Eat | Drink | Explore Malaysia Kitchen at Grand Central Terminal

We were super excited when we heard about the Eat | Drink | Explore Malaysia Kitchen event that will be held in Grand Central Station's Vanderbilt Hall. It will be a two day event (Nov 5 & 6, 2010) and it's organized by Malaysia Kitchen for the World. The main purpose of this event is to introduce Malaysia (it's sights, sounds and most importantly, food) to NYC. We missed some of the past events organized by Malaysia Kitchen for the World (Night Market in Chelsea, Night Market under the Manhattan Bridge...etc), but we heard that they were awesome. So, we made sure that we would not miss this event, no matter what.
The event is split into two sessions per day. Lunch starts at 11:30am and it goes on til 2:30pm. The vendors then takes a break and the second session resumes at 4:30pm - 7:00pm for dinner. We arrived at Grand Central Station bright and early on Saturday for lunch. We wanted to get there early to avoid the crowds and stuff. We were glad we did cos by the time we left, the whole hall was just packed to the brim!
This is what part of what the hall looked like. With the bright colored umbrellas and stalls, it somewhat reminded me of the pasar malams (night markets) back home in Malaysia. We were also greeted by lovely smell of freshly cooked Malaysian food...ahhhh pure bliss! :D
As we walked around, we noticed that a lot of the popular Malaysian restaurants in Manhattan as well as Queens and Brooklyn turned up in full force. Among some of the participating restaurants were Bentara, Betel, Cafe Asean, Double Crown, Satay,Taste Good and Spot Dessert Bar. Even the big boys like Nyonya and Laut had stalls set up. This is the best thing ever. We had the chance to actually walk around and compare food from various Malaysian restaurants in the Greater NY area without having to actually travel and visit each one separately.
There are three really popular Malaysian grocery stores in NYC (one in Chinatown and two in Queens). Old Town Asia Market is located in Queens and they too set up stall at the event. They were selling all kinds of Malaysian groceries, from Aik Cheong coffee to various curry mixes. I have extra happy to see my favorite snack on sale....MAMEE!! I am a big fan of MAMEE noodles, I literally grew up eating MAMEE :P It's been a while since I ate a pack of MAMEE, so I just HAD to buy a few packs. I believe they were selling 3 packs for $1. Taking a big bite of MAMEE instantly took me back to my primary school days. I still remember smuggling packets of MAMEE in our uniform pockets and secretly nibbling on it during classes. It was like the coolest thing to do back then.
Apart from stalls selling all kinds of food and groceries, they also had entertainment lined up. There were cooking demonstrations by various chefs and Malaysian personalities. We managed to watch a cooking demonstration by Susheela Rhagavan, the author of the ever popular Flavors of Malaysia cookbook. She also had a book signing session later on that day.
Apart from cooking demonstrations, there were also cultural dance performances by the cultural dance troupe. There were too many people in front of me for me to take any decent pictures of the performance but I managed to slip backstage and took this picture when they were posing for official press photos. I just pretended to be part of the press! :P See, the things I do for this blog.
Alright, now it's time for some food!! We really wanted to sample some of the food from Laut. For those of you who don't know, Laut was recently awarded one Michelin star. It is the first Malaysian restaurant in the whole of US to receive that prestigious award. To receive such a huge culinary honor, they must be really good. So yeah, we were pretty stoked to try their food. They were selling Nasi Lemak that afternoon. We could choose between Chicken Curry ($5), Beef Rendang ($5) or both ($6). We tried both. The Chicken Curry and Beef Rendang came with a serving Nasi Lemak (coconut rice), sambal ikan bilis (anchovies in chili paste) and some cucumber. The Nasi Lemak was rather good but truthfully, it wasn't the best. We tried some of the Nasi Lemak from Nyonya and it was way better than Laut's Nasi Lemak.
We also tried some Mamak Mee ($7) from Satay. The reason why we chose to try the food from Satay was because Satay is located in Flushing, Queens. We wanted to know if the food was good or not. It doesn't make sense for us to go all the way to Flushing to check them out, only to find out that they are not that great. I'm glad that we tried their food. You know why? Well, cos the noodles really wasn't all that great :P LOL! It wasn't bad, but it wasn't the best either. The fried noodles came with some vegetable achat and peanuts.
Apart from all the yummy Malaysian food and entertainment, another good thing about such events is that you get to meet a lot of other Malaysians living in NYC. We managed to make quite a lot of new friends that day. It's always good to meet up with fellow Malaysians, especially when you are so far away from home.
Overall, it was an awesome event! Very well planned out and organized. The best thing that we took away from this event was this booklet. A restaurant guide to all the Malaysian restaurants in the NY tri state area! Not only does it list out the restaurants, complete with address and phone numbers but it also comes with reviews of each of those places. Also, they would point out some of the more popular dishes from each restaurant. I did a quick count and there are over 50 restaurants in the tri state area that serves Malaysian and Malaysian inspired food! Looks like we have to work our way down that list and try to visit each and every one :P So yeah, we had a great time at the 2010 Eat | Drink | Explore Malaysia Kitchen and we will definitely look forward to the next event hosted by Malaysia Kitchen!

Annual Harbor Inspection Dinner Cruise

We were fortunate enough to receive an invitation (Kevin representing APL and I, by default, since I'm his wife :P) from the Sandy Hook Pilots to their Annual Harbor Inspection Dinner Cruise on board Pilot Boat New York. The Harbor Inspection Dinner Cruise is an annual event organized by the Sandy Hook Pilots and it's a much looked forward to event among the people in the maritime industry. Since it's our first time attending this cruise, we really didn't know what to expect. We soon found out that most of the guest were pretty influential people in the maritime industry and have been in this business since forever (we were probably the youngest people on board :P). So, it was quite an honor to be invited for such an event.

We arrived at the Bayonne Passenger Terminal at around 4:30pm. Boarding starts at 4pm and they plan to set sail at 5pm. The security was rather tight. We had to show the security people our IDs and they had to copy down all our information and stuff before letting us into the terminal. This is because officially, you would need a TWIC (Transportation Workers Identification Credential) card before you are allowed inside the port. Since it was a special event, they made an exception (well, Kevin has a TWIC card, so no problems there) and allowed non TWIC card holders (other wives and myself! :P) to enter with just their regular IDs.
While waiting for all the guest to arrive, we helped ourselves to some pre dinner drinks and appetizers on the top deck. There was a rather wide selection of appetizers, from a buffet spread of cold cuts, cheese and breads to a seafood booth with extra large shrimp, clams and other seafood. There were also waiters walking around with trays of hor dourves (crab cakes, rice balls, canapes, meatballs...etc). Yummy stuff! The open bars were also stocked with top shelf liquors. Looks like they are not holding out on anything, nothing but the best :P
We were also told that we have an all access pass to anywhere on the boat. In fact, they encouraged us to explore and walk around. So, we did just that! Kevin took this picture of me from the pilot house. As you can see, we were still docked at that time.
We walked all over the boat, from the pilot house to the lowest deck, from the bow, all the way back to the stern. Here's Kevin checking out one of the rescue boats :P
The first time we went up to the pilot house, it was totally empty. When we realized that they have already pulled away from the dock, we headed up to the pilot house again. This time, we got to see all the radar and other equipment all fired up and also got to watch the crew doing their thing.
Unlike most other commercial harbor cruises, this particular cruise was a little bit different. Most of the tourist/commercial harbor dinner cruises would take you up and down the Hudson and East River, focusing mainly on the NYC skyline, Statue of Liberty and the bridges. This cruise took us around the various container terminals around the New York Harbor first and then it ended with the usual skyline/statue route. It was pretty interesting to see the terminals from a different angle, from the water. We managed to sail by Global, APM, PNCT and Maher Terminals. We also saw NYCT from a distance. Here is a picture of us sailing down Newark Bay, with PNCT Terminal on the right and Maher Terminal on the left.
By then, dinner was being served. So, we headed down below deck with the rest of the guest to the buffet line. Look at all the food! Fillet Mignon, Lamb Chops, Veal, Chicken, Fried Calamari...just to name a few. Yummy! :D
It was such a lovely evening to have dinner out in the open deck. With the beautiful sunset and cool breeze blowing, life couldn't get any better =) Check out the sun setting behind the Bayonne Bridge, with the NYCT Terminal in the background. The sunset was indeed amazing that day.
It started to get more and more chilly as the sun was setting. We decided to head down to the lounge in the lower deck to get some dessert and coffee. There were all kinds of desserts, from cannolis, cookies, cream puffs, danish pastries to brownies and tartlets. However, this cake was the main centerpiece. Check out the highlight of the night. This beautiful cake was made by Carlos, the Cake Boss himself! I was so excited when I found out about the cake. I am a super huge fan of the TV show "Cake Boss" and I have always wanted to try one of his cakes. At last, I had the opportunity to do so. It was a layer of yellow cake and a layer of chocolate cake, with chocolate frosting in the middle. What did it taste like? Well, truthfully...I was pretty disappointed. It was way too sweet and it really wasn't all that good. Oh well, at least it looked nice!
After our dessert, we headed back up to the top deck. I was glad that we did cause we could see that we were already on our way towards Manhattan. We could see the Manhattan skyline in the distance. If you look closely, you can see Lady Liberty on the far left, Jersey City, Lower Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge on the far right.
There were also dancing and live music on the top deck. Since dancing is not really our thing, so we chose to just sit back, relax and just take in the beautiful lights and sights of Lower Manhattan. We took this picture while going up the East River. Part of the Financial District, Pier 16 at the South Street Seaport, the Brooklyn Bridge and the Empire State Building in the background. I can never get tired of the beautiful NYC skyline, no matter how many times I look at it. It's just so beautiful.
It was almost 9:30pm when we arrived back at the Bayonne Passenger Terminal. We had an awesome time on the cruise. The beautiful views, yummy food and most of all, getting the opportunity to meet some very interesting people. What a way to spend such a lovely evening. Now, let's keep our fingers crossed that they invite us again next year!!! :D

9/11 - We remember...

It's been 9 years since that fateful September day. The debris has long been cleared and each time we go into the city, we can see the new WTC slowly rising higher and higher from the ground. However, the memory of that tragedy is still very real in the hearts of many New Yorkers today. Not only did they lose friends, colleagues and loved ones, but for a moment, in that moment of helplessness, as they watched those towers come down, it also felt as though they had lost their freedom. We took this photograph from our living room window a few hours ago. The two blue lights, shot up from Ground Zero, is a grim reminder of where those two towers once stood. Even though we were not living in NYC during the time of the attack, we feel that we are very much a part of this amazing city today. Therefore, we just want to say that we too feel your pain and yes, we remember...

Tribeca Film Festival Family St. Fair (Part II)

From Washington Market Park, we walked over to Duane St to check out the Tribeca ESPN Sports Film Festival section of the fair. The guys from the American Express Guest Information booth told us that we should totally check out the Dave Voelker BMX Stunt Show that will be starting soon, so we hurried over there to check it out.

The Tribeca ESPN Sports Film Festival section must be one of the more popular sections at the fair. All of the major NY/NJ pro sports teams had booths with all kinds of games, sports clinics, celebrity appearances as well as meet the fans sessions. Among some of the big names represented were the NY Giants, NY Jets, NY Knicks, NY Rangers, NY Red Bulls, Brooklyn Cyclones and of course, the boys from our neighborhood, the Newark Bears :P

When we arrived, we realized that we were a little bit early and the BMX show has yet to begin. In fact, they were just starting to set up. So, we decided to walk around to check out the booths first. This is a cute little play section sponsored by ESPN. There were all kinds of bouncy balls in all sizes as well as hula hoops for the kids to play with. Oh how I wished I was still a kid. Looks like they were all having such a great time, just bouncing around!

The folks from the NY Knicks booth were having some sort of hoops shooting competition for kids and the winners walked away with some cool NY Knicks merchandise. Nice! Apart from having competitions, they also had quite a few hands on basketball clinics by basketball pros through out the day.

A large crowd was gathering at the NY Knicks booth and we were wondered what was going on. So, we made our way over there to check out the scene. Looks like the Knicks City Dancers were giving out autographs and having a meet and greet session with their fans. Geeezzz...all this commotion just to get autographs from a bunch of cheerleaders??? I wonder what will happen when the real basketball pros come out. I bet it will be a mad house!

They also had quite a number of this big bouncy things all over the ESPN sports section. This particular one is sponsored by the NY Jets. It was quite fun to see the kids running and bouncing through the 'big guys', trying to make it to the end zone and go for that touchdown. :D

The NY Rangers also had quite a lot going on at their booth. They too had those big bouncy things and little kids would try and score a goal by hitting an over sized puck into the goal. The bigger kids had a chance to try their hand at box hockey. The first guy to hit the puck into the goal wins. The NY Rangers also set up a street hockey rink where there were clinics as well as competitions through out the day. While we were there, they were just getting ready and suiting up the kids ( I think they should be about 3-4 years old) for a game. We didn't stay for the game though, should have. They were so cute. The goal keeper was so padded up, I didn't think that he could even walk!

Ahhh the NY Red Bulls booth. It's actually quite sad and pathetic to see the lack of interest for the game among Americans. All the other major league booths were filled with people but nobody really cared for the only MLS team that was represented that day. In fact, they didn't even get a spot in the main sports section. They were out over by themselves, outside of the sports section. Hopefully America does well in the upcoming World Cup (actually, maybe not too well. they are in the same grouping as England and I'm an England fan!). Maybe Americans will start to take notice and give soccer a chance if Team USA shines at the World Cup. Who knows. Anyways, from the Tribeca ESPN Sports Film Festival section, we headed off towards Greenwich St (which is the main section of the whole festival). Will blog more about that next!

Tribeca Film Festival Family St. Fair (Part I)

This is a very backdated post. I guess I have been too busy (and somewhat lazy) to go through all the photos that we took and blog about this event. Oh well, like they all say, it's better late than never! The Family Festival Street Fair is one of the highlights of the month long annual Tribeca Film Festival. Many people label it as 'NYCs ultimate street fair and family festival'. So naturally, I was pretty excited about it. Having missed the fair last year, I told myself that I HAVE to check it out this year. Kevin on the other hand wasn't all that keen (he probably didn't know how awesome it will be!) and by the time we actually arrived in Tribeca, it was already almost 2:30pm. So, we had only about 3 and a half hours left to walk around before they wrap up.

Upon arrival, we realized that we forgot to bring along the street map that I had pre printed off the Internet earlier. Since the whole festival spreads over the entire Tribeca neighborhood, with various events happening simultaneously at various locations, I was pretty bummed that we forgot the map. Thankfully, the first booth that we saw when we arrived was the American Express (they were the main sponsor of the festival) Guest Information booth. Not only did we get a map, but the super friendly and informative people at the booth pointed out the highlights of the festival and suggested various things that we could do. Very very cool.

Our first stop was the BMCC & The Park section of the fair. This is where you can catch all kinds of theater, dance, music and martial arts performances. Also, there are all kinds of classes and workshops going on throughout the day. The first thing that we saw when we walked in was the Imagination Playground. It's pretty cool actually. There were over sized building blocks and puzzle pieces scattered all over the enclosed basketball area. Kids were allowed to be creative and build anything they want. Also, since it was in an enclosed area, it was really safe for the kids. Parents can just kick back and not worry about the safety of their kids.

We then headed over to the Tribeca Red Carpet area but nothing much was going on there. I think there were a few wax figures of celebrities from Madame Tussauds and you were allowed to go take a picture with them. We didn't really bother cos the line was just too long. So, we headed to one of the stages and managed to catch a few dance routines by the Knicks City Dancers! For those of you who don't follow the NBA, they are the cheerleaders for the NY Knicks. Kevin thinks that they are probably the second or third liners, cos they were not really that great. We later confirmed that when we saw the first liners signing autographs at the NY Knicks booth over that the ESPN Zone.

From there, we popped over to Washington Market Park to see what's happening over there. Nothing much for us adults, it's mostly activities for kids. While we were there, we managed to catch the tail end of a magic show cum storytelling session at the Park Gazebo. The guy was pretty good and the kids loved him. There were also puppet shows and other performances for kids at the Park Gazebo through out the day.

The whole park was nicely decorated with over sized butterflies and dragonflies. I thought that it was pretty cool. Apart from performances at the Park Gazebo, there were also ample picnic tables under the large shady trees for people to just relax and enjoy the outdoors. There were many families having their picnic lunches all around the park. I'm guessing this festival is an all day affair for most people.

Aren't the flowers just lovely? Yes, it's springtime and tulips are blooming everywhere! I cannot help but take loads of pictures with all the beautiful flowers (I took like tons of pictures but decided spare all you guys and only post up one :P). From Washington Market Park, we decided to head over to the Tribeca Sports Film Festival section. This is where you can meet sports personalities from various NY/NJ pro sport teams as well as try your hand at sport themed games at the booths. You could also catch BMX stunt shows and other performances there. Stay tuned for my next post about the ESPN Tribeca Sports Film Festival section of the fair!

Thanks for all the birthday wishes!

I had a great birthday today. Kevin came home early from work and brought me out for an amazing rodizio dinner. After we got home, we had some yummy birthday cake (which he bought, not made :P). I will blog more about the rodizio dinner in my next post.

Apart from the delicious dinner, birthday cake and the awesome presents that I received, I was also overwhelmed by the amount of emails, e-cards, text messages as well as Facebook shout outs, wishes and personal messages that I got. I think there were close to over 80 messages on Facebook itself. As I read thru the messages (from my family, church friends, primary school friends, high school friends, college friends, uni friends to friends that I only recently met), I am really grateful that I have so many friends and family that loves me. So, from the bottom of my heart, I would like to say 'Thank you'! You guys really made my day! I truly treasure all the friends that I have made in my 31 years of life and the long lasting friendships that have grown over the years. To my family, I would like to thank you for putting up with all my nonsense and for all the love and support you have shown me all these years. May there be many more good years to come! :D

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Thank you for being there whenever we need a helping hand,

Silently listening, sharing words of wisdom, whenever you can,

Thank you for the all laughter, the joy and tears,

Your unconditional love that you have shown us thru the years...

We want to take this opportunity on this very day to say,

That we truly love and appreciate you in every way,

May you receive God's abundant blessings on this special day,

Oh and we also want to wish you....

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

Kevin's Birthday Cake

Today is Kevin's birthday (yes, his birthday is on the 31st and my Dad's is on the 30th). This year, I decided to try something a little different. Instead of going out to buy him a birthday cake, I will make one myself! Now, this can be a little bit tricky, since I have never baked a birthday cake, let alone work with fondant before. However, with some research on the Internet about working with fondant, a trip to Michaels to pick up all the stuff and inspiration from one of my favorite shows, Cake Boss, I started working on the cake 2 days ago.

My cousin (who is a pretty good in baking and stuff) told me that I should make the decorative pieces earlier, to give it enough time to harden. So, I made the ribbon, alphabets and stars two days before. I was a little afraid of working with fondant, but I found it to be pretty fun actually. Feels like playing with Play Doh! :P

The following night, I started to bake the cakes. I just baked some yellow cakes, nothing fancy at all. It turned out pretty good, nice and moist. So phew, that part turned out alright.

After letting it cool for a bit, I then chilled the cakes in the refrigerator overnight.

The following day, I took out the cakes and tried to shape and trim them. I have never done this before but I tried my best to get them as even as possible. It was a lame attempt, in my opinion, but oh well, that's the best I could do :P

Next was frosting the cake. Kevin wanted strawberry frosting, so strawberry frosting he got! No, I didn't make it from scratch. I just bought a tub of ready made whipped strawberry frosting and slapped it on. That was easy. I then proceeded to frost the outside of the cake and then started to work on rolling out of the fondant (to cover the cake). I find this to be the most difficult part. It's not really that easy to roll out the fondant and then to cover the cake with it. At that point, I was already preparing myself to run out to the local bakery to get a backup cake if this doesn't work out :P

Now the decorating. If you noticed, there is no photo in between the initial frosting and the decorating part. That's cause I was trying to get it right with the fondant and stuff, I totally forgot to take pictures! Powdered sugar was flying everywhere...boy, it was chaotic! I love the decorating part the best though, it's fun.

Here it is, the final product!! I guess it isn't the best and might look a little 'amateurish', but I'm just glad it worked out and I didn't have to run out to buy a last minute ready made cake...hahaha! As long as the birthday boy likes it, I'm happy!

Kevin cut his cake at around midnight last night. We will go out later tonight for dinner to celebrate his birthday. Havn't really decided where to yet though. I will blog about that later on. Now, anybody wants a slice of cake? :D

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KEVIN!!!

Happy 60th Birthday, Dad!!

My dad is turning 60 today! Join us as we celebrate six decades of God's faithfulness in my Dad's life. Indeed, God has been good, even right from the very start. I have put together a little photo/video montage of my Dad's life, through the ages. Come along with us as we take a stroll down memory lane. Dad, this is your life!

Once again, we would like to wish my Dad a very

HAPPY 60th BIRTHDAY!!

May He continue to shower your with His blessing for many many more years to come.

Campino Mercado - Ironbound District

This is a really backdated restaurant review. We went to celebrate our anniversary there more than a month ago but since we were really busy trying to get things organized before we left for Malaysia then, I didn't have time to blog about it. I was deliberating if I should even blog about this (since it was so long ago) and came to the conclusion that I should. Why? Wellllll, cos it's a very nice restaurant and the food is just amazing! =D

Campino Mercado is a Portuguese restaurant located in Newark's Ironbound District. For those of you who don't know, the Ironbound District is also sometimes known as "Little Portugal" due to it's large Portuguese community. Naturally, you can find many amazing Portugese restaurants in this area. Campino Mercado is one of the more popular ones due to it's uber yummy food and ambiance. It doesn't look like much on the outside (looks somewhat like somebodys house) but you get transported to a whole new country the moment you step inside. One side of the restaurant reminds me of some marketplace in Europe while the other side looks like you have walked into a Portuguese house. With the low lighting and rustic decor, I would gave them a 10 for ambiance!

It was a pretty huge restaurant but there were only 3 tables (including us) that night. With the other two tables finishing when we were seated, it felt as though we booked the whole restaurant for ourselves! With all the servers old enough to be our grandfathers (seriously, I would say they were no less than 75!), it further adds to the charm of the restaurant. Don't let the age fool you, they were still great at their job and really friendly. After we placed our orders, they brought out some really good freshly baked buns, olives and some olive oil. I enjoyed the buns and olive oil so much, they were so gooood! Kevin on the other hand loved the olives, boy, he polished the whole dish of olives off by himself!!

To start off our meal, we shared the Stuffed Mushrooms with Cream Cheese & Crab ($9.50). I would definitely recommend this to everyone. The cream cheese and crab combo was out of this world! Not only that, but the broth that it came with was sooo thick and sweet (probably from all the crab). It was so good, we would have been happy just to dip the buns in it and make it our meal! :P

For our mains, Kevin ordered the Sirloin Steak with Collard Greens ($16). It came with a side of Potato Wedges. The steak was really well marinated and cooked to perfection. He didn't really like the Collard Greens though, but I like it. I like how they stir fried it with croutons. Overall, a yummy dish.

I ordered the Duck Breast with Oyster Mushrooms ($18). It came with a side of Mash Potatoes and some Grilled Vegetable Medley. What can I say about this dish? I took one bite and there was a taste explosion in my mouth! It was so flavorful, with a myriad of different taste, coming from all directions. Yes, it was THAT good! Everything on that plate was good, from the duck to the mash potatoes. Boy, I could eat that everyday for the rest of my life and still not get bored of it.

Overall, it was an awesome meal. With really good food, great ambiance and super friendly servers, it was definitely an anniversary celebration to remember. Oh and by the way, our drinks were on the house! I don't know why, maybe it was an anniversary gift or maybe they were just being nice. Either ways, thanks guys! :D

Campino Mercado - Ironbound District
70 Jebez Street,
Newark, NJ 07105
Tel: (973) 589 4004
Fax: (973) 589 8820