Tg Tualang River prawns

The prawns here lured us back to Tanjung Tualang for another round of the famous big head river prawns . River prawns lovers would mind driving almost 2 hours to get their fix . This sleepy town located about 45 minutes from Ipoh , comes alive every weekend and during public holidays as prawn lovers from near and afar makes their way here and its every prawn lovers dream to be greeted by rows and rows of restaurants proudly display their prawns on the walkways to lure you in.

Being the 6th day of CNY and felt a little bored from the usual CNY programme , we headed down to Tg Tualang to meet another 2 couples on their way back to KL from Penang for our fix. Since we were early and ahead of schedule , me and my kaki makan fren decided to start our makan trip early by stopping in Bidor for wantan mee for part 1 of our makan trip !!


This particular wantan mee is much better than the much famous Pun Chun. Flavourful noodle which is cooked al dante , and each wantan comes with whole prawns . But doesnt comes cheap even with KL standard's at RM4 for a small serving and each wantan cost 50 cents each.


And after our initial stop we finally makes our way to Tg Tualang , the mecca of river prawns.

First stop was Sun Swee Kiong based on some recommendations from a friend.

This steam Pak Soukung ( Catfish ) was really fresh and firm at the belly side . Indicating that this is a true river fish and not the reared ones.

Fried petai with sambal and cuttlefish. This is really good with fragrant belacan and not too spicy

What was supposed to the star of the day turns out to be a failure. This ' Kon Cheen' fried prawns was rather bland . Would be much better with a little more saltiness and sweetness from the caramel. But the firm flesh of the giant prawns saved the day.

The heads didnt turned out perfect either. Could be better with a little more Shiau Hing wine . Another failure is that, steam prawns shouldnt comes with chinese parsley as it spoils the natural sweetness of the prawns. Spring onions would be a much better choice. However the creamy roe was really nice .

Just to show you how big the prawn head really is .

Steam crabs. Remember parsley doesnt goes with prawns and crabs !!!!! Wasnt flavourful and the chef kinda of stingy on the Shiu Heng wine I guess.

Overall this restaurant is a failure in my list except if you really want to have a good plate of petai, IMHO i would skip this restaurant and get back to restaurant we frequent normally. It doesnt comes cheap either. The bill comes up to RM 407 for 7 of us . The 7 prawns already cost RM280 !!!!!

And guess what we did after the dissapointing meal just now ??? We headed for another round of steam prawns at Sun Mee Fong !!!! To locate this restaurant isnt hard , just look out for this sign.

Even Ah Xian gives his thumb of approval. Check it out here.

Good steam prawns no need to be huge !! This medium size was allright as the meat was fresh n firm to every bite. Most importantly is that there is spring onion to add sweetness and fragrant as well as sufficient of Shiu Hsing wine in steaming the prawns. This dish get everyones thumbs up approval. And yes we only ordered just one dish here !!!!!! And we all left satisfied for just RM70.

We all left fully satisfied and decided to stroll along this sleepy town and came across this particular stall which sells freshly baked Sak Keh Mah.

Freshly baked Sak Keh Mah, was really a treat for the nose !!

Old skool convenience store before the hypermarket era.

Cant find these bamboo screen banner anymore in KL.

Tranquil little town

Kampung Timah ,where the cows roam the streets and prawns fills out tummy !

Directions :

Using PLUS highway from KL towards Ipoh direction take the Tapah exit and drive towards Kampar town. Look out for a Petronas station on your right prior reaching Kampar town . Take a left turn at the traffic light. Drive further 2 km and you should see the sign board which reads Tronoh Mines/ Tg Tualang. Turn right and drive all the way straight passing thru some small villages before reaching Kg Timah. At the T junction turn right and continue driving for another 4 to 5 km and you would reach Tg Tualang .

Other post : What to eat , BackStreetGluttons, Godblesz

Gong XI Fa Cai !!!!!!!

Gong Xi Fa Cai, Happy New Year !!!! mat the year of the Ox bring you a great bullrun towards better health , high career achievement and abundance in wealth and a joyful and prosperous year ahead !!!
May success underwrites all your endeavours , mah joy monopolizes all your moments , may goodhealth prevails all your life, May fortune and wealth overspills all your bank accounts and may love embraces all in your family !!

Ming Room,Bangsar Shopping Center

As Chinese New Year comes near , reunion dinners are common. And this time is just among a bunch of our old friends . With different venues each year, but we seems to be stuck back with restaurants under the Oriental Group banner, and this time is at Ming Room , Bangsar Shoping Center. For those not sure, this group also operates the famed Noble Huse and Noble Banquet restaurants in KL.

Salmon yeesang to start off the dinner .

Braised sharkfin soup in claypotThai style . Its served in individual claypot with combs of intact shark fins , conpoy and crabmeats with optional beansprouts for added crunch. To spice upthis great dish , you just need a dash of the fiery hot Thai style green chili sauce which really compliments this dish very well.

BBQ suckling pig. Crispy till the last piece !!!

Baked white tuna fish with Miso paste. The miso paste lends its saltiness to compliments this white meat fish perfectly without over powering the natural sweetnessof the tuna. Topped with some fried foochok pieces for added crunch and served on a bed of french beans tossed in garlic sauce.

Braised abalone with dried seafood in winter melon. A must dish in traditional CNY dinner as it symbolics abundance of wealth as well as the mini fresh abalones also looks like gold nuggets from the olden China. And flavourful from the dried seafood lends its taste to the otherwise humble oyster sauce sauce.

Braised egg noodles with eggplant and minced meat.


Delicious Tang Yuen with black sesame fillings in ginger flavoured syrup.

The 10 of us were really filled to the brim after the dinner. At RM988 ++ this set dinner is really worth the money for the quality of food served and the environment . IMHO, its much more value money than out earlier suggestion Ah Yat Abalone Forum , which cost more with a much smaller serving.

And i really look foward to my mums birthday dinner which is coming up soon , at Ming's Room again.




THE MING ROOM
3rd Floor, Bangsar Shopping Centre, Bukit Bandaraya, 59000 KL
Tel: 03- 2284 8822 Fax: 03- 2284 3822

Other reviews : Friedchillies , Tan Kiasu ,

Tan family reunion 2009

It been our family tradition over the years where the entire Tan family would get together for our yearly CNY reunion dinner. But this year was an early one, one the 1st January actually, which also coincidently is my aunties wedding anniversary !

As the most senior and head of the Tan family now, my dad giving a little speech for the entire families from near and afar from Singapore , UK , Korea , Czech Republic and Germany .

Start with the traditional way of tossing our salmon yeesang with good words and wishes .

Superior 5 seasons platter with dried scallops, abalone , fresh scallops , crab balls and fried fillet.


Being a traditional chinese dinner, sharkfins soup with crab meat is next. Sorry to all the activist, this is just too good to be given up !!!!!!!

Alot of hardwork gone into this dish , where a mixture of fish and prawn paste is pumped into the entire chicken , which the meat was earlier filleted out leaving the skin intact only.

Baked sea prawns with superior soya sauce.

Stir fried sea grouper with spring onions and ginger

Chilled honey dew sago

Location : Hong Wan restaurant. Taman P Ramlee ( Taman Forlong ) , Setapak.
Directions : From Setapak heading towards Wangsa Maju direction. Look out for Ming Heng used car dealer on your right . Then at the traffic light turn left. The restaurant is just about 10 metres further up your right right opposite KLH used cars .

When things gone too far

Chances has been given, not once but numerous times. But you still havent repent and realize what is right and what is wrong. And we are all very saddened by your childish action and decision. Money that is lost can still be replaced, but not trust and feelings. The damage is already done...and this time it has gone too far.............

Hopefully you've know what is right and what is wrong and the consequences of your actions and the pains and agony that is brought to your loved ones..... Just hope that you would wake up and do the necessary.

Minimizing the risk in blogging .....

Came across a very interesting article in The Star today which I found it very interesting and usefull for fellow bloggers , and I would like to share all this with you.

The article Minimising the risk in blogging Its about ethical blogging and how not to land ourself in hot soup and being sued..... and its written young lawyers under this Putik Lada forum.

This particular article was written by Foong Cheng Leong.

For the convenience of fellow readers here is the featured article. Hope I wont get sued here !!!!!

BLOGGING has become the new way of life of Malaysians. It is without doubt a new form of media where a large number of the public refer to these days in addition to the mainstream media.

With this comes responsibility. It is settled that bloggers are liable for what they say and for what other people post on their blogs. The following laws are applicable to bloggers:

> Civil and criminal defamation;

> Sedition;

> Communication and Multi- media Act 1998; and,

> Copyright infringement.

The above list is not exhaustive and it is hoped that the following will serve as a short guide to minimise the risks of blogging.

One of the most common actions brought against website owners (which include a blogger) is a defamation suit. The definition of defamation is not a static concept.

It has been defined that a statement may be defamatory when it tends “to lower a person in the estimation of right-thinking members of society generally” or “to cut him off from society” or “to expose him to hatred, contempt or ridicule”.

Defamatory statements may not only arise from written postings but also from videos (embedded in the blog), pictures/drawings/graphics, sound and even hyperlinks. Recent- ly, a Malaysian High Court held that a website owner is liable for a hyperlink posted by a commentor that links to a website containing a defamatory statement.

The consequence of being liable for defamation is grave. It can drain you financially and make you a bankrupt. It can even put you in jail if it falls under criminal defamation. Even a food review blogger can be subject to a defamation suit. Thus to avoid such problems, the following steps are recommended:

> Avoid potentially defamatory statements;

> Moderate comments;

> Identification of commentor’s details;

> Warning to commentors;

> Disclaimer;

> Disable Cache; and,

> Anonymity.

The most obvious, and the most important, step to take from being slapped with defamation action is to avoid defamatory statements.

Always ensure that what you write is true. If you are unable to verify the truth of a statement on your blog, junk it. Avoid criticising other people on your blog, as sometimes the criticism can be taken as defamatory.

Another type of entry you should avoid is rumour-based entries. It is advisable not to repeat a rumour made by others, unless you can prove it.

As mentioned earlier, what got many website owners into trouble is what their readers posted. And website owners are liable for comments made by other parties published on their website.

In this regard, website owners can be subject to an application to the court compelling them to reveal the identity of the commentor. It should not be much of a problem to website owners to reveal the identity, but sometimes the order goes a bit further than that.

For example, there were cases where website owners were compelled to reveal Malaysian identity card numbers of their commentors, and also slapped with costs payable to the complainant.

Thus, it is useful to set up a system to filter comments and require commentors to register themselves before they can submit comments. Alternatively, the website owner may have in place a stringent ap- proval system where comments will only be posted upon approval.

Further, you may also reveal the details of the commentors such as their Internet Protocol (IP) address, time of posting and e-mail address on the website upon the posting of the comment.

By revealing such details, the commentors can be traced through their Internet service provider, etc. This may restrain commentors from posting malicious comments.

It would also be useful to place a warning stating that commentors are liable for what they say or that you will reveal their details to the authorities upon request. The warning can be fortified with a disclaimer, which could be useful to discourage defamatory statements.

The disclaimer can go along these lines: “The comments contained on this blog reflect the views of the author and do not in any way represent that of the owner of this blog.” This serves as notice that the views of the commentors are not shared by the blogger.

Many consider websites such as WayBack Machine and Google Cache as God‘s gifts to computer geeks. These websites keep a record of your website and are quite useful when you lose the contents of your website. You can retrieve some of your lost documents from there.

But this also means that anyone can retrieve anything deleted from your website, including defamatory statements that had been removed. But not to fear, for there is also a special option where you can stop these websites from keeping a record of your website.

If all the above fail to avoid a letter of demand or you just wish to have a carefree blog, then try blogging anonymously. This would include setting up a blog using a pseudonym with no trace of the person’s identity on the blog. Some do it for their own protection, and some do it so that they cannot be found.

Although distasteful, this allows bloggers to avoid being discovered and to post entries without any restriction. But if caught, they will suffer grave repercussion. In a recent Canadian court decision, anonymous electronic postings of defamatory material were not only actionable but would also warrant a high damages award.

With the upcoming High Speed Broadband (HSBB) rollout, we can expect more content-rich blogs. With this, the dissemination of information may expand to methods which are unknown to us now. There will therefore be new laws and challenges ahead.

Article written by Foong Cheng Leong as featured in Putik Lada, The Star 8th January 2009.