Bersih 3.0 had been a historical event as Malaysians from different social strata, religious beliefs, and ethnic background, gathered together to protest against an unfair election system which serves to protect the ruling coalition’s seats in the government. Not only were the demonstrations held in Malaysia, there were at least 11 other locations around world where Malaysians gathered together to speak their minds.  The Malaysian citizens or the rakyat are tired of the ongoing corruption festering in the ruling coalition. Barisan Nasional has been in power since Malaysia broke away from British rule in 1957.

While Malaysia has climbed up the economic ladder since gaining independence, increasing levels of corruption and selfish pursuits of the ruling coalition as years passed has plateaued Malaysia’s growth and kept this country, rich in talent and natural resources from truly becoming an economic powerhouse. The rakyat is tired of the large misappropriation of public funds, lack of transparency in the nation’s management, poor administration of the country, and the thug behavior of those in power. The ruling coalition had forgotten to whom they are working for. Corruption at the top only breeds more corruption down the line.

I had driven down to the city and parked a few kilometers from Merdeka Square. Arriving about 11am, there were already many Malaysians walking from different directions carrying banners and flags, and wearing yellow or green clothing. Many shops remained open for business. Some had their shutters partially rolled down for quick closure. I dropped by an eatery for a quick lunch where I met a Vietnamese tourist who had arrived the night before and wasn’t aware of the impending street demonstration. She had planned to walk down with her husband to Merdeka Square to visit a church later in the day. I suggested she visit alternative venues just for today.

There were 6 meeting points designated around the city for demonstrators to meet and rally down the streets towards the square. All Bersih gatherings are meant to be peaceful demonstrations however the ruling coalition would always denounced the movement and deprived them of their chosen venues even though the right for public assembly and to demonstrate is within the Malaysian constitution and are part of the fundamentals of democracy. If the ruling government is fair, just and orderly, they should not be afraid of a peaceful public demonstration by the citizens to voice their minds. Police and Federal Reserve Units (FRU) should only be around to keep order and prevent riots from taking place.

Bersih 3.0 had been denied entry into Merdeka Square even with early applications made to respective public administrations. Can you imagine Malaysia citizens being denied from entering a national heritage for whom parents and ancestors were commemorated for defending, fighting and building the country. Can you imagine razor barb wires, steel barricades were put up at all entry points to keep all of us away from a patch of green lawn. Police and FRU forces had locked down the square and stood staring out at the rakyat. All this blockade paid for with public funds.

These ladies were ready for action

Environmentally concerned citizens ensuring the Bersih would be a really clean demonstration

Several choppers circled the skies around the Merdeka Square the whole day

A sea of Bersih demonstrators at one entrance to the Square.

Many got dressed up for the occasion

Intimidating looking riot police locked down another road entry

A breach of the barricades at about 3.30pm initiated a response by the riot control authorities to use water cannons and tear gas to disperse crowds. Whether the breach was planned by some sects of Bersih or instigated by agent provocateurs linked to the ruling coalition cannot be ascertained. Earlier I had noticed a gentleman attempting to draw demonstrators closer to the barricades. When many around ignored him, he began targeting the youths with the same rhetoric speech to bring more people to the front. I left the area soon after.

Responsible demonstrators helped each other by offering salt to ease the effects of tear gas.

Bersih 3.0’s peaceful sit-down rally had been scheduled between 2-4pm. I kept to this schedule and so did many other law abiding and good willed Malaysians who came out with friends, families and strangers on the streets to display their discontentment with the government. The rakyat gathered together chanting slogans and singing patriotic songs. I came to observe and to be a part of the citizens wanting a reform in the election system and country management. Many others present probably had the same goals.

More images…

Gerard Bertrand was born and raised in the South of France. Making wine with his father, Georges, since the age of 10, Gerard Bertrand offers the full range and diversity of wines from the region – red, white, rose, varietal, appellation, estate, still, sparkling, and also dessert wines.

the Gerard Bertrand wines

Nestled in a bowl in the hills is Chateau L’Hospitalet, the HQ of Gerard Bertrand. Gerard is something of a phenomenon in the south of France. A local boy made good, he first hit the headlines as a professional rugby player for Stade Francais and the French national team. Whilst still playing, he inherited the family’s wine business and has gradually built it up, acquiring vineyards and estates across the Languedoc. The jewel in the crown is L’Hospitalet, which he bought in 2002.

a short introduction to the wines, then dinner is served

The estate is surrounded by 52ha of vines but in addition to a fully functioning winery it also comprises a hotel, restaurant, conference center and public cellar door. Incredibly, it is the third most visited tourist attraction in the region, losing out only to the old city in Carcasonne and an African themed safari park!

the buffet spread and wines are nicely laid out at the conservatory of Le Meridien KL

What is even more incredible is that despite the size of the business and the obvious commercial push, the wines are outstanding. Not many wineries manage to combine quality and quantity, balancing the volume demands of the market with the desire to make brilliant wines that genuinely reflect their terroir. Bertrand and his team deserve a lot of praise for doing just that.

Of the wines we tried that night, my favourites were the Viognier L’Hospitalet 2009 – Rich, peachy nose with bags of flavour. Hints of spice and refreshing acidity. A ripe, summery wine. Easy to drink and chill out to, with your mates. I also liked the Gerard Bertrand Reserve Spéciale Carignan Vieilles Vignes 2009 - This red had a highly perfumed nose with ripe, dark berry fruit and sweet spice notes. Rich, full bodied and a well balanced wine, this red is acidic and full of supple tannins. Maybe I am biased because it went great with dinner!

the live pasta counter that I can never resist.. 

the super addictive carbonara!

great wine pairing for the night.. ciki approves! (photo credit : kyspeaks)

a great selection of starters – I never, ever pass on oysters! 

Enter the heavier mains and red meats that are my choice for dinner.. that and pasta!

All in all, a great night out! Don’t mind stocking up the wine cellar, on the Bertrands for the next couple of months!

I am familiar with the Yamagoya ramen which has more than 100 over outlets in Japan, and now, this ramen joint has come to Kuala Lumpur. The ramen, that is served to you piping hot in a bowl, is actually freshly handmade here – right at the front of the shop to be precise. Apparently the pork bone stock that makes the base of their ramen broth is flown in from Japan. Yamagoya also has a presence in Thailand & Indonesia, and with such titillating words such as “freshly made” and “flown in broth stock”, used to describe the ramen joint, we really needed to check out this place a.s.a.p.

For some serious noodle eaters both here and especially in Japan, ramen noodles are a religion. They worship at the altar of firm noodles made in-house, intensely flavorful broth, and the porkiest of pork slices.

Mukashi Ramen

Because I know it’s not politically or culinarily correct to anoint ramen noodles not made in the restaurant they’re served in, I was rather please to hear that Yamagoya makes their own ramen. So, had I finally stumbled upon “the” ramen shop of all time.. serving noodles made in-house, and served in an unctuous broth along with slippery cuts of succulent porky pork?

The specialty here at Yamagoya Ramen is the Mukashi Ramen. Priced at RM24 per bowl, the murky broth of ramen contains cha-siu, soft boiled marinated eggs, seaweed, spring onions, wood ear fungus & bamboo shoots in tonkotsu broth. The light-brown broth, speckled with fat droplets, was indeed inviting. It was nutty, complex, and pretty satisfying, its flavor enhanced by the slices of tender, fat riddled pig. My only complaint was that they somewhat overcooked my noodles. My mistake for not telling them I wanted it al dente. I was pleased to find a red plastic grinder containing toasted sesame seeds at the table. These are meant to be ground on top of your soup. This condiment exponentially raised the nuttiness of the bowl of ramen – something I find rather addictive in a hearty bowl of ramen. Whilst the broth was good, there was something missing in my tonkatsu ramen.. that ‘wow’ factor, for a lack of a better word. It was perhaps not the greatest bowl of noodles in broth I have ever had, but it was not the worst either.

slurp it with great gusto to show your appreciation

Miso Ramen

This is the Miso Ramen. Priced also at RM24, this bowl was a bit of a let down.The miso ramen broth had a monochromatic flavour, was slightly spicy and came with char siu, bamboo shoots, wood ear fungus, beansprouts and spring onions.  The stock was terribly salty and whilst the tasty cha-siu managed to save the bowl from slipping into the abyss of despair, the saltiness of the miso soup obliterated most of the other flavours in the bowl. I would not recommend this to you but go for the Mukashi Ramen instead.

A fatty sliver of cha-siu.. saving grace in this overly salty bowl of ramen

gyoza – japanese  thin-skinned dumplings filled with pork meat and vegetables.. again not bad, but not really memorable

So how, you might ask, do we award points for a bowl of ramen. Well, it’s not rocket science really – here’s a simple scale I like to follow:

1. The Noodles (10 points, 10 being tops and 1 being lousy): They should be springy and flavorful, with a bounce rather than the bite you’d look for in an Italian pasta. They should be smooth and slick for slurping up, but never starchy or slimy.

2. The Broth (10 points): I generally like to go for the tonkotsu, a pork bones-based broth. When unavailable, I opted for the simpler salt-based option (shio). In all cases, the broths should be top notch in the style they represent. Tonkotsu broth should be rich, creamy, and opaque with an intensely porky flavor. The top surface should glisten with droplets of pork fat. The stock should not be overly salty but rich and flavourful.

3. The Toppings (10 points): The classic version is served with thinly sliced chasiu(Japanese barbecued pork), pickled bamboo shoots,  seaweed, slivers of wood ear fungus/mushroom, onsen tamago or soft boiled marinated eggs, and plenty of scallions. The flavor and succulence of the pork, the freshness and quality of the ingredients, and their contribution to the broth.. all play a part.

Take the 30 maximum points and divide it by 3. You will get your scale from 1-10. 1 being lousy and 10 being terrific!

So in conclusion and to be fair, the tonkatsu ramen at Yamagoya is pretty decent. Perhaps not the greatest bowl of noodles in broth I have ever had, but it was not the worst either. I would rate it somewhere in between  a 3-4, I would imagine, the best still being something I experienced, once upon a time, in a nameless stall one blustery winter’s night, on the streets of Tokyo.

If you are not familiar with the traditional Malay homes then you will be surprised to see that they are built on stilts and that they have a flight of stairs leading to the main hall. Songket is of course a more modern version of this Malay house, and whilst it is pretty traditional looking on the outside, there are no stilts. The proper Malay etiquette is that you are required to take off your shoes and clean your feet at the entrance, before entering the house.

Malay meals are not served in courses, rather, all food are presented at the same time. The staple is always rice, and then there will be a host of other dishes that go with the rice. Dishes with kuah (gravy) will have a spoon for your to scoop the sauce, but for dry dishes, you simply break away a piece of the food with your right hand from a communal dish, and proceed to eat with your hands.

In the traditional Malay set up, you sit on the floor to eat. The way men and women sit are notably different also. Men crisscross their feet in front of them - bersila. Women fold both their feet on one side - bersimpuh, and normally on their right side.

Well, luckily for us, Songket is a traditional Malay restaurant but with modern dining practices. We get to keep our shoes on, sit at a table and eat with cutlery and not our hands.

Looking around the place, with almost 80% of the clients being foreigners, you can tell that Songket’s positioning –  introducing Malay food and culture  to tourist, has rather hit the nail on the head. When we arrive, the place is packed to the rafters with Mat Sallehs/Ang-Mo (foreigners) , attending what looks to be a wedding celebration.

Here at Songket, their speciality is the rusuk panggang (roast beef ribs) but unfortunately, Head chef Mohd Zamri Jemintan was fresh out of rusuk, and I suspect the large wedding group had something to do with it. Apparently the Chef only uses chilled beef imported either from Australia or New Zealand for the dish and the meat is cooked for two hours until it becomes tender.. sigh.. too bad we missed it. To appease our growling stomachs, the Chef produced Lamb instead – not bad but the meat could have been more tender. Certain portions were hard. The Lamb marinade had an Asian spice and flavour to it. Some pretty tasty Malay rempah was employed in the seasoning of its meat, and the lamb hardly needed any sauce to enhance its flavour, though the dish came with peanut sauce.

chargrilled lamb

Head chef Mohd Zamri Jemintan 

Among the must-try appetisers include the begedil/bergedil (potato and meat cutlets), cucur udang (prawn fritters), popiah goreng (spring rolls) and the kepak ayam (chicken wings). Of these, I liked the chicken wings best but the portions were really tiny. As for the main course, the ayam masak lemak (chicken and nangka hearts, cooked in a rich coconut curry) , the Kerabu Pucuk Paku Pakis (Wild Fern Shoots Salad) and the Kerabu Mangga (Mango salad) were my favourites. I could have just eaten this with tons of rice and called it a night. Some of the unusual highlights of this restaurant include interesting desserts such as the tiramisu made with durian,  and a pandan pudding. The pandan pudding had a thick and rich consistency to it – drenched in gula melaka and coconut santan, I found this dessert rather delicious.

begedil – is a deep fried minced meat and potato cutlet. It contains sauteed onions, ginger, cloves, star anise, cinnamon stick. These are rolled into balls and flattened slightly. The the potato meat balls are dipped into an egg mixture and coated well before frying.

Bergedil is also an essential component in soto ayam and served as an accompaniment or a topping, together with cucumber, bean sprout and a few other garnishes. It can also be a delicious snack, when eaten on its own as an appetizer, like here at Songket.

cucur udang (prawn fritters), spring roll, chicken wings and tauhu sumbat (tofu with stuffed vegetables)

Ladies fingers, Prawns and seafood curry

ayam masak lemak (chicken and nangka hearts, cooked in a rich coconut curry)

Kerabu Mangga (Mango salad)

Kerabu Pucuk Paku Pakis (Wild Fern Shoots Salad)

nasi .. the all essential RICE!

Ikan Bakar kuah percik (Grilled fish with spiced coconut gravy)

Here is the rather unusual durian tiramisu (which I don’t eat!) and also the best dessert that night was the pandan pudding (green – in the background)

Entertainment in the form of some cultural performances were really entertaining for the foreigners. These cultural performances are held from Mondays to Saturdays and include ethnic dances. Songket celebrates its 1st Anniversary this month. In conjuction with the celebration, Songket restaurant is holding it’s “Signature Delights” promotion from the 15th of March – 15th of May 2012. For RM80++ nett per person (min 2 pax), customers will get to enjoy all the Songket signature dishes plus dessert and also a signature mocktail. Sampling portions will be served so that customers do not need to commit to a full dinner portion.

cultural performances start at around 9pm onwards

The restaurant is open for dinner every day from 5pm onwards.

For details, visit www.songketrestaurant.com

Chef Debbie Teoh

This year, she is back at Parkroyal Hotel Kuala Lumpur with her newest promotion entitled “A Touch of Nyonya Influence”. Chef Debbie Teoh, will be cooking up a storm between the 11 May till 10 June 2012. You can check it out as she prepares her signature Nyonya dishes at Chatz Brasserie through lavish buffets, cooking demonstrations and interactive cooking classes for fathers and kids.

Lemak Nenas Ikan Sepat - this rich and creamy curry has nice, thick cuts of juicy pineapples in it. The Nyonya practice is to add some special Salted fish to it that cuts through the richness of the coconut curry and gives the dish added kick

With more than 15 years of experience in the food industry, Chef Debbie Teoh is a true-bred Nyonya who hails from Malacca. Her father is a Baba from Malacca, and her mother is a Nyonya from Penang. It is no surprise as to how her forte in Nyonya cuisine for both Southern and Northern Nyonya styles came about. She also has vast experience in Thai, Vietnamese, Indonesian and Western cuisine for both cooking and baking. Adding to that, with both sides of her family being inspiring cooks, this is where Chef Debbie obtained her skills in the culinary profession.

Speaking to Debbie, she tells us this.. ” I grew up in Malacca where I felt like I was the little ugly duckling or black sheep due to the fact that I could not speak any Chinese dialects such as Mandarin especially. Back then, in Malacca, most Chinese people spoke Mandarin, but since I went to a Convent school that was run by Sisters, we spoke English and Bahasa only. I went for Chinese Mandarin classes but we didn’t speak the lingo at home or use it. Whenever we went to shops or stalls, people would scold me or say things like “you are OCBC -orang cina bukan cina” (translation -looks chinese but not chinese!) As a result, I preferred to hang out with mostly Malay kids or Peranakan kids. My maternal Grandma was from a rich family in Penang and she could speak perfect English, read widely, played the piano and smoked – not a norm for ladies during her era. She always had a maid and wore the kebaya with a sanggul(hair accessory) that tied up her hair. She gave up her sanggul the moment she had a stroke which made her hand weak and unable to tie up her hair. She was strict on all of us but never made us cook as we had nannies to do it for us. English was the medium of communication for us and some hokkien.”

Nasi Ulam

Going deeper into her background she reveals, “My paternal Grandma passed away when my dad was young, so we never knew her but Great Grandma was a Malay lady by the name of Aminah. My paternal grandpa was the headmaster of the Banda Hilir English School [BHES], Master Teoh. He was also a strict person who loved ballroom dancing and playing the violin. He loved dancing so much that he built a dancing hall at the back of his home in Banda Hilir which has since been sold. Peranakan ‘patois’ patua was the medium of communication and English most of the time.”

Terung dengan Sambal Udang Kering (aubergine with dry shrimp sambal)

Debbie tells us how her parents met – “Mom met dad when my maternal grandpa was transferred from Penang to Malacca. Till today, I still feel most at home with the Malay stall vendors as my Hokkien dialect is more Penang style Hokkien. Actually now in KL, there are a lot more Penangnites who operate stalls and this has made the Hokkien dialect easily understood compared to say 20 years ago. So things are getting easier for me”

me and Debbie!

Well not only is Debbie a culinary expert, she is also a foodie, author, food stylist, ambassador for the Nyonya cuisine and culture, and once again, at Chatz Brasserie as its guest chef. Among the numerous cookbooks she has authored are ‘Underwraps’ and ‘Asian Titbits’, ‘Penang Food’ guide and cookbook and ‘Nyonya Flavours’, as well as ‘Authentic Nyonya Tastes’. On a monthly basis, Debbie also contributes to magazines like ‘Oriental Cuisine’ by Nanyang Press and ‘Flavours’ by Star Publications. She is also a Nyonya Food Consultant for Tourism Malaysia.

Ulam Platter – Raw vegetables (mint leaves, cucumbers, four angled beans etc) eaten with a chili sambal

Itek Tim – Savoury duck soup with salted mustard vegetables

Chef Debbie Teoh will present her authentic Nyonya cuisine to guests in buffets starting from the 11th of May for one month. Don’t miss this chance to sample her food. From Monday to Friday, indulge in Nyonya cuisine in Buffet Lunch priced at RM62++ per person while Buffet Dinners are also available everyday at RM82++ per person. On weekends you may choose to check out the Nyonya Weekend Hi-Tea priced at RM59++ per person. Some of Chef Debbie’s dishes that are not to be missed during this promotion are ‘Ayam Buah Keluak’, ‘Hu Pio Soup’ and ‘Lemak Udang Nenas’. Her ‘Roti Ayam’ is also a must try!

Ayam Buah Keluak (chicken with keluak)

chunky seafood otak-otak with fish fillet, prawns and squid

Gulai Tumis Ikan Pari (Sting ray)

For Mother’s Day on the 13th of May, there will be a Mother’s Day Brunch priced at RM68++ per adult and RM34++ per child. With an additional RM10, fathers and kids can cook for mothers in a cooking session assisted by Chef Debbie.

Nyonya Kuih

cendol

Guests staying at Parkroyal hotel or Serviced Suites Kuala Lumpur are entitled to a 20% discount off the Nyonya cuisine promotion while senior citizens above the age of 55 enjoy 50% discount off. UOB and CIMB cardmembers enjoy special discounts as well.