Wednesday 24 February 2010

Out & About: Saturday Well Spent

The stars aligned and all manner of miracles occured. One such was the pact GF and I made to hit KL on our off day. Plans were quickly made and we shook on it. Saturday morning came and I arrrived at her gates as early as 11 raring to go.

As soon as she hopped in the car we coasted to KLCC, as apparently there was a Photography Showcase being presented at the Petronas Gallery. However, upon arriving in KLCC our collective bellies growled their desire for sustenance. With the bountiful number of eateries here it was rather difficult to arrive to a decision, so we browsed for edibles at the food court at Level 3, not really intending to grab anything there.

We circled the place like hungry hawks and suddenly we stumbled upon a peculiar sight - Nasi Kandar! (In a Food Court like KLCC?). Both of us aren't exactly fans of Nasi Kandar but we just couldn't resist the way their food was displayed, rows upon rows of various shapes and textures and colours.


3 seconds later we were ordering our plate of sacrifice(s). GF was all aflutter, flagging this and that to pile on her plate.
Swimmer Crabs Galore

Udang Galah joe!

Sticky Spicy Chicken Varuval
Thick Chicken Curry!

Note the somewhat smiling dude in the background? He is smiling because our meal check alone should be enough to cover their costs for the day! :)

Sliced Bhendi Sauteed in Spices and Dried Chillies. Only Indian cooks know how to respectfull treat this wonderful ingredient!
We even risked her mild allergy to seafood by ordering ourselves Fried Freshwater Lobster and Crab.


The crab had gone into hiding (in our bellies!)
A short moment later we were already tucking into our mini mounds of Briyani rice and assortment of spiced dishes.So we sat and we ate with our hands! (and how often does one see that in snooty ole KLCC!) and chatted. What fun! Nevermind the glares and not-so-surreptitious glances we were getting. 
Belly all filled with ballast, we marched over to Kinokuniya for some book grazing. A friend had said that this place carries an enormous range of titles and genres so it certainly is good to pay it a visit. Attractive prices too.

Then it was off to the art gallery where we both thoroughly enjoyed the experience of looking at the award winning photo pieces of various Photogs both professional and amateur. Sadly we couldn't snap any pics as it is considered bad form to do so in galleries and art houses unless it specifically says it is allowed.

About an hour or so later, we exited the gallery and proceeded to Shoe hunt. GF needed new sensible work shoes. Shuttling back and forth from Isetan and Parkson, she finally got them. Lets hope they last as long as we think it will, as she walks a whole lot in her line of work.

A highlight was that we saw this really striking piece of footwear in Parkson, straddling the grey area of S&M between Dominatrix and Leather/Metal fetish . Look and decide for yourselves.
What's my name? Thwack!

Gave both GF and me the Heebie-Jeebies as visions of, ahem, creatively utilised rope, riding crop and spank paddles comes to mind!

Bile in out throats, we agreed to get some refreshments at San Francisco Coffee. I had a Baybridge Sunrise. This coffee and milk based beverage is served iced cold, spiked with a good slosh of orange and vanilla syrup. Definitely one of my favourite waters. And hard to get where I live and normally shop at too. She had a small iced vanilla latte.

And Razee being Razee, drinks need food to go with them (or should that be the other way round?) and hence our drinks were partnered with a Chocolate Brownie to share.Rested, we gallivanted some more.

Planned to catch a movie but the queue at the ticket counter was prohibitively long (and I so hate being in queues) caused us to decide to leave KLCC for Pavillion! Posessed, we launched ourselves onwards.

Arriving in Pavillion we were caught unawares by the immensity of the complex. It is frickin huge! Being our first time here, we sought what all good shopping malls should have - a good bookstore. Lady luck was with us that day, and we found Times books a few floors from where we came in. Joy!
Rows upon rows of books. Yeahh!
We both love reading so this was a great find. Love the Black on Beige and Brown colour palette of the place, it certainly was a look that sets them apart from their ilk of MPH and Borders. Found a gem here too, we seriously laughed ourselves silly discovering it. Cute eh? (And where were you during my teenage years?)

We spent a good hour in here too before opting to lose our way in the cavernous mall. By now our poor feet has already taken a beating from all those miles of window gazing. It was getting harder and harder to maintain our bouncy gait (note to GF, wear comfy shoes next time). 

As our last stop, we dragged our feet to a place for a Teppanyaki dinner. I had the Lamb and she opted for Beef (we really couldnt think straight now, legs splayed and feet akimbo) while the flat-iron chef whipped up our meals. He was quite deft with his pair of steel scrapers and tools. We also noted that quite a lot of customers were at our teppan, I guess the food here must be good huh?

It is quite fun to watch the deft skills of the Teppan Cook doing their thing.

   

Alas, it wasnt to be, the Beansprouts and Mustard Greens were limp and the meat was hobbled by an over generous hand with the cheap butter and miso paste. The characteristic flavour of both Beef and Lamb ended  up drowned.


 
Sweet & Spicy with lashings of garlic, alas, the gloopy unctuous nature of the butter ruined it for us.
Contrastingly, the Miso Soup that accompanied our rice could use a bit more Miso. Add to this, the seriously fatigued service personnel, we actually felt pity for one as she stood propped against a wall, barely able to keep her eyes open and posture straight. They must have had a punishing number of customers throughout the day. I imagine if we had arrived here for Lunch we would have had better service. Maybe next time then.

Sated, in all sense of the word, we left for home, comforted by the knowledge that this was a Saturday well spent.

4 comments:

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Uncle Razee,
You're so mean! All those pictures of food! You make us feel homesick...purrr....meow!

Razee Salleh said...

heh heh heh. My bad, sorry Cat-In-Sydney. Maybe you can your Mama to cook for you. I too secretly crave the Asam Pedas dish that you have posted. Looks really yummy.

Mohd Nadzrin Wahab said...

Salam Gee,

Acne for Dummies? Hmmmm... I needed Psychiatric Counselling for Dummies when I was a kid...

Salam persilatan,

Razee Salleh said...

Hehe! Look it up, it's probably somehwere in the Dummies shelf.