01.22.09
Playing devil’s advocate with Mogwai.
Event: Mogwai concert
Date: January 21, 2009 (Wednesday)
Venue: Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, Malaysia
If music were a religion, and in Heaven exists a God as long as in Hell a Devil lives, and every sinner that dies walk through a Judgment Day before the Higher Beings decide, then it must be true that in this InBetween, it is a concert, a post rock concert. And Mogwai are the messengers of both bad and good news. And this concert is our sendoff.
Everyone were like doomed sinners standing outside the hall, watching our past lives flashing by in front of our eyes. As the doorbitches clasp the white cuffs around mywrist, it was impossible that I could feel any deader than I already am. (Don’t mind me, it has not been a good year thus far).
Even when someone tapped me on the shoulder and whispered, “Come. Follow me.” I followed aimlessly. Further away from the crowd to where his friends were. When he handed me a joint, I could only stare at it, say my prayers, and take a big suction.
Ah. The wonders of false hope.
The next thing I know, I was standing in the middle of the roaring crowd. Convicted ones swaying haphazardly with their plastic cups of sin, and snapping digital 3×5’s of this last moment in life. And inappropriate angels in green disguises roamed the jittery crowd, offering another sin to add to our list.
I looked up at the stage and there they were – Mogwai. They came with euphoric blue lights, pointing their guitars at us: “Sinners, be afraid. You shall be judged tonight.”
When the lights were soft and colourful, and the music was mellow and tragic in the opening of The Precipice and Scotland’s Shame, it was as if the Devil himself was making an appearance amongst us, brought forth to us by the band. The ghostly and incomprehensible vocals in Hunted by a Freak was like alluring caresses on my cheek and whispers of meaningless hallelujahs. I could only stare at the centre stage with my mouth agap and my mind literally stupefied. My body was too numb from all the sweet nothings to move.
A sense of liberation washed over me when the familiar chords of I Know You Are But What Am I? graced the stage. I could move again. But not on my own demand, but by the strings of the puppetmaster that is the Devil.
Coarsing through my mind were all the sad mistakes I have made in my life, and next to my ear he blew comfort. He said it was all good. What is life without a few joints, a couple of broken rules and promises, a bunch of lies, and a house full of skeletons.
If Hell is as good as it sounds, you said “take my hand and bring me there.”
Suddenly, He came. God. With the screeching lashes of Mogwai Fear Satan and the angered berates of Batcat. Gone were the solemn lights and it came bright white lights that would blind anyone who dared look up. I dared not look up. I could only lower my head and shut my eyes. Like a son cowering from his father’s heartless whips and shouts. He counted my sins and gave each of them an appropriate punishment.
The masterful percussion took over my heartbeat; giving it two pulses sometimes three whenever He likes, or just stopping it altogether just for fun. The screaming guitars tore at my skin and rattled the bones beneath it, as if shaking all the toxic out of me. The vices and lies and skeletons. I could only shiver along with every beat and thump and shriek. The Devil gave the strings over to God and He was having the time of His life. We were His toys, happy to oblige because of Mogwai’s superiority on us.
Then, it ended. The lights went on irregardless of the crowd’s second bouts of encores. As if God and Devil had decided you know what, we shall give you another chance in living. Go. Be alive again.
As we shuffled out of the hall to have a cigarette out in the breezeless park, we were left with a constant ring in our ears and left with nothing more to say about Mogwai but how awesome they were. We could do nothing more but to laugh automatically at jokes, shake hands and hug people we met for the first time there, kiss our friends for being at the concert with us, and drove home with half a mind, went to bed half a person.
The morning after was awful. It was as if the second life was more of a mockery than a blessing. You feel more like a zombie than a second man. No music could suffice, and you dared not try to find something to fill the empty spaces in fear that the phantom sound left in your memory would just disappear. All you could hear is that persistent ringing in the ear, and your mind going in turbo speed, rambling on about the judgment God and Devil have laid on you the previous night. You have that and everything you thought you have left behind crowding your mind like a fucked up broken record. No food is good enough anymore. No sound is filling enough anymore. Even your cigarettes taste bland and you thought you caught a whiff of the splendour of the grass when you choke on the cigarette smoke.
You do not want to go to work, yet you worry if you are doing well enough at work. You want to stop thinking of the things that hurt you in life, but you cannot: why is it always a ruin to me? Why is my relationship falling apart? Why am I so sad all the time? Why, why, why and million more times why… You just want to hide in the toilet stall, crying tears of release. Please. Take me back to that stand still where the real world is left behind and Mogwai’s sendoff is all I will ever get. You bruise yourself a little in hopes it will go wrong and you can go back to the InBetween.
But you cannot. That was it. And here you are once again, trying to put all the pieces together, but never ever to find them all in one place.
Damn you, Mogwai. Damn the euphoria you brought along with your ascending melodies and reviving bright lights. Now, all I am left is everything without you. Or at least give me the hearing for my left ear back.
* Check out pictures of the concert here.
01.20.09
Indies of Malaysia, unite!
Event: Voice Independent Music Awards 2008
Date: January 17, 2009 (Saturday)
Venue: Titanium Club, Phileo Damansara
Well, Malaysia has done it. We have gone out and got ourselves the first Indie music awards show. Ever.
I have my doubts about awards show for a very long time now, and more often than not, a lot of musicians who do not deserve it have walked away with way too many awards to fill their shelves. But I thought it was real sweet of the people at Voize.my to come up with something like this to acknowledge the hidden talents in Malaysia.
So, I decided to spare myself of another Saturday night at home having a Friends marathon, found my way to Titanium Club to attend the VIMA 2008 – although it clearly is already 2009 – and see what the fuss was all about.
Till last Saturday, Titanium Club has been – what I thought would be – a dingy club with overexposed China girls serving watered down beer to old businessmen finding more reasons to stay away from home where their nag of a wife is.
But it turned out to be quite an appropriate venue for an indie-style awards show: there was a sizable stage up front, where all the performances would be; there was a makeshift podium set up at the front of that for the hosts to present the performers and award-presenters; and also seating areas at the back as well as upstairs.
The 2008 VIMA was an invite-only event, with less than 1,000 guests and musicians attending. I guess they could do with more than that size of a crowd. Because as the event proceeded, I found the venue quite roomy and it sort of killed the atmosphere of an awards show, indie or not.
The barred area at the front of the stage where the podiums were could be an awesome crowd working spot. Fans of the bands could be there enjoying the show like they would at a concert, and they could have pumped so much more livelihood to the event as well. Because when it comes down to it, an awards show is just like a music festival of sorts, with intermissions where people give out awards.
There were a bunch of performers for the night.
There was the Curtis Blues Review with their song Stay With Me.
They managed to bag the second placing for Best Rock Group. One Buck Short was first.
The sensual trio Luscious, third place winners for Best Pop Song with Khabarkan.
Pop Shuvit. Moots saying hey to me. Either that, or he was flipping me off. Heh.
The Deja Voodoo Spells. With the bassist headbanging so hard I swear he was attempting to throw his head off from his body.
The band won a few awards themselves: Rithan won Best Rock Vocalist (first placing), and the mother of all awards that night – Best Freaking Act of the Year.
There was also Paku.
The darling Liyana and Estrella.
Estrella won the most awards that night. They won first placing in Best Pop Song for Stay, and first placing in Best Pop Group – with Pure Vibracion and Radiostar following close behind respectively. Liyana herself got a couple of awards too; second placing for Best Pop Vocalist and first placing in Best Female Vocalist.
The Pure Vibracion. Bob Marley would have been proud.
Melissa Indot and Kraft performing the Best Collaboration Song, Starlight.
And many more.
To me, the 2008 VIMA was fun at some point because it felt like I was at an indie performance show with some of the best acts out there. As mentioned before, I have always been interested to find out more about the indie music scene in Malaysia and I thought VIMA was a pretty good way to go.
Voize.my has also taken this opportunity to give out some Hall of Fame awards to some of the known names in Malaysia that has made a big impact in the Malaysian indie scene.
First Hall of Fame inductee was Ahmad Izham Omar, who has come a long way in breathing life to the industry. He is the CEO of 8tv, founder of Monkey Bone Records and head of Media Prima Radio Networks. He is also the former owner of Positive Tone and has put fame into the lives of such musicians like Too Phat, Poetic Ammo and OAG.
Presenting the award to him was Radhi of OAG, whom also got himself a Hall of Fame award too. Radhi’s son was probably too young to even know he was already part of something so historical. Heh.
Another Hall of Famer was Jason Lo, Malaysia’s own singer/producer/DJ/entrepreneur extraordinaire. He is responsible for the oh so popular 90s song Evening News, Fat Boys Records, home to local acts like Disagree and Single Tracked Mind, and probably the best Malaysian made music festival thus far, Rock the World.
Other Hall of Fame inductees included Jakeman of Hitz.fm and Butterfingers.
There were people giving out awards.
There were people waiting to receive their awards.
And there were people winning awards.
It was a darn long night, if you tell me. And standing around with many chairs to sit on did not help much as well. Even though they were rushing through the event by not having the winners give speeches, and with musicians performing for merely about 5 minutes each set, the night seemed to drag on anyway.
It probably has something to do with all the waiting around. 2008 VIMA was quite unorganised for me. You can call out to the nominees, winners, performers and presenters to stay near the stage area whenever their turn is up, it would still be right to have a group of staff to oversee that the show goes swimmingly.
Also, it would not hurt to design some formal nominees envelopes for the event. The simple white envelopes seemed, well, tacky. You have gone all the way to making an awards show already, the envelopes would not be such a big problem after that, don’t you think?
There was also a Cosplay sketch going on, which I thought was pretty out of the blue. Richard Augustin was about to present an award here and out of nowhere Deathwish swung by and asked him some shit about death, which we could not hear without his microphone. Richard had on a ‘wtf’ look and was pretty much thinking, “dude, I’m just here to present an award, leave me alone.” Heh.
No offence to all the Cosplay fan out there, but I thought we could pretty much do without the sketches. The acts were not funny, we could hardly hear what they were saying half of the time and the kiss between Deathwish and Black Queen was just some way to get the crowd’s attention, which sort of backfired.
Perhaps a more interesting non-music entertainment next year, guys?
Also, three pee breaks were not necessary. If I want to go pee, I will just. Go. There was already a lot of waiting around throughout the show and the pee breaks were just more unneeded waiting around.
Overall, it was a pretty good attempt to have something like this in Malaysia. I did enjoy the performances and I am happy to see hardworkers getting awards finally. However, as an awards show, much is needed to work on. So, I do hope after this post I am still invited to the show next year. Heh. Because when it comes down to it, I am just an observant music fan who just wants to enjoy some good music.
Good job, Voize and hope to see the 2009 VIMA to be bigger and better.
Also seen on VM @ Travel Talk.
01.17.09
For St Valentine’s Sake.
Event: Casual ‘Chic’ Fashion Show by Three Sixty Degree
Date: January 14, 2009 (Wednesday)
Venue: Amuleto by Crystal Jade, Mid Valley Megamall
Finally, we are working in to the very last leg of this whole celebratory season extravagant – Valentine’s Day. There was Christmas and New Year’s, and coming up burning at our behinds is Chinese New Year, and just less than a month away, the season of luurve is going to rock your love boats.
The good people at Arcis Communications, along with those from Amuleto and Three Sixty Degree, have put together a special treat for Valentine’s Day. While the restaurant previewed their signature dishes from their menus, as well as a sneak peek into their Valentine’s Day menu, Cindy from Three Sixty Degree orchestrated a mini fashion show to entertain us.
Since we are still in the midst of anticipating Chinese New Year, we started off our dinner with another round of yee sang.
I may have spoken too soon when I said in my previous entry that I am not a fan of yee sang, because since then, I have tasted quite marvellous ones, including the one from Amuleto here. All of the ingredients are fresh from the kitchen and not an ounce of it is preserved. And instead of using the day-old sour plum sauce, they decided to use orange sauce instead. And it was definitely something different to shout about this year.
Before we dove into the menus to be featured, there was a half an hour fashion show by Three Sixty Degree, a boutique that is currently running online and will soon see the light of the day at Sri Hartamas.
As stated to be casual and chic, Three Sixty Degree offers fashion both for the casual and the smart, yet nothing over the top that makes you wonder if you will ever see people wearing that on the streets.
There are those as simple as T-shirts and halter tops.
As well as something red for Chinese New Year, and perhaps Valentine’s Day, or just simply something red to wear to work or to chill out with your girl friends.
I kind of like the second one, with its off-shoulders, puffy princess sleeves and the scrunched up sewing at the front. However, I have small shoulders so I am not sure if I could pull it off.
From the more chic collection, there are of course dresses. Pretty dresses. Something silky and white for, well, I don’t know, say, Valentine’s Day. Heh.
And there are also more smart casual dresses for those days at the office.
I would have to say this last piece was my instant favourite for the night.
Clothes from Three Sixty Degree will set you on a budget under RM100 per piece. So, check out Cindy’s website today to find if there is anything that tickle your fancy.
Next up were a couple of dishes from Amuleto’s upcoming Valentine’s Day menu.
For starters we had Benito Chicken Consomme. Note the heartshaped carrots on the side. This dish reminded me awfully a lot of the usual Miso soup at Japanese restaurants. Perhaps it has something to do with the shredded seaweeds. Other than that, nothing to shout about.
For appetisers was the Tango Prawn. Amuleto has an aptitude for food presentation, so for Valentine’s Day it would be a sin if your prawns are not arranged in a heartshaped manner. Heh. It was pretty good for an appetiser, with the fresh prawns and custard sauce.
From Amuleto’s existing menu came two tapas. The first one was the BBQ Shisamo Fish. Which I find interesting to the eyes. They were a bunch of tiny fishes barbequed to perfect crispiness, stuck on sticks to create an illusion of them floating in midair.
I cannot say it was the best meal for the night, as they were just little crunchy munchies to me, but I would give it the best food presentation for the night.
Another tapas was the Vegetarian black pepper diced mutton. Now, I have said once, and I would probably be saying it a gazillion times in the unforseeable future. I am a purist in meat-eating, so I would not trade real meat to chomp on anything made from flour pretending they are real meat.
I believe the black pepper sauce played a huge part in keeping the illusion alive, but when your teeth sinks into the meat of a mutton, you know it is all not true. However, it was a good dish that did vegetarian food justice, so if you pretend real hard, it might pass off as the real mutton.
You know what they say: save the best for last. The Rösti mushroom was one of the better dishes I had that night.
A common breakfast dish in Switzerland, rösti is made from grated potatoes and fried to a delicious golden brown. It tasted very much like hash browns, with the distinguishable lap of oil layering across your lips when you savour on one of the irresistible sins of culinary. Be sure to spread a generous layer of sour cream and mushroom sauce too to get the most out of this dish.
It was around this time that I was beginning to feel full, and it was quite surprising as the previous dishes were all in tiny portions. When they brought out the Braised lamb shank, my eyes grew to be the size of my plate when I saw the size of it. It was huge. And to think it was a single person’s portion.
Yet, it was a delicious entree. (Pure meat, now this is what I’m talking about!). The meat was cooked to wonderful tenderness, as if the cook has given the lamb a loving pat a day before the slaughter. I just could not help stealing pieces of the meat to my plate even though I was already quite bloated.
To seal the deal with something sweet, there was the Green tea tiramisu.
As good desserts go, for some reasons, call me weird but I never found a liking for tiramisu. It was just layer upon layer of cream. Not my way of getting diabetes at all. So, dinner pretty much sealed off with a lip-smacking kiss with the lamb shank. I took a mouthful of the dessert and I felt like I have eaten the entire sheep.
Nothing against this green tea tiramisu from Amuleto though, don’t get me wrong. I am just not a fan of tiramisu. But if you are, you might want to look into this because having green tea as a flavour, you cannot go wrong the way you cannot go wrong with chocolate as dessert. Green tea may probably be the new chocolate.
So, gentlemen, if you have not made your dinner reservations for the dreaded February 14 (and don’t you even fake a smile saying it’s your favourite time of the year), I’m sure your girlfriend has a knife poking behind you, perhaps stop by Amuleto for a dinner for two. The food is reasonably good, as so the price.
And ladies, I understand how the money is looking with all the shopping since November (face it, this ‘Savings’ sales, is just.not.working), so instead of stepping into Zara and GUESS for another splurge, how about Three Sixty Degree for this Valentine’s Day ensemble?
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Amuleto by Crystal Jade
Lot G.E.015
Mid Valley Mega Mall
Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Putra
59200 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
Opens Sunday to Thursday @ 10AM-11.30PM; Friday, Saturday, Eve of Holiday @ 10AM-1AM
T: +6 03 2287 4128
01.14.09
Journey to the West.
Also guest blogging at Backseat Radio: Scotland’s Shameless.
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The holiday weight continues to go up as we ease into another festive season to eat it out. You have had the bloating turkey at Christmas and the resoluting toast at New Year’s Eve. Now, we’re going into the Ox-spicious red for Chinese New Year. But never mind your cholestrol and blood pressure. As the saying goes: eat now, pay later. Or something along that line. Heh.
Our first stop is to West Lake Garden over at Sunway Resort Hotel & Spa. One of the participating restaurants for the Malaysia International Gourmet Festival, we clench our bellies as we wait for what’s on their Chinese New Year menus.
This year, they bring forth their 8- and 9-course sets with a mix of feng shui philosophy. Every single dish you savour in has a petty combination of yin and yang to better harness your chi for the New Year.
I will not lie to you. I have never been a fan of yee sang. There is this uncanny bitterness in it that makes me go for only the crackers when I was younger. It is no different for this case as I went straight for the salmon. The Master Chef for West Lake Garden, Chef Chan Choo Kean, has taken the liberty of showering his yee sang with some New Zealand manuka honey, which accentuates the sweetness of the meat, thus making the salmon more delicious.
My favourite would be the Pan fried lamb rack with smoked coffee savoury sauce. It is Chef Chan’s award-winning dish from the World Championship of Chinese Cuisine in Beijing, China. The sauce is top-notch and it complements the lamb well as it eliminates what most meat-eaters would call the “lamb smell”. It just makes you want to go real slow in all the pieces you put in your mouth, and will probably have you scratching for any chunks of meat left on the bone.
Next up is the Sauteed asparagus and prawn wrapped with water chestnut. Now, I am a big prawn fan – so big I can chomp down up to 20 prawns, and I do not mind getting down and dirty with the shell-peeling too – but I am a little disappointed with this dish. It probably has something to do with how the prawns are stretch real thin to compensate the water chestnut in its belly, and the taste of the meat is somehow gone because of that.
The Braised Szechuan beef shank with mandarin orange peel is an interesting dish. For one thing is the mandarin orange peel on the beef shank, a kind of yin element for this dish. It is a refreshing bit as the beef can get quite heavy and spicy with the sauce, so a tad of the orange peel balances up everything. The dish was just alright for me, since I am not really a fan of Szechuan cuisine.
Also available on their set menus is the Rainbow fried rice with seafood pine nuts. The rice is cooked with a few variety of nuts like sunflower seeds and walnuts to make up the yang factor. But all in all, it is just like every normal fried rice I had in my life.
For desserts, there is the Homemade almond tea with glutinous rice dumpling. Now, before you scrunch up your nose at the overwhelming almond tea smell, try it first. Chef Chan has curved this hard ball by adding a drizzle of papaya puree to tame the beast. Although the almond tea aroma still lingers, the papaya puree makes it more bearable and also adds that sweetness at the tip of your tongue. Munch on it with the red bean paste from the rice dumpling and you got yourself a pretty good finale.
Alternatively, durian enthusiasts can go for the Chinese New Year durian puff. Heh, I can hear echoes of ‘Now we’re talking!’ over at your end. Cheer as you may, but I have never been a fan of durians, not even if you have blended the durian meat with custard and milk and cooked it in a pastry. The barfing aroma is still there, and I cannot get my mind set to even let my tongue touch it. Heh. But if you are a durian lover, try it. I am sure you will love it as much.
To sum it all up, West Lake Garden did put quite a lot of effort in the whole feng shui idea for their food, but I did not really feel the whole Chinese New Year spirit because they have dishes of Western cuisine as well. As perfect as the lamb rack is, I feel like it is a little out of place being served in a Chinese restaurant.
I guess I still prefer the traditional style of having all dishes on the table, and chopsticks are having wars at the centre, fighting for the last piece without seeming too impolite to steal from your uncles.
But I would still have you give West Lake Garden the benefit of the doubt, as they have a bunch of other dishes available for their 8- and 9-course sets, as well as their a la carte menu. And I am just one man’s opinion too. Ring them up for a more comprehensive list of their menus, and see if they tickle your feng shui fancy.
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West Lake Garden
Sunway Resort Hotel & Spa
Persiaran Lagoon, Bandar Sunway
46150 Petaling Jaya
Selangor Darul Ehsan
Malaysia
Opens Monday to Saturday @ 12PM-2.30PM, Sunday and Public Holiday @ 10AM-2.30PM; daily @ 6.30PM-10.30PM
T: +6 03 7492 8000 ext. 3181
W: http://www.sunwayhotels.com
01.07.09
Doing the hongkie-pokie.
Ah, Hong Kong. The Oriental Hollywood with known superstars like Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, Tony Leung and the late Leslie Cheung, and probably a gazillion more TV series than America can ever spawn.
And when you speak of Hong Kong, you can never miss out on their mouthwatering cuisine. Dim sum, Da Been Lo, Tan Tong, Tong Shui… It is every food lovers’ must visit spot, and by food lover, believe you me, it is every Chinese you meet on the street.
As much as Mecca is the rite-of-passage destination for all Muslims, Hong Kong is such to every breathing Chinese. While the former is kept away from pork, the latter says ‘Bring it on!’ and would very much execute you if you don’t.
But as much of an avid food lover as you are, there is only so much you can stomach during your stint to Hong Kong. So, would it not be good news if you could savour your favourite Hong Kong cuisine in your very hometown without forking out thousands to the country?
Of course it would.
From the people who brought you the juice-squirting Xiao Long Bao and the slurpy La Mian at Dragon-i comes Canton-i, out to become the best in offering authentic Hong Kong delicacies.
Every time I pass by Dragon-i and Canton-i at 1 Utama especially on weekends, without avail, there will be a line waiting outside the restaurant to get a table. (One of the perks catering to constant eaters like Chinese). Even the Dragon-i outlet at Queensbay Mall had chairs set up outside for diners, very much like in a clinic.
I have only tried out Dragon-i twice, so when Canton-i set dock a new outlet at The Gardens, Mid Valley City, I decided it was time to go try out some food from my ‘motherland’ and see what the fuss was all about.
I have always been a fan of tea, so it is nice to order one with an Oriental flavour as opposed to the conventional Earl Grey and English Breakfast. Instead of having tea leaves, they practically rooted the entire plant and plop it into your glass. As you watch, the flower actually bloom. Perfect choice of drink to heat up your body in preparation of the main courses.
There are a few flavours to choose from: Seven Belle, Jasmine Faery, Flowering Red Amaranth and more.
My favourite dish would be the Japanese stew pork rib wonton noodles. Veggies aside, the pork ribs are absolutely succulent. Just when you think a piece is enough for the day, the tender meat drenched in sauce and crunchy joints just scream out ‘Eat me! Eat me, dammit!’ and every part of you just plead ‘Just one more, one more.’ I could have a bowl of these pork ribs and call it a day, really.
Another signature dish in Canton-i would be the Signature prawn wonton noodles. Aptly named, the perfectly wrapped wonton prawns squirt in delight with every bite and the steamy bowl of soup makes perfect company as comfort food during time out at lunch breaks.
On the sides to share with your friends and family – or just an extra dish all to yourself, if you may – you can try out their assorted roast meat with any combination of your choice, among them include the religious Roast pork belly and Honey-glazed roast pork.
Granted I tend to leave out the ‘best part’ of the roast pork belly, but I enjoy it when my teeth sink into the salty meat and when the sweet sauce of the honey-glazed roast pork lap across my tongue. Not having them on the table would be like going to work naked.
Now that we have settled with the main dishes, we have come to the best part: the desserts.
The Double-boiled fresh milk with ginger sauce is said to soothen your tummy after a hearty meal. So far, I have not seen that happening. Perhaps it was because I had a hard time stomaching the overwhelming ginger taste. There is always this unyielding bitter taste that I seem to frown at. However, it is probably something to have to get used to. By the time I had my second bowl at my second visit, I could already chow down a few more spoonful. Not the entire bowl, however, as I was already quite full from the other dishes. Who knows, third time is a charm after all, I might finish up the entire bowl.
And who could omit trying out the household Egg tarts whenever they visit a dim sum restaurant? Nothing to shout about really, but I will always love the layered pastry crumbling around my mouth and lips as the yellow filling burn my tongue for eating them while they are hot, which is probably the only best time to enjoy the tarts.
Also to try out is their Egg Yolk and Custard Bun. Take one bite and surrender to the oozing custard escaping from the inside. It is a must to eat while they are hot because when they cool, the fillings would have hardened and that is not very fun anymore.
However, for some reasons unbeknowst to me, Canton-i did not set itself right in my heart. Maybe I am one to enjoy Chinese food at a round table with a bunch of a la carte dishes coming simmultaneously and a bowl of steamy rice to eat with chopsticks. Or have dim sum in a dingy shoplot, where you scream for your plates of char siew bao, har kao, siew mai and lou mai kai, and you pay your meal to a Mrs Boss walking around with a calculator and a pouch full of bills. So, to dine in a clean cut environment for a change seems a little different from the usual, I suppose.
Yet, it is always nice to treat yourself to something nice once in a while. Good ambiance, good food and service, it is your next best thing to travelling all the way to Hong Kong just for a bowl of kuai leng kou.
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Canton-i
The Gardens
LG.202 & 203A
Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Putra
59200 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
T: +6 03 2284 6888
W: http://www.canton-i.com
