20190628 Kuala Lumpur - Con

Con is in Kuala Lumpur! Escaping from the cold, winter in Adelaide.

This is a typical day while he's on holidays...

• Up early and prepare for breakfast.
• Breakfast commences with a plate of tropical fruit,
• Followed by either a malaysian curry and rice or attacking the buffet which ranges from Bryani rice all the way to baked beans
• Then there's the sweets to partake of washed down with a cup of coffee and orange juice.
• Lunch was at the food court at the Central market where he had the best curry laksa he's had in years.

Con is quoted as saying... "I don't know how long I can keep up the pace!"

20190621 Piatto and San Churro

It's getting colder! It was 3 degrees this morning in the hills. Stephen and I met at the Elephant at 5pm and managed to catch a booth, albeit near the door, so every time someone came in, a cold gusty blast came our way.


Richard surprised us by coming in before Chad but Chad was close behind. I must say that Chad poured himself the perfect pint (as pictured) which can sometimes be tricky from the jugs.

We talked a bit about the Games of Thrones franchise and what we thought of the ending. It was good to be able to know some of the names of the characters after watching the last 3 episodes. The general consensus was that people were happy with the ending.

Richard and Chad had been to see a cabaret show and were really happy with it. Richard was going to see a comedian tonight. It was his turn to choose where to eat.

Richard said he felt like pasta because of the cold weather and I choose correctly that he would want to go to Piatto. First guess :-) The last time we went there was when it was sunny as we were sitting outside.

We got a nice table inside the restaurant. It was slightly cold in the place even though the sliding door was closed. The waiter service was prompt and we ordered the following:

Stephen - Raviolli Con Pollo, Richard - Fetticuine bolagnaise, Chad - spaghetti meatballs, me - small vegetarian pizza. Richard ordered a serving of wedges/sour cream/chilli to share. He mentioned they were a bit dry.

Stephen and Richard's meal had a pile of leaves on top of their pasta and they would have preferred a side serving of salad rather than it piled on top. Other than that they both enjoyed their meals with Richard giving his a 9 out of 10, and Stephen a 7 1/2.

 Chad's meal looked amazing and he gave it an 8. I gave my meal a 9... it was one of the best pizzas I've had in a long time. It had mozzerella cheese not cheap cheese, and all the flavours were there. The dough was perfect. The only thing I didn't eat was my olives, which were gladly eaten up by the other 3.

The waiter was a bit overkeen to remove the dishes, as he took away Richard's sauce for the wedges whilst he was still eating them.

 A couple of things about the cafe. It didn't serve bread for the pasta, which is always a nice touch to add to the contentment of the meal. Also, it had a bit of a disco thump thump beat to the music - not pleasant to listen to.

 It was Richard's last day of work today! Well, I say last day, but who knows, maybe in the future.... ??

We went to San Churro for a welcome hot drink. Chad had 'The Monk' a strange name for thick hot chocolate and marshmallows. Richard had the Mocha and Stephen had dark hot chocolate and I had milk hot chocolate. No-one had desserts today, although Chad was kind enough to buy us all a chocolate.

Tonight's last photo location is an easy one. Chad, a great photo from across the road from the Exeter. Another lovely shot...

20190614 Zenhouse and Steven ter Horst

I left work at 4.30 and strolled across to the Elephant in my warm sheepskin coat and red woolly hat. I ordered a jug of beer and played Words with Friends and wrote poetry whilst I waited for Stephen. Stephen showed up around 5 with Con turning up about 5.20. Chad was not far behind him.

Richard was a late comer and was going to a concert so he decided to eat at the Elephant and forego his turn of choosing a restaurant. That meant that the honour of choosing a place was my privilege!

When Chad arrived he told us about the group of photographers that were taking pictures of the model on the sidewalk. It must have been a special interest group.

Richard ate Bangers and Mash at the Elephant and we moved from the booth to the table by the door especially so he could eat his meal.  He gave his meal a 7 out of 10.

I choose Zenhouse for tonight. We haven't been there this year and I thought it would be a bit different.

Chad ordered dumplings for entree and Shandong chicken for main. I also choose Shandong chicken for main. Con had the 'beef' rendang curry and rice and Stephen had the 'beef' burger.

Of course, none of the food was actually meat, but meat substitutes. This is one reason why I don't come here very often. It is designed for people who have just given up meat and still crave the 'meat' flavour and texture.  To me this isn't a real vegetarian restaurant embracing the vegetarian recipes. I always say the same thing when I come here and today is no different. I would give my meal only a 6 1/2 out of 10 because there were no vegetables or salad with my protein. The chips were nice but overall the meal was gluggy. I didn't feel good after eating at all.

Chad gave his meal a 7 out of 10 as did Con. They thought it was nice enough. Stephen ate some of my 'chicken' and thought it was an 8 out of 10 for flavour and gave his own beef burger an 8. He opted for the mayonnaise but would have liked a peri peri chilli sauce instead. He also didn't like the way that he couldn't replace the cucumber with another condiment, he would have had to pay extra for it.

We basically ate and run from the Zenhouse. As it was my turn to choose tonight, I choose Steven ter Horst for the obligatory hot chocolate. Stephen, Con and myself had hot chocolate in cups and Chad had a mug of hot chocolate. He also had a very creamy dessert which he REFUSED to share with us@! Despite our pleading and begging for a taste he didn't budge. He eventually allowed us to smell the dregs of his dessert which was very nice of him!

The hot chocolate is always lovely at Steven's. There is a lady who works there who doesn't have a hand. She is very adept at handling the crockery and serving the plates and cups. Good on Steven's for employing people with disabilities!

Con is going overseas to Kuala Lumpur next Friday and hence won't be with us. We'll miss him. I hope he has a lovely time away.


By the way Chad... where is the last picture taken from? It's a great photo but I can't picture where it is???

20190607 Lemongrass and San Churro

 There was a big crowd tonight. Kris and his friends decided to drop by. It was meant to be Richard's turn to choose tonight, but we passed the honour to Kris. He choose Lemongrass which is a coincidence because we only went there 2 weeks ago.

I was flying in from Canberra after a Divisional Planning morning with the department. I caught a taxi straight to the Lemongrass. By the time I got there people were finishing up their meals. We were upstairs to accommodate for the large group.

Chad had green chicken curry and gave his meal an 8. This is the same as the last time. Richard had Kway Teow - I have never heard of this dish before but it must have been nice because Richard gave his meal an 8 1/2 out of 10. The last meal he gave an 8.  Stephen had the usual - Singapore noodles which he gave a 7 out of 10. This is the same as the last time when he had Laksa - he also gave that a 7. Con had beef penang curry served with jasmine rice. He didn't think too highly of this as he gave this a 6 out of 10. This is 1 point less than last time. Stephen and Chad had a glass of red wine each.

I didn't eat because I ate on the plane. The Qantas food was 2 curries and rice which was a 7 out of 10.

We spend another 15 minutes there and because Richard was keen to see his concert - Lior - we decided for a quick hot chocolate at San Churro.

Luckily, the restaurant accepted individual payments of the bill as it would have been a bit of a nightmare to pay for all the meals together.

San Churro was quiet and we found a table easily enough. Chad had his usual - the chilli hot chocolate. Richard and Stephen had dark hot chocolate and Con and myself had milk hot chocolate. It was delicious. Chad was generous enough to buy us all a chocolate - the darker wrappers were dark chocolate which we didn't know before.

Kris and his friends passed by San Churro and from the outside blew a kiss onto the window. The lipstick mark left an imprint!