Pandan Cake

Pandan Cupcakes

Ingredients
   
   Cake

* 2 cups flour

* 1/2 tbsp baking powder

* 1/4 tsp salt

* 4 eggs

* 1 1/2 cups castor sugar

* 1/2 cup corn oil

* 1/3 cup dessicated coconut

* 1/2 tbsp pandan paste

* 1/8 tsp apple cider vinegar

   Frosting

* 1 1/4 cups (300g) butter 

* 1 1/2 cups icing sugar

* 1/2 tsp salt

* 1/2 tsp pandan paste

Steps

1. Mix flour, baking powder & salt. Beat eggs then add sugar, corn oil, dessicated coconut, pandan paste & apple cider vinegar

2. Combine all. Spoon batter into cups.

3. Bake at 180°C for 20 mins

   Frosting

1. Beat butter & icing sugar.

2. Add pandan paste & salt

3. Frost!

The Shinisé

The Shinisé

62 Lebuh Melayu

Georgetown Penang

Operating Hours

1000 - 2300 daily

Set for Sekeping Penang on your Waze. It's the cafe at the famous minimalist hotel. You might miss it so look out for Ghost Museum opposite the road.

Taste - Okay

Price - Standard for hipster cafe

Ambiance - Rustic and... idk tak-siap kinda vibe but people love that 

Overall 3 <3<3<3 of 5

Cool place to hang out with friends.

Roti Canai

You now know how to make sambal and dhal, what to eat them with?

Why, roti canai of course!

And here's a super easy recipe with instructions.

Roti Canai

Ingredients

* 2 cups wheat flour

* 1/3 tsp salt

* 1/2 cup water

* 1 tbsp margerine/butter

* 1 tbsp condensed milk (susu pekat manis)

Steps

1. Mix flour, salt, planta & water. Add condensed milk.

2. Shape dough into 4 to 6 balls. Daub with planta. Leave 1-2 hours or overnight.

3. Roll out the pastry by hand while daubing more cooking oil. Pull till thin, bunch up into long rope and coil.

4. Flatten with palm & fry in a bit of hot oil.

Black Kettle, Georgetown

Black Kettle

105 Beach Street

Georgetown, Penang

Operating Hours

0830 - 0000 daily

Sparkling Spring Water (RM13) | dunno what coffee | Affogato (RM11)

Taste - Good pasta and ramen but I heard the softshell crab burger was meh. Good coffee and branded tea

Price - Quite high end but pasta dishes SO worth it

Ambiance - Spacious, well-lit restaurants with plenty of tables. Good for smart-casual dinner with friends and loved ones.

Overall 4 <3<3<3<3 of 5

They have dessert too but I've never tried.

Spaghetti, Smoked Duck Breast (RM28)

Ramen with BBQ Boneless Chicken (RM25)

Spaghetti Aglio Olio with Garlic Butter River Prawn (RM38)

Potato Dhal

So I don't eat vegetable and most recipes requires a whole bunch of leaves and pokok in it. A bit of a waste if no one else is eating. Here's the recipe for potato dhal. Not veggie free but not a huge waste either.

Potato Dhal

* 200g kacang dhal (small ones)

* 1/2 stick carrot

* 3 potatoes

* 1/2 tbsp curry powder

* 3 dried chilli

* Salt & Maggi Cukup Rasa

* Halba campur (mixed spices - Fenugreek, mustard, jintan manis & jintan putih)

* 1/2 sweet onion

* 1 stalk curry leaves

* 1 cm ginger

1. Boil overnight-soaked dhal till soft in a pot. Add in curry powder & stir. 

3. Add cubed (and peeled) potatoes & carrot, cook till soft. Add salt to taste.

4. Sauté mixed spices, diced sweet onion, ginger & curry leaves till fragrant. Add into pot.

It's GREAT with sambal. Get the recipe here.

Pi Hotel, Ipoh

Pi Hotel

2 The Host Jalan Veerasamy

Ipoh, Perak

+605 255 2922

Formerly Tune Hotel. Compact, simple rooms.

Booking - Booked online via Agoda.com

Rate - Fair. Two standard queen rooms for 1 night at RM250 

Location - Okay. Within walking distance to the Sunday market (Pasar Karat) and short drive to Ipoh wall art spots.

Dining - Didnt check

Service - Good. Deposit required at check-in. Ample parking spots with helpful security guards

Overall 3 <3<3<3 of 5

I am not sure if I care to stay for more than 2 or 3 nights here but at least the room was clean, bed was comfy and there's window (good natural light). Great choice for a short stay in Ipoh.

Kellie's Castle, Batu Gajah

Kellie's Castle

Operating Hours

Monday - Thursday : 0900 to 1700

Friday - Sunday & Public Holiday : 0900 - 1800

Parking Fee : RM2 per entry

Entrance Fee

Adults : RM5

Children : RM3

double for foreigners or locals without MyKad

Kellie's Castle is in Batu Gajah, Perak about 2 hours drive from Damansara. It's only 20 minutes away from Laksa Telur Goreng Bersarang so that's a good reason to visit if you haven't. 

The castle is incomplete due to the untimely death of the owner. The rest of the family went back home but somehow people allegedly saw their ghosts there even though they were alive and well. 

Is it a scary place? 

Well, it IS an incomplete building.

It was a sunny day and the was a fairly big crowd so avoid weekend or come early in the morning if you want to avoid the crowd.  

Rules

A nice spot for photo ops

The house the Kellies lived in before/while the castle was built

Acrophobic?

View from top

When I read that the river can be seen from the top, I didn't think it was an orange-colour river (-.-')

Good thing the rest of the castle is well-curated. You can explore around and there are plaques explaining things so that's informative, isn't it?

And if you're tired from exploring the castle and rubbles, there is a garden with benches to lepak. 

Should you go? Yeah, at least once and if you have nothing else to do :D

#CNYRoadtrip February 2016

Last February, I went on a roadtrip to Perak. We stayed overnight in Ipoh and visited some places in Ipoh and along the way.

#CNYRoadtrip

8 - 9 February 2016 (Monday & Tuesday)

4 pax

Leaning Tower of Teluk Intan

Monday

0630 - 1000 : Head to Teluk Intan. Breakfast at Medan Selera Menara Condong

Delicious!

1000 - 1100 : Menara Condong Teluk Intan

1100 - 1230 : Kellie's Castle

1230 - 1345 : Head to Ipoh. Lunch @ Laksa Telur Goreng Bersarang, Taman Botani

1400 - 1430 : Check-in @ Hotel Pi

1430 - 1700 : Rest. Free & easy

1700 - 1900 : Wall Mural art hunt, visit Birch Memorial Clock Tower, Concubine Lane & Wall Mural. Fantasy House Trick Art*

2000 - 2100 : Dinner at Woop2Lobster

2100 - 2300 : Gerbang Malam*

Tuesday

0700 - 1000 : Free & easy

1030 - 1100 : Check-out

1100 - 1230 : Lunch @ Restoran Tasik Raban. Head back home.

What we didn't do?

• 1700 - 1900 Wall mural art hunt etc. We overslept and did the tour at night after dinner
• Dinner at that lobster place. It was too packed and so we left and had ikan bakar with tomyam at Restoran D'Taman Sg. Siput
• Gerbang Malam