3 Meals Of Goodness

I always say … when you’re traveling to the northern regions of Malaysian, you would definitely dine your way northwards. That’s simply because most of our Malaysian local delights are from the northern regions of Malaysia. A good example would be the Char Kuey Teow (fried flat noodle). People usually relate Char Kuey Teow to the state of Penang but of course, it’s available almost in any decent Malaysian town. The Rojak (mixed fruit salad on prawn paste) and Assam Laksa are also equally popular in Penang.

Somewhere close to Penang, Bidor is located between Ipoh and Kuala Lumpur via the North-South Expressway. Bidor is mainly an industrial area. When you are driving along the north of Bidor, you will see endless miles of plantation on both side of the trunk road covered with lush greenery, guava, oil palm and rubber plantations.

An important source of income for the town, though, is (or used to be) from travelers who stop by the town for its well-known local delicacies and agricultural products. Before the development of North-South Expressway, travelers had no choice but to pass through this town through the federal trunk road. As this town is (still is) rather famous for its variety of food, travelers frequently choose to stop-by at one of the eateries before continuing their journey.

This scene does remind me about an animated cartoon called “CARS”, whose story is pretty similar to that of Bidor. The story is loosely based on the real Route 66 in USA where it was frequented by traveler once upon a time until the building of an alternative highway. You can read more about it HERE.

Anyway, the most famous food undoubtedly will be the Duck Thigh Noodle available at Pun Chun Restaurant. The restaurant is located on the main street of Bidor with stalls selling fruits alongside. Pun Chun is also famous for its ‘Sat Kai Ma’ – a type of sweet dessert and also ‘Kai Jai Peng’ which is the chicken biscuit.

I used to love the Wu Kok (yam puff pastry) at Pun Chun where it’s filled with char-siew flavored meat mash but probably this batch I tried wasn’t prepared properly as it’s a little too dry. Despite this tiny setback, it’s a must-try for those who hasn’t tried before … it’s freshly prepared.

Contact Details : Pun Chun, 40 Main Road, Bidor. Tel. 05-434-1554. Open from early morning till 10 at night.

Here are LOADS more reviews from other foodies…. just look at the amount of reviews on this popular spot!

EatingAsia
Hot-screensaver.com
Asme.Wordpress.com
She, The Epicuriousgirl
Cameron-highland-destination.com
Riceballz
Micheginny
Food-Cookies
Westmalaysia.com
Ifoodmart.com
Firstjuly.com

I just can’t shake off this feeling that …. my vegan friends just don’t visit 3-meals.com.

But I don’t blame them.

I don’t. Seriously.

I mean, just look at the amount of bah kut teh outlet’s I’ve reviewed for the past year. It’s no wonder I scare the vegans away. I mean, I heard this from a friend of mine, Siew Cheng. A vegan, obviously. I guess, I owe this article to her … I mean, it’s because of her that we frequent this vegetarian restaurant often enough for me to write an article about them.

Else, she is never visiting my site, ever.

Anyway, Shiang Hai … not Shanghai as most people mistakenly refer them as … is located in Sunway Mentari … directly opposite of Sunway Pyramid. It’s the same row as Mc Donalds too. Well, I can’t comment much about the setup since I don’t exactly frequent vegetarian restaurants that often. Well, the last one I went to had very elaborate decorations and obviously their bills were very well decorated too!

Read the rest of this entry »

With a name like Dessert’s Bar, you can hardly miss the sign outside especially if it’s located along your way home. And coincidently, there’s one located very near the place I live. Well, not exactly near but like I said earlier … it’s just on my way home. I live in Kota Damansara and there’s a Dessert’s Bar in Casa Tropicana, near Tropicana Golf & Country Club. I drive past Casa Tropicana almost everyday and every time I tell myself that I would stop at Dessert’s Bar to … you know, check it out. But I never did stop by … not once … until today, that is.

As usual, I left work late today … almost 10 I think … and not knowing what to have for dinner, I decided to just drive on until I think of something. Suddenly I thought about Dessert’s Bar and made a conscious effort to stop there. I drove from Sunway along LDP towards Kelana Jaya and made a turn into Dataran Prima. I drove past Dataran Prima ….. passed Tropicana Golf & Country Club and Casa Tropicana Condominium was right after that. Dessert’s Bar’s just below the Casa Tropicana Condominium.

The setup in Dessert’s Bar is pleasantly chic yet classy. Soft yellow lights hung above the brightly painted ceiling with metallic red barstools makes the place look classy yet very chic. The place is also furnished with equally red sofas for lounging and with free wi-fi, the joint is perfect hang out spot.

As I walked into the outlet, I was served with the menu which has … quite limited choices but otherwise very tempting looking desserts. I decided on my orders and promptly ask for permission to take some photographs for blogging purpose. Folks working there were friendly and helpful and I was fortunate enough to meet Eunice, the business dev. exec for Dessert’s Bar. She’s like the sweetest and friendliest person, it’s no wonder she works for them … in a place that serves sinfully sweet stuffs!

Since there were only 2 of us, I ordered a Mixta Bowl which is fruits, topped with home-brewed less-fat, less-sugar chocolate ice-cream in a rugged pizzelle bowl and a Italian Grande Strawberry Compote which is actually strawberry crepe. And to wash down the desserts, I ordered a Grape Smoothie which is made out of pure fresh red, black & green grapes, blended with crushed ice … perfect to clean your systems. (anti-oxidant, you know that .. don’t you?)

Generally, although this place serves dessert’s, they promote healthy eating …. and here’s something I picked from their website.

15 minutes
That’s how long they spent to get rid of the unwanted pesticide without compromising the goodness on the fresh fruits.

100%
Natural and their full passion, and you can taste that in every thing they serve here. hope it’s not too strong for you.

Nil
They don’t think additional preservative, coloring, fortification, and artificial flavoring is necessary at all.

OUTLET LOCATIONS

Casa Tropicana
B-0-12, Block B, CASA Tropicana,
No. 5, Jalan Persiaran Tropicana
Tropicana Golf & Country,
47410 Petaling Jaya.
Tel: +603 7885 0227
Fax: +603 7883 0356

OTHER OUTLET LOCATIONS

Subang Parade
Mont’ Kiara
Hartamas Shopping Centre
Menara Hap Seng
SohoKL

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(an excerp from chinadaily.com.cn)
For busy people, it can be hard to squeeze in three meals a day. But if you want to look after your health, you need to find ways to eat three nutritious meals. Here are some suggestions to maintain a healthy diet.

BREAKFAST

A healthy breakfast is a good start to the day. And having something to eat at home is the best way to go. Fruits are good, but avoid eating bananas or pineapples when the stomach is empty. Bananas contain a lot of magnesium which is one of the few elements that will affect the heart. If you eat bananas on an empty stomach, this will lead to a sharp increase in the amount of magnesium in the blood. And blood with a high content of magnesium can harm the heart. And pineapples contain a lot of ferment which can also affect an empty stomach.

If you have leftovers, they’re good to eat in the morning. Just heat it up in the microwave, or even having buttered bread and milk is good.

If you have more time and want to have a freshly-made breakfast, then go to a caf¨¦ where you can sit down and enjoy your breakfast. Most of these eateries feature Chinese food including deep fried twisted dough sticks, soybean milk and dumplings.

But if you have to take long commute in the morning and are short of time, then you can buy take-away snacks at street stalls. Beijing has many of them selling breakfast in the mornings. The stall owners get up quite early and tend to be near bus stops or residential buildings from 7am to 9am. The food can range from western hamburgers and sandwiches, to traditional Chinese preserved eggs, pancakes, porridge, stuffing buns. They also sell various drinks including milk, soybean milk, and bubble tea. And you only need to pay a few yuan for the meal.

LUNCH

Compared to breakfast, time is not the issue with lunch. The problem is finding a diversity of lunch options.

Most office people have their lunches at restaurants near their companies. These places are always crowded at lunchtime and can be expensive. The lucky ones can have their lunch in the company canteens. They cost less than outside restaurants, but just as crowded. One way to enjoy your lunch in a relatively comfortable dining environment is to call ahead for a take-out meal and eat it at the recreational center of your company or in the office if it’s allowed.

DINNER

Experts say 6pm is the best time to have dinner. We should avoid overly spicy food for dinner though green pepper is a vegetable that contains a lot of vitamin C. A glass of wine will also do some good, but too much can affect your sleep.

While it’s nice to have a good dinner, some may worry about gaining too much weight. Here are two weight-loss dinner options you can prepare yourself.

Option 1 : Rice + vegetables + sirloin steak + watermelon

Food materials: sirloin steak (100g), baby cabbage (100g) and garlic.
Seasonings: olive oil, oyster sauce, salt and black pepper Method:
1 Put one spoon of olive oil in the pan. When the oil is hot, add garlic and stir it till you smell the garlic fragrance.
2 Add the baby cabbage and add some water. Stir the cabbage until it’s done. Add salt and black pepper for seasoning.
3 Marinate the sirloin steak with salt and black pepper. Add olive oil in a pre-heated pan and sauteed it to the degree doneness you like.

Option 2 : Apple pork loin rolls

Food materials: an apple, pork loin, seaweed, shallots
Seasonings: sauce, salt, sugar
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees Celcius.
2 Cut apple into sticks. Cut pork loin into thin slices and marinate with seasonings. Cut seaweed into the same size as the pork loin. Dice shallots.
3 Roll pork loin slices, apple sticks, shallots and seaweed pieces into a roll.
4 Put the roll into an oven fastened with an apple slice using a toothpick. Cook the roll for two to three minutes.