meet us, and to Batu Caves we goooo!!!

Photos below... 

Semangat membara-bara before climbing up

Pigeon understood Vince's instruction of "LOOK HERE!"

World Tallest Murugan statue at Batu Caves, Malaysia

Tailing Chriz - just a few steps away

Unlike Broga Hill, climbing up Batu Caves is a piece of cake (action nie) 

I was panting while climbing up the first few steps tho'

but when I keep on going, it seemed easier.

This was partly exaggerated - I wasn't climbing like this - at all!
Look at Delvise with his grin behind me..

Although my knee felt a little jelly weak once I reached the top,

overall it was a fun climb up, and I enjoyed pushing myself forward..

Telling myself.. "Go! Go! Go!"

Gulping down my 100 Plus upon reaching.
Don't you just love my physique here - tall and slander!

Sight of beautiful caves are captured by Vince & Chriz.

Ain't the nature amazing?

Enhanced with human technology and creation,

there's where all the wonders in the world came into place.

  

We climb a little more as I wanted to send my prayers to Lord Murugan.

Prayers being done inside the cave

The monk gave me a small coconut husk with wax in it, and to light it up.

Upon saying prayers, monk gave me his blessing by putting on 

some white ash and red dot on my forehead.

I've learnt that the sacred ash is called vibhuti that signifies the phrase

"body's origin is from dust and ash and to dust and ash it shall return".

Reminding us that everything in this world is impermanent.

And the red dot that we usually see on our fellow Indian friends' forehead,

it's called kumkum/bindi and it represents the third eye.

We have two eyes that is seeing outside, for us to observe the world.

And the third eye is focusing inward to God - reminding us to always remember God. 

Meaningful, isn't it?

The monk also tied a holy string on my left wrist, while chanting

"You have good luck, good luck, yes, good luck"

So.. good luck it is!!!

Thankiu... Tima kasi... Nanri...

The Indian side of me.. :)

Blowing flower petals in slow mo just for Chriz to try out the shutter speed.

With the sun getting brighter, hotter, we decided that it's time to leave.

The thought of going down and up again

for the second time did crossed my mind,

but Vince and Chriz is not up for it.

Delvise and Lim (Vince's colleagues) climb up three times that morning!

That's to prep themselves to hike up Mount KK next month.

*salute*

The dizzy dizzy effect while looking down.

 Saw a man bring up some sugarcane, and a few woman was helping him.

I was thinking...

 "Why so many people have to help him carry the thin looking sugarcane?"

Then we saw that there's a baby wrapped in a yellow cloth and

the cloth was tied onto the sugarcanes.

Asked my Indian friends and they told me that this ritual is performed

if a woman have difficulty in conceiving, and have vowed to the God that she will

fulfill her vow to bring the baby up, if the God blesses her with a child.

I'm very much amazed seeing this ritual.

May God bless the mother, and the child, not forgetting their relatives

who offer helping hand to carry the baby up to the 272th stairs.

I hope to learn and see more of other culture.

Myself, being a Chinese, is unsure about Chinese culture actually.

Made our way down in no time!

No sweat!

Mission accomplished!

YAY!!!

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Top 5 photo editing apps for android

Hi there!

With everyone having smart phones, androids, iPhones, being vain is inevitable.

Yes I'm vain too at times. What you expect? I'm a girl... duh....

With all the photos taken, there are some that I don't like to share it "raw".

It needs certain enhancement.

To cover up my panda eyes... pimples.. (yes all my imperfections).. To adjust the lighting.. To enhance the mood.. And many more!

There are a few photo editor that I commonly use in my Samsung Galaxy S2 and iPod.

But I'm just gonna talk about the Top 5 app that I love using.

------------------------------------

First essential photo editing app in my phone is..

 

1) PICK

It allow me...

a) To look great!

I love using the effects!

Using the right effect on certain photos eliminates fine lines, wrinkles, makes your skin looked smoother, and it added artistic value in the piece of work!

I personally love using effects such as Calm, Vintage, Toy, Tender, Romance & Memories.



Romance



 

Antique



 

Vintage



b) To celebrate!

There's special edition during celebration like Christmas, Valentines Day etc...

With the frames and stamps, you can always make an e-greeting card with it!

 



A Valentine's Day wishes for my buddy who stood by me thru thick and thin,
and still sticking around seeing the worst side of me.



c) To perform a virtual complete make over!

It's more to like cartoonize myself, but ain't this cute...???

You get to choose your hair too! 







BEFORE

   

AFTER




2) PHOTOSHAKE

This app is used for photos compilation. It caters up to 8 photos in a frame.

I like that Photoshake allow us adjust the gap between photos, and the frames. 

Also we can play around with the edge of the photos. 

Not to mention alot of frame shapes...  

3) PHOTO GRID

Photogrid is another great tools to use!

It's similar as Photoshake, but it caters up to 9 photos!

And there are more layout patterns to choose from.

It also has additional function to rotate, zoom in and out, and tilt any desired photos after being put into the frame.

Comes with colorful background too...

 

This is a 9 photos frame. Could use colorful background but I didn't
want it to look messy coz the photos are colorful enough.



4) FOTORUS

This app is Photoshake & Photogrid alike, the difference is, it caters only up to 4 photos.

What's so good about this app since it caters lesser than the previous app?

The photos layout is different.

Look at this photo of me in gold palazzo pants jumpsuit.

Notice how the right frame is bigger than the left one?

Photoshake and Photogrid does not have this function.

But Fotorus offers very limited choice of frame you could use though.

Compiled using Fotorus and wording added using Phonto



Photos are first edited using PICK, then FOTORUS to
put into frame, btw, I snapped a white wall and made it into a photo as background,
and that's where I used PICK again for the Valentine's stamp into the white background.
A specially made Valentine's Day card made for someone I could still call my BEST FRIEND till now!
Loveeee youuuu!!!



5) PHONTO

Last but not least, an app that you could use to add in wordings.

With selection of fonts, Phonto is very useful to add, edit, change size, tilt writings.

So well, have fun exploring with all the recommended apps!!!



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Brew & Bread @ Kota Kemuning

Ventured into a new place that is popular among the coffee enthusiasts - like Chriz!

She advertised not only the coffee there, but claimed that

Brew & Bread serves one of the best Egg Benedict ever!

We went to witness ourselves how good that place is,

right after climbing up 272 stairs at Batu Caves.

(photos up soon from Chriz DSLR and my Canon compact)



Brew & Bread photo taken online



It took us two hours from Batu Caves to Kota Kemuning due to bad jam caused by overturned bus.

Kan cheong thinking "are we gonna make it for the breakfast menu???!!!"

Arrived at noon.

So relieved when the waitress said "Yes we still serve breakfast...."

FYI, it's a "All Day Brunch",

so yes, you can sleep in,

and still have breakfast / brunch here anytime of the day...

We were greeted by the smell of fresh coffee and breads when we walked in,
I'm loving the place already just by the smell of it.

Not to mention the comfy, cozy, cooling ambience.

------------------------------

Since we are at Brew & Bread, we need to get something that are brewed, isn't it?

Chriz as usual with her Caramel Latte,

Delvise had Mocha and

Vince had Ice Blended Rocky Road.

They all said that they enjoyed their drinks.

When I was thinking about coffee or non-coffee,

something caught my eye - ANGRY BIRD!

So I asked the waitress - what's this Angry Bird thingy?!

It's a Hot Choco apparently.

But with my child-like excitement seeing Angry Bird on a cup of coffee,

she said I could order anything - and she'll make me an Angry Bird on it!

Voilaaaa!!!

Wanted to get a Chilled-Mint Mocha but it's a
cold beverage - not Angry Bird friendly.

I need something piping hot to make that bird angry!

SWT.

Hot choco then.

From the look to the taste, I enjoyed every sip of it.

The hot choco is thick and filling - and not too sweet.

This Angry Bird ain't that angry afterall. Tee-hee!

Brew & Bread hot choco with Angry Bird coffee art!

--------------------------------------

As per Chriz recommendation, we ordered the Eggs Benedict 

which comprises of the must-have-poached eggs, ham,

topped with hollandaise sauce which is the emulsion of egg yolk and liquid butter,

all on top of a soft but crispy ciabatta,

and garnished with sides of fruits, roma tomatoes and potato wedges cubes.

I like to see runny yolks when I break poached eggs... slurp slurpppyy!

The toasted ciabatta goes so well with the eggs and ham - simple, very traditional, I love it!

Brew & Bread eggs benedict

I love eggs... and mushrooomsss.. especially wild mushrooms!

So when I see the Mush Eggs in the menu,

(omelet wrapped with wild mushrooms in cream sauce),

I just gotta have it!

Prolly I have higher expectation in this dish that I felt fairly disappointed,

there wasn't many mushroom to be found in that piece big of omelet.

But there are small bits of mushroom found the sauce, which made the sauce thick and flavorful.

Not bad - but I wish there's more mushroom since it's called the Mush Eggs! :)

Brew & Bread mush egg (wild mushroom omelette)

Vince ordered French Toast with Blueberry Jam

which is pretty normal. I would expect the bread to taste more eggy,

and maybe with some brown sugar to sweeten it a lil bit.

Brew & Bread french toast with blueberry jam

The Chicken Roulade on the other hand was surprisingly tasty!

It is chicken thigh rolled with stuffing, coated with black and white sesame,

brown sauce, pumpkin mash, olive oil infused basil and parsley dip.

The description up there was taken from the menu,

but it doesn't really match what we got that day,

nevertheless, I love that the chicken is tasty by itself,

and when topped with the brown sauce and lots of cooked onions,

it tasted whole lot better! Sedap niee!!!

Brew & Bread chicken roulade

------------------------------------------------------------

We were pretty full when Vince insisted that we should have desserts.

Dessert at Brew & Bread varies from cakes, muffins, freshly baked pastries, and more.

Most of the selection comes in RM 7 per piece

(which is pricey looking at the size of the dessert),

... and with promo now which is two pieces for RM12, and 3 pieces for RM16,

Vince went for trio-dessert which to my dismay is only visually appealing,

and not up to par.

The tiramisu is spongy and dry - like sponge cake.

Luckily the taste is not as bad as the texture.

With the texture and taste combined of a total point,

I'll only give it a score of 2.5 / 5.0.

Brew & Bread tiramisu

Yoghurt Cheese tasted oo-kay ONLY IF you take

the light cream cheese and yoghurt alone,

but the cookies crunch bed base is soggy, and tasted like crap.

Brew & Bread, you can do better!!!

Brew & Bread yoghurt cheese

The All-Chocolate Muffin is better, but NOT aweee-some.

With chunks of chocolate on top, we thought "YUHMMM, this is gonna be sooo chocolatey!"

I love muffins that are moist, but at the same time, with crunchy top.

Break the muffin into half, saw that the chocolate inside is completely molten.

Good sign.

Taste it, love the texture, crunchy outside, moist inside.

But the taste...  it's not chocolatey enough as claimed.

Tasted like an average muffin.

Despite the desserts, I still love their food, and would love to go there again!

I'm keen to try out their pastries, which is gonna be prepared upon order.
Alex Choo (cousin) said that Brew & Bread sandwiches are good too!
Well I might as well....

Those interested, details as below:-

10, Jln Anggerik Vanilla M31/M, Kota Kemuning SA 40460

Open: 8am-7pm; Closed on Thursday.

+603-51315201

www.brewnbread.com



yummylicious!



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Food Foundry @ Section 17, P.J

You know your diet plan is not gonna work is the diet plan seemed lesser than your food hunting plan.

And I know I ain't Tom Cruise. To lose a few kilos is nothing but a Mission Impossible for me.

Food is just irresistible!

Whatsmore having friends who say "Hey I've gotten to know one place that serve really good food, lemme bring you there!"

Me... "OWWWWwwww YESSSSsssss!!!"

(inspired by the 300 Spartan Puasa video below)

This time around Chriz brought me to Food Foundry.

What attracted me is when she said "The restaurant is located at the Ground Floor of a flat block"

Photo below was taken right below we left.

Should have taken one when I arrived.

Soweeyyy....

We arrived at 6.30pm and the place was almost fully occupied.

Talk about popularity!

Ambience

The place is nice, neat, with wall paintings, and IKEA-like decos.



Always with the Chriz smile!




Swimmer broad arm is spotted in this photo. YAY!!!



Food

With selection of appetizers, salads, main, desserts, and drinks,

I have confident that this place is gonna impress me,

judging by the number of patrons that day,

hope they have got good taste in food!

Ordered myself a prawn and brinjal pasta.

The main ingredients such as prawns and brinjals are fresh and nicely cooked.

But the pasta tasted a little bit spicy, and that's all.

It needs more flavor and herbs.

Chriz had a cajun chicken burger.

Took a bite - the grilled chicken is too dry.

And should add at least a piece of cheese on it.

Would taste better.

And we ordered the latest dessert trend - blueberry cheese mille crepe.

Seriously?

What's with people and mille crepe recently?

First there's Secret Recipe, then RTs,

then macaroons,

then colorful cupcakes,

now mille crepe?

Well prolly I haven't tasted good mille crepe yet to change my mind.

The mille crepe at Food Foundry didn't manage to convince me into the mille crepe craze.

Tasted like layered cake - nothing special.

Chriz told me that the vanilla and chocolate mille crepe taste better.

May try that out someday.

So food wise, I'll rate it at 3.5 / 5.00 only.

Second time to come?

Maybe... :)

Location:-

BG8 Happy Mansion,, Jalan 17/13, 46400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor

Phone:03-7955 3885



Say CHRIZZZ!!!





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#SONG# Peter Cetera & Crystal Bernard - I Wanna Take Forever Tonight

All those lovey dovey sentimental English songs always reminded me of Barry.

To me, he's a very sentimental person, but sometimes, perhaps, too emo? Haha!

I Wanna Take Forever Tonight - Peter Cetera and Crystal Bernard

Peter Cetera - I Wanna Take Forever Tonight Lyrics

Feel your breath on my shoulder

And I know we couldn't get any closer

I don't wanna act tough, I just wanna fall in love

As we move into the night I get crazy

Thinking how it's gonna be with you baby

I don't wanna play rough I've been loving you enough

Oh, baby



(chorus)

I wanna take forever tonight

Wanna stay in this moment forever

I'm gonna give you all the love that I've got

I wanna take forever tonight

Fill you up, fill you up with love

When we close the door all I need is in your eyes

I wanna take forever tonight



Touch my lips, I'm on fire

You're the only one I'll ever desire

Turn the lights down low, make the world go slow

When I'm holding you tonight it's so easy

Nothing moves me like you do when you tease me

And to rush would be a crime

I just wanna spend some time with you baby



chorus



And when I'm here beside you

I wanna see what drives you out of your mind

I never wanna leave I only wanna be with you

'Cause I love how you feel your love is so real



I wanna take forever tonight

Wanna stay in this moment forever

I'm gonna give you all the love that I've got



I wanna take forever tonight

Wanna stay in this moment forever

I'm gonna give you all the love that I've got

'Cause I can't live without you

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