Get me outta here now!!!

I have developed a disturbing disinterest towards meals here in Motherland, shock horror! I don't know if it has something to do with utter disdain over the general state of the country's affairs, or if I've just been through a spate of uninspiring meals, or if it's the haze, or if it's a sign of disassociative disorder because goddamnit, how can I not be interested in EATING??

I think part of it may also be the fact that I've not left the country for a while, a case of the old familiarity breeding contempt. Thankfully, I have granted myself a trip end of this year with dear Memo, and now I can psych myself up for similar sights & sounds:

CURRY RICE FROM COCOICHI!! Cocoichibanya is a popular chain of curry rice house in Japan. How you order your rice is entirely up to you - 1) select your curry; 2) select your spice level, i.e how much heat can you take from level 1 to 10; 3) select your rice serving and 4) select any additional toppings you'd like. Here, I had a combination order of pork cutlet & shrimp curry, spice level 3 (I've never been able to go beyond 3 and it is my mission next trip to aim to go spicier!)

From menu book on Cocoichibanya website
I've already pretty much decided that this will be my next order! More tender, superior to the regular pork cutlet.

Quality udon at any random noodle stop at train stations or every street corner. This fine serving was submerged in more slurptastic Jap curry at a neighbourhood izakaya.

Omuraisu, or Japanese rice omelette. Props to the Japs for having mastered the art of marrying Western elements into their cuisine and making it their own. I had this at a Western style diner at the basement of the Yokohama train station, with an extra topping of tonkatsu. It was ridiculously filling.

The daily walk from Mag's to the train station. Say Hi to Mag!

People, people, singing traffic lights & traffic at Harajuku

Even McDonald's WORKS here. Breakfast set of Bacon & Egg Bagel & the requisite Hash Brown.

El Torito's excellent guacamole with freshly-made tortilla. This must have used up an entire tree's worth of avocados!

A very delicious typical lunch saba set at Asakusa. Must down with Nama Biru!

There's so much more in store for Memo and me! But the yummiest of them all, no doubt, would be Ollie who keeps growing and growing in our absence!

I can't wait!!! How ever do I make the next five months go faster?

Plain Mee... what gives, Super Kitchen, SS2?

Super Kitchen had always been fairly reliable for its chilli pan mee, so I don't know what happened this one Sunday night, when we paid our first visit to the SS2 outlet.

The place was eerily quiet, especially when the other outlets on the same row were entertaining queues of Sunday night family diners, spilling out of their shopfronts. We figured that pan mee isn't exactly the kind of food you'd be after for a hearty dinner to prime yourself for the week ahead but what the hey.

The customary Chilli Pan Mee arrives, looking as per usual... nicely poached egg, a decent mound of minced meat & crunchy anchovies on pan mee.

A whole plastic tub of chilli on the table for your taking

Now I don't know if Fat Tulip was a little too conservative with the chilli but this just wasn't quite the Super Kitchen Chilli Pan Mee that I'd known. It was unusually bland and basic, chilli offering just heat, not the flavour-packed pairing with the ingredients in the bowl.

I had felt like the "pinched" sort of noodles and decided to try the traditional soup pan mee. It came to me looking rather ill. How excited do you suppose this made me feel? The soup was VERY peppery; in fact it tasted of nothing but pepper.

We also ordered the Sui Kow, which were granted, chunky and tasty, but swam sulkily in the same overly-peppered soup.

Greens for gastrointestinal health! Yeah, no harm done here.

Not quite ready to give up on Super Kitchen as yet, because they have delivered many lip-smacking bowls of chilli pan mee in their other outlets. I am guessing it was a slow night, both in and out the kitchen so I'll make it a point to avoid this outlet on a Sunday night.

Sardines to the rescue, on a scorching Penang afternoon!

While I maintain my conviction that mackerel or kembung is the secret to real Penang Assam Laksa, I was pleasantly surprised by my encounter with laksa using the OTHER much-maligned type of fish one peckish, HOT afternoon in Penang.

Parked under a majestic tree on the corner of Weld Quay and Gat Lebuh Acheh are a couple of crowd-pullers.

Filled to the brim with surely one of the fishiest broth there is! Yes, the sardine speaks the lingo here, folks; somehow, it works.

My Sardine Hate era is officially over. One bowl, laced with plenty of shrimp paste and bird's eye chilli isn't quite enough heat, even if it's 3PM and it feels like 45 degrees celcius.

Finish off with neighbouring stall's Ai Yu Ping, the most delighfully citrusy dessert in this temperature!

Nearby we spy Tua Pui Curry Mee and I recall reading this over at Lingzie's and Allie's whipping up some very fiery looking bowls of noodles but unfortunately, heatstroke is settling in and we hurry out of there for some reprieve from the crazy mid-year sun.

Alcohol now served at Subang Skypark Terminal!

Just a quick one before I head back to KL - this discovery got me very excited on Friday evening at Subang Skypark Terminal, which I have to say is sprucing up very nicely and making LCCT seem very much like a much poorer cousin.

Drinking & flying are almost synonymous activities, yet because we are the way we are, Malaysian airports very often leave you high and very dry.

Palms Sports Bar & Grill, less than a week old. Now you can fly budget, AND intoxicated!

Your typical airport bar - busy carpet pattern: CHECK!


Food menu are standard grill favourites with Bangers & Mash and Sheperd's Pie thrown in - nothing too impressive but for lack of choice in the area, is comforting.

The drinks menu - to numb the frustrated travellers and temper in-flight rage

I have a cool tall one of the local Tiger before proceeding to the departure lounge. The one-hour flight back to Penang's never been smoother!