My Filling Station

Lui Fan

noreply@blogger.com (shoppingmum) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 01:33:19 PDT

Lui Fan is something I miss about Ipoh food. It's just normal noodles or kuew teow, and you can choose a selection of fish balls, tofu and deep fried stuffed food. You might be able to find some stalls in Bangkok but it won't taste the same as those in Ipoh.

My noodle in curry paste

Deep fried stuffed food, which is called "char lui" in Cantonese

Fish balls and tofu

I would trade the steam cleaners for another lui fan meal in Ipoh again. :)

Lunch with Friends at Ipoh City & County Club

noreply@blogger.com (shoppingmum) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 01:17:23 PDT

The best thing about coming back home is meeting up with good old friends. It's been a year since our last trip back to Ipoh, so I was so happy to see my good friends and their kids. All three of us tagged out kids along for a lunch at Ipoh City & Country Club and I am glad that we managed to finish our lunch while managing our kids. :P

Since there were 5 kids having lunch with us, we tried to order non spicy dishes, except one.

Broccoli and abalone

Fish fillet with spring onions and ginger slice

Tofu

Chicken and cashew nuts.

Pineapple fried rice

This kung pou mantis shrimp is the only spicy dish, but my kids love it.

I don't have a lot of food photo in online backup lately. Mmm....I should really snap more. :P

Eat In Mostly

noreply@blogger.com (shoppingmum) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 08:43:34 PDT

I'll be here for another 2 weeks but I haven't had the time to visit my favorite restaurants yet. I hardly eat out since hubby is not around, and if he is here, he can drive us around. Frankly, I miss him a lot!

But then, I won't use a lot of money if we just eat in and hardly go out. I might be able to invest in gold or silver if I don't spend much for a few months. LOL!

Frankly, I should really think of how to spend my money wisely. It's best to keep for rainy days, or invest in some jewelry on the next jewelry fair in Bangkok!

Chicken Floss Thick Toast

noreply@blogger.com (shoppingmum) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 05:18:00 PDT

I love meat floss. Any meat floss, let it be pork or chicken, but as long as it tastes good and goes well with bread! I've always love this chicken floss thick toast, which is quite common at kopitiam in Ipoh. It's quite fattening, but I don't think I can resist it even if you give me the best appetite suppressant!

I was in Ipoh for a week but I took this toast twice, when I was out by myself. My kids love it too but I didn't have a chance to bring them to this shop. Maybe I will try to fix one at home when we fly back to Bangkok. It's not too hard, I guess. :)

Lazy...

noreply@blogger.com (shoppingmum) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 09:10:37 PDT

I know that I should be snapping photos on the food I took here back home but I've been a very lazy bum. :P I took only a small fraction of photos, as comparing to the food I've been feasting on. Maybe I'm in a vacation mood, so I hardly feel like bring the camera along. Gee... I guess I will be lazier if I go to disneyland hotels anaheim, I might not have much to blog about after the trip! LOL!

Anyway, give me some time. I shall upload the small amount of food photos soon, just for the sake of updating my blog!!!

Only Gurney Drive

noreply@blogger.com (shoppingmum) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 05:08:29 PDT

Again, I haven't really started feasting but took hokkien mee, and fried oyster at Gurney Drive last night. I didn't take laksa as most of the laksa stalls there are not up to my standard. :P

No photos to be shared too as I didn't snap any. I'm a bit lazy to snap photos, especially I don't have internet connection at home and I can't upload the photos. I'm using someone's line to update my blogs now! Gee...I can't be the electronics and online freak like I used to be for weeks, and I wonder if I will go insane? LOL!

Yet to Makan!

noreply@blogger.com (shoppingmum) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 01:33:35 PDT

It's my first day back home, and I haven't started feasting on all my favorite food yet. I guess I won't be needing any weight loss pills if I can resist my craving, but I really want to eat as much as I can! I really miss laksa, hokkien mee, and char kuey teow.

Maybe I can just drop by a food court and order all those food, but I don't think I can finish them all. :P Too bad hubby is not here to finish my leftover, so I better have my feasting slowly. There is no hurry. I have a month of holiday here.

Romson Thai Restaurant in Banchang Beach

noreply@blogger.com (shoppingmum) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 22:21:41 PDT

Our friend brought us to Romsom in Banchang, and the first thing I like about this Thai restaurant is you can dine on the beach, and the sand is so soft and nice.

It was a nice evening, so I was totally in love with the place until my kids got all messy playing with the sand before dinner started. LOL! I gave up on lecturing them and let them have as much fun as possible. No point getting angry on vacation and go for acne treatment after the break right? Besides that, I would be playing like them too if I'm a kid.

The Thai dishes are great too, and here are the photos:

Tom yam seafood is a must!

Stir fried mushroom

Curry crab

The kids love the pork

Thais are very good at fixing deep fried fish.

I'm not sure what this dish is called in Thai, but it's super delicious!

My kids love to crunch on the deep fried veggie just like that, but I love to dip it in the chili paste.

In short, this is such a nice place for dinner. :)

Flying Home to Penang Food!

noreply@blogger.com (shoppingmum) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 22:04:32 PDT

I'm leaving...on a jet plane! Oh well, not exactly a jet plane but I'm flying home soon! And the first thing we will do is drop by any Penang kopitiam for all the delicious hawker food I've been craving for months! Too bad hubby is not coming along, so I can't go out as much as I wish, thus I have to depend on my dad to drive us around.

I've almost packed everything, and even if I've tried my best to pack light, my luggage is still very heavy! Did I pack any horse supplements or dumb bell in it? Why is it so heavy!

Zen Japanese Restaurant

noreply@blogger.com (shoppingmum) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 21:36:45 PDT

I've always wanted to try out the Japanese food at Zen, but my hubby prefers Ootoya, while my kids love another sushi outlet. So, when I was going out alone looking for affordable health insurance the other day, I made a trip to Zen and tried out the lunch set.

It turned out...nothing really special about the food. :P Sad to admit that though. Maybe I was placing high expectation about the restaurant, due to the name and the rave, but then there is nothing special, it's just like another Fuji.

Another Hound Cafe

noreply@blogger.com (shoppingmum) — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 20:15:06 PDT

I went to meet a friend at Siam Paragon, and both of us went to Another Hound Cafe for dinner. I would say that this is one nice cosy cafe which serves a mixed of Thai and western cuisine, but too bad, we didn't get a comfortable table that day. :P

The setting of the restaurant was nice, and there is a wide collection of wine. It is a nice place for catching up with a good friend too, but I am not sure if I will come here with my kids. :P

Black Pepper Soft Shell Crab and pasta

Pad Thai Fettucini

Salmon and Green Mango Salad

Som Tum with Crispy Bacon

My friend and I shared these dishes, and oh boy, I've overeaten again and needed some apidexin now! Nonetheless, it was a nice place for dining and the food was yummy. Give it a try.

Some Thai Dishes

noreply@blogger.com (shoppingmum) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 21:59:59 PDT

I was going through my photos just now and I found some which was taken at this Thai restaurant along Rachaphruk road.

I'm not sure what its name in Thai, but there's the number you can call if you are interested to know about the location of this restaurant. :P

I found that we ordered crab curry that night, but it's not one whole crab that we used to get at restaurants.

I think it's just some frozen crab meat, and cooked in curry paste. It's not that bad, I was hoping to have CRABS!

The deep fried fish was delicious, but there was something funny here...

That's the green mango salad that came with the fish, but hubby and I thought it was som tum (green papaya salad). Both of us even complained that the som tum was lousy. Little that we knew, it was just mango salad, which was supposed to be eaten with the fish. LOL!

Anyway, I still have some food photos to be shared. I have been taking a lot of photos, including animals, kids, truck accessories, but then, food photos are getting lesser these days. I should start taking more.

Farming..

noreply@blogger.com (shoppingmum) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 21:49:41 PDT

Gosh, I slept so late for 2 nights, my dark circles eyes are getting worse now! I'm not busy working or anything but busy playing games. :P But then again, it's only for the past 2 days as I was too busy renovating the farm. Yeap, it's just a stupid farming game, but I think a lot of virtual farmers are hooked. :P

Anyway, hubby is coming back tomorrow, and I hope that we will be going to some place nice for meals. I haven't snapped any food photo lately, and that explained the lack of updates here. I'm so lazy... :P

Colorful Thai Snack

noreply@blogger.com (shoppingmum) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 23:34:48 PDT

I snapped a photo of this colorful Thai snack at Khlong Suan Old Market the other day. It was nothing new to me, but I haven't snapped a photo of it before. I have only tasted it once, and I don't like it. LOL! My kids didn't quite like the taste also, as there is bean paste in it, but the colors are very attractive.

I have no idea what this is called in Thai, but you may easily find this snack at supermarkets or local stalls.

BTW, there are more photos at my travel blog if you are interested to know more about Khlong Suan. This market is 100 years old, so it has a lot of antics to offer. Even the tables and stools smell like the wooden classroom furniture at my primary school. I don't know about you, but I can still remember how my classroom used to smell like. LOL!

Short Trip

noreply@blogger.com (shoppingmum) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 03:34:37 PDT

I've planned a short trip for my family in November, and all of us are looking forward to it. It's just a trip to a nearby island, and since it's planned with a tight budget, I can't expect too much luxury in it. :P

I would hope to have a romantic cancun vacation one day, and if possible, I just want hubby to come along with me. I know that it's a selfish demand, but we haven't had a nice trip together for so long! Nonetheless, our kids can tug along with us can enjoy the kids club too, but the whole vacation will be totally different. :P

Anyway, a family vacation is still a must. But I sure hope that we have the time and budget for a yearly romantic vacation too!

Typical Thai Food

noreply@blogger.com (shoppingmum) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 21:09:53 PDT

We made a trip to Pattaya 2 weeks ago, and we dropped by Pattaya Floating Market for lunch.

You can choose to dine on the floor, by buying the Thai food from the boats.

For me, I prefer to sit and enjoy my lunch, so we chose the Thai food stalls on the platform.

We took our lunch here.

The song tam (Thai papaya salad) stall.

Some of my friends are interested to see the typical Thai dishes, so I decided to post a few photos of what we would normally order at Thai restaurants or Thai food stalls.

Grilled chicken

Song Tam (papaya salad)

Deep Fried Salty Chicken for my kids.

Prawns and Asparagus. We didn't order spicy veggie because our kids can't take spicy food.

Thai people like raw veggie.

It takes my kids a few months to get used to Thai food, and right now, they have accepted a few Thai dishes, especially those fried food and non-spicy ones. It took more than cross country moving companies to move and stay in a foreign land, and learning about new culture and new food is part of our early days in Bangkok. After a year, we can finally call Bangkok our new home. :)

Thai Tomyam Nam Sai

noreply@blogger.com (shoppingmum) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 22:58:05 PDT

Interested to know how Thai tomyam nam sai is prepared traditionally? It's the type of tomyam with clear soup, without chili paste (nam prik). But then, the taste is still sour and spicy with lots of Thai herbs used.

I blogged about it at my bento blog, so hop over if you are interested to see the details on how to prepare Thai tomyam nam sai. But then, it's not a full recipe but more like details and photos of the cooking procedure. The best thing is, it was prepared at our office without messing up our area rugs. Check it out ya?

A Quick Dinner and Hayoi

noreply@blogger.com (shoppingmum) — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 20:09:50 PDT

We dropped by Hayoi for a quick dinner that day as we were rushing for movie. My kids love Japanese food, but personally, I don't think Hayoi is the right place for one, even if it's quite affordable.

My gal and I shared the unagi. She loves fish.

Sushi for my boy.

Hubby likes Japanese curry rice. But to me, curry has to to be Indian or Malay style. :P

I don't like the gyoza as the filling is not full enough to my liking.

But the best thing is, it's a fast food chain store for Japanese food. I'm not sure how the kitchen works as once the order is made, maybe there is an inventory software to monitor the order placement and the meal is served within a few minutes so if you are in a hurry, like us, Hayoi might be the place for you.

Khao Pad Ka Pao Moo

noreply@blogger.com (shoppingmum) — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 22:06:54 PDT

I like Thai food, but I prefer other cuisine now when we are eating out. Nonetheless, there's something I have always ordered for lunch, if I'm too lazy to eat out.

I bet any expats in Thailand, or those who come here on travel deals for holiday, would know about this typical Thai dish called pak ka pao moo. It's fried minced pork with basil leaf, and it's spicy. Normally, it comes with rice and a fried egg, and I love it!

I cook this dish at home too, but quite seldom as it's a spicy dish and only hubby and I can take it. So, I would normally order this for lunch and get it sent over to my office.

Talking about that, I'm hungry now, so I might order this later. LOL!

Nasi Lemak

noreply@blogger.com (shoppingmum) — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 21:13:00 PDT

I love nasi lemak. When I was in Malaysia, nasi lemak was something I would have weekly, and I had so much craving for it when I was pregnant. But then, my tummy can't really take coconut milk rice and I will have tummy cramp each time I take it. Not to mention, frequent run to the loo is pretty common after a plate of nasi lemak too. :P That's why I might be able to replace some weight loss supplements with just a plate of nasi lemak! LOL! But then, it's totally high in calorie, so if you are trying to lose weight, stay away from it!

Spaghetti Factory Italian Restaurant

noreply@blogger.com (shoppingmum) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 19:51:07 PDT

We went for Italian food the other day at Spaghetti Factory, which is located in Ratchadaphisek. It's just a small outlet in Robinson, and we were there to have lunch with my distant uncle who works in Bangkok. It's a nice lunch since my kids love spaghetti, and hubby likes Italian pizza.

I prefer my kids to have Carbonara for their pasta, instead of Bolognese so that they won't mess up their clothes. :P

Here's my seafood spaghetti. It's spicy, so I quite like it.

Hubby's pizza, which I can't remember which flavor it was.

Fried oyster, and this is good! Watch out that green sauce as it's wasabi!

The only thing I don't like about this place is, my uncle orders were not delivered as they were not available, and the waitress only told us after some time. Gee...my poor uncle had to share his lunch with us. :P

Less on Dining Out

noreply@blogger.com (shoppingmum) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 08:42:13 PDT

We ate out during the weekend and I noticed that most of the restaurants were not as crowded as before. There were patrons, but the empty tables were more obvious these days, as comparing to the days when we had to queue for a table. Some restaurants are still doing well, but I guess a lot have been affected.

A lot of families prefer to eat in to save up, and we are doing so as well. I would rather spend my money wisely, or maybe investing in rare coin than just go for fancy dinners now. Unless it's a special occasion, I would rather spend less on dining out.

Back to Routine

noreply@blogger.com (shoppingmum) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 22:19:16 PDT

I was pretty busy the past few days, but I'm glad that everything is fine now and our lives have gone back to routine. Taking care of my kids can be very taxing, but I should not complain much as they are perfectly healthy kids, and that's what I've prayed for all this time.

Life would be much tougher for those who are less fortunate or disabled, so we should be grateful for what we have. BTW, if you are looking for disability insurance, check out Allsup, which is a leading financial and health care for people with disabilities. Maybe they can provide some help.

More Home Cooking

noreply@blogger.com (shoppingmum) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 04:35:19 PDT

I hardly update this blog because I don't snap a lot of photos when we eat out, and most of the time, the Thai dishes are pretty much the same. Hubby is not so adventurous in looking for new places to dine, and I'm relying on him to be our chauffeur! If he's not willing to drive us around in city, I can't check out those nice restaurants which I found online.

On top of that, I cook on most days of the week and we don't eat out as much as we did as comparing to the days we were in Malaysia. Nonetheless, I enjoy cooking, and I've learned so much from recipe books as well as some great recipe blogs.

Even if blogs are a good read, but personally, I like to have a few good recipe books in hand. It's more convenient to refer to the books in my kitchen, if I ever need some reference. That's why I always check out the recipe section at Book Shop and see if I can find a few good ones. I wonder if I should get a copy of the big fat duck cookbook? I'm curious on how does a bowl of snail porridge taste like! It would be great to own a book by a famous chef!

Eating Junks

noreply@blogger.com (shoppingmum) — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 01:34:04 PDT

I'm not a big fan of junk food, but I will take some when I'm bored. When my kids were having fun at Funarium, hubby and I didn't have much to do as we didn't bring along our laptops and PDAs, and our kids preferred to play with their new friends. Thus, I was so bored, I ordered myself a plate of fries.

The fries were nice, but I felt all guilty eating them. LOL! I could feel myself putting on weight just by munching on the yummy oily fries!

So, the moral of the story is, don't just get your mouth busy when you are bored. It won't do your body any good!