HAPPY NEW YEAR 2013

I guess a post to welcome the New Year of 2013 is always a  good thing. 2012 has been an interesting year, seeing my food blog finally pick up in viewership and at the same time, me enjoying the photography and eating even more as ever. Thus, this is just a simple post, keep eating, keep photographing, but most importantly, stay healthy as without good health, you won't be able to savor anything thats good! Have a great holiday and lets start the new year!

I'm keeping an eye on you! Watch what you eat, and always eat in moderation!

Steamed Big Head River Fish, Guangzhou Food Series 2012

As the title of this post suggests, this is about steamed fish head. And I have to say, in Guangzhou, someplace, they really serve some really huge steamed fish heads. This is supposedly called Big Head Fish in Guangzhou and its a fresh water fish. The fish comes split in the middle to allow it to steam properly and its laden with lots of chilli, garlic, vinegar, oil an preserved black beans. 

This is really a dish for for fish lovers as there is some fishy taste to the fish since it is a river fish and just look at the sauce which is more like chili oil on its own. The way its eaten is with some noodles where you dip the noodles in the oil and then grab some fish pieces at the same time. Since I love fish, I enjoyed this alot. The fish head is big and has lots of meat especially the juicy cheeks, eye socket and lips of course. The amount of collagen you get and the smoothness is so nice. Do give this a try, just ask for steam fish head and most likely this is how they will steam it for you!

Aussie Tucker Semi Buffet January 2013 Promotion ~ Swez Brasserie

Well its the end of the year of 2012 and the New Year is upon us already. With January just a few days away, Swez Brasserie located at Eastin Hotel Penang is bringing a twist to their monthly special. The theme for January 2013 will be Aussie Tucker where one will get to savor some Australian favorites. Actually at first I was expecting a meat fest but was thoroughly surprise by the amount of seafood that was featured and then it reminded me that Australia also has lots of seafood offering and I'm happy to see that there is lots available to try for their Aussie Tucker theme.

So without ado, do have a look at some of the specials for this January theme and as always, these are in addition to their standard buffet lines ya!

The chefs presenting their creations for Aussie Tucker!

Japanese Food in Guangzhou China

Right outside the Holiday Inn Hotel, there is a Japanese restaurant/cafe that opens pretty late. We had a beer and some light snacks on one of the days where we managed to return to the hotel before midnight. The place had a cozy atmosphere and really look like one of those smallish Japanese places which you always see in movies! Overall pretty decent but the downside is that they only accept cash and no credit cards.

Cheers. Draft Kerin beer!

Just look at the assortment of drinks they had over at the bar

Food of Guangzhou, China 2012

During my recent trip to Guangzhou, even though I did not get lots of great food but I still had some. This post is dedicated to all the meals which I had in the factory office. Because the location of the factory is quite far from shops, thus everyday, they will order meals and have it delivered to the office. I was surprise by the quality thus it was not too bad, until you start eating the same items for lunch and dinner for a whole week!

But anyway, do have a look of my "office meals"!

Images of Guangzhou, China, 2012

Well, a couple of weeks back at the start of December of 2012, I needed to make a trip to Guangzhou, which was a place which I have heard of before but never been to. This is my second trip to China, and its also my longest trip there as well. This post will just have pictures which I managed to snap at when I was there, and does not include food which I will post in another posting on my blog. Well, enjoy some snaps of Guangzhou, the place where I could still survive as they do speak or understand Cantonese!

So do hope you enjoy the pictures from my collection.

View from the 22 floor room of my hotel. 

 Close up of the buildings. Its really a mix of new and old in Guangzhou, but nothing that is like historic old

Gartien Pineapple Cake ~ Penang

Located in the heart of Georgetown, Gartien has sprung up in an old refurbished shophouse at 68 Lorong Macalister( UPDATE : It is now located at 380 Penang Road) which is right opposite Komtar and easily accessible via Jalan Burma. So what exactly is Gartien about? Well, its started by a young chap who has a love for good food and he came up with his own recipe for a pineapple cake. Yes, compared to the typical pineapple tarts which are so common, he went a step further to instead incorporate a pastry shell for the delicious pineapples that is what Gartien is about.

They source for their own pineapples from the local pineapple farm located on the mainland at Nibong Tebal and this ensures fresh and a constant supply of ripe and delicious pineapples. Everything here is natural and the filling in this pineapple cake is 100% pineapple that has been purposely cut into bite size chunks rather than mashed pineapple. This is so that every bite will ensure that you get a mouthful of zesty pineapple. The pastry is also very light and has a smooth buttery taste to it which helps to balances out the pineapple. They recommend to serve their cakes with some nice Chinese tea and it really helps to bring the satisfaction to another level. I'm really happy to know that modern Penang is still innovating and there are individuals who continues to bring their creations for all to savour. Do drop by their shop or you can even order it via their website at www.gartien.com  

This is the exquisitely packed Gartien Pineapple Cake. It comes in a box of 10 and each cake is individually packed. They only use all natural ingredients thus the cake can only keep for about 1 month in the packaging.

Restoran Nelayan Kuala Juru

Initially, my family and I wanted to have Mee Udang for our lunch but when we arrived at the place at Juru's old fishing village, the shop mentioned that they only start at 3pm, thus we drove further in towards the jetty area. And luckily, as we were already hungry, there was a local restaurant called Restoran Nelayan Kuala Juru which was opened. It was pretty empty when we entered and we were the only table having our lunch there but they do have quite a number of seats.

As I scanned the menu, we decided to have rice and ordered a couple of simple dishes which are not too spicy as my daughter can't take too spicy food. One item I did noticed that they had were ample baskets of very fresh cockles! Wish we ordered it but as my wife mentioned, try not to eat too much seafood ya!

Do read on, or just enjoy the pictures.

Nice and fresh looking cockles which are harvested from the waters near here. They have a machine right next door which is used to sort cockles

Their large signboard. They are about the last building at the end of the road so its pretty hard to miss