Lets Go Kabul !!

We were short of lunch suggestion this afternoon. Instead of the usual Sooka food court which stink your clothes with food smells. Me, Tony & Elbrine decided to give Restaurant Kabul a try.

                           

Kabul as the name of capital city of Afghanistan. I would expect Afghan cuisine here. The menu is quite extensive with the selection of dishes come with either Naan Bread or Briyani.

 

You will find the usual northern/southern Indian dishes such as Tikka, Vindaloo, Varuval as well as mid-east kebab.  I haven't got a clue on Afghan cuisine. Those are names of Indian/Mid-east food that i usually sample. It might be because Afghanistan is geographically connected to both India, Pakistan and not far of the UAE gulf. The Afghan tends to have similar culture with those of Southern Asia region.

 

Myself & Tony went for plain Lassi as our drinks. I'm impressed with the rich milky fermented taste of their Lassi. Top notch.

Tony goes with the restaurant's motto "Satisfying Briyani Wishes" by ordering their beef Briyani. This is indeed a better version of the Hyderabad famous Muslim cuisine. Theirs are way miles ahead of the one served in this Briyani chain store, JM Briyani.

 

The Briyani came with generous portion of chunky beef in spiced basmati rice. Together with curry and yogurt. The Briyani reminds me of those authentic home make version by Indian students from Hyderabad during my UK days. They used to educate me that authentic Briyani need to be done layer by layer. A layer of basmati rice and then layer of meat on top, vice-versa.

 

 While, our lovely Elbrine ordered herself a chicken version of the Briyani which is equally good. With chunky chicken meat as well. Though the picture does not do the dish any justice.

 

I went for Lamb Kheema & Dhall to go with Garlic Naan. Lamb Kheema or Keema, as according to my research can be defined as traditional Gujurati style curry made with minced lamb.  Ahaa. Gujarat...not authentic Afghan either. Anyway those minced lamb were well covered by rich Masala blend and it goes really well with the garlic Naan.

 

However, the Garlic Naan on its own can be described as pathetic. I failed to taste the supposed fragrance of garlic. Makes no different with plain Naan.

 

The dessert was indeed the highlight of our lunch. Pistachio Kulfi goes at RM2.90 was very milky yet mixed well with the pistachio slices on top. The texture does not taste ice cream to me. It was not that creamy, more of ice frozen milk, i reckoned.

As according to Wikipedia Kulfi or Qulfi is a popular flavored frozen dessert made from milk which originated in South Asia and is popular throughout neighbouring countries in the Middle East.

To round of the day, this is the "burn rice" flavoured Korean candy from Korean loving Elbrine. Cheers.

Chia Yuan, the "burn rice" taste wasn't bad at all. Maybe i should try out Tess's "Porky Spicy Ramen" flavoured Japanese candy. I might end up loving both candy and Tess.

Laos Sea Games 2009. Malaysia 3 - Laos 1 (Mens Football Semifinals)

Our national football team managed to book themself a golden ticket to the final of Laos Sea Games. The national Under-23 team, coached by K. Rajagobal defeated Laos 3 goals to 1 in a match just ended merely 15 minutes ago. The game was live telecast on TV2. Thanks.

Host country, Laos coming strong in the game with whole nation behind them. They managed to surpass Asean football giant Indonesia 2-0 in the group stage. Laos came in with full spirit in front of a full house home crowd tonight in Vientiane, National Sports Complex. Though, they managed to cancel the Malaysian's lead to level off the match at 1-1. But it was the Malaysian who seal off the match with two excellent goals. The Malaysian will play against Vietnam in the long awaited final. Vietnam defeated Singapore 4 - 1 in the other semifinals of the night.

The last time Malaysia won gold in the Games was in 1989 in Kuala Lumpur when they beat Singapore 3-1.

"Our soccer doldrums may end soon and a new era dawns if the excellent display by our boys continues" a quote from Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek. Okay, fingers crossed.

(ABL) KL Dragons 88 - Thailand Tigers 69 / (Sea Game Laos 09) Malaysia 2 - Thailand 1

What a great week for Malaysian sports indeed !!

The atmosphere was electrifying in the MABA stadium Aka the KL Dragons Den. It was the Dragons against the Thailand Tigers, fourth home game of the inaugural  Asean Basketball League (ABL). Malaysian football team had defeated the defending champion, Thailand 2-1, some two days ago in Laos Sea Games 2009. I was hoping the same tonight in the Dragons Den. Thailand has always been a dominant force in sports of Asean region.

It was great to witness that the Malaysian basketball has finally break the chinese dominant cycle. Basketball is no longer a one race sports any more. I noticed a lot of non-chinese join in to watch the match, to shout for the team. It was brilliant to see the whole Malaysia under one roof and with only one goal. This is the true spirit of 1 Malaysia.

Chen Li Wei, Dragons Center/Forward doing the interview during pre match. I'm amazed with the dedication and effort that has been drawn into the marketing of the game itself. Brilliant pre match event, which almost like a carnival. We have rappers performance, KL drum squad, the not so sexy cheerleaders, our national anthem by Fly FM DJ, Hunny Madu plus not forgetting our KL Dragons Fans Club which is a huge success. It maybe commercialize. But that is the trend of current sports industry. I will say the more commercialize your are, the more attention you get.  Well planned marketing bring us almost 2000 full house fans each home games. The club merchandises are selling hot too. Those are the phenomena that our Malaysia football "professional" league can only dream of. I sincerely hope for many years to come with the KL Dragons & Asean Basketball League.

 

This was my second attendance out of the four home matches. The previous one was against the pinoy. Which i reckoned the Dragons played brilliantly but their effort does not paid off. They lost to the Philippines Patriots by slight margin. I prayed for a return tonight.

 

The KL Dragons fielded Jamal Brown, Kok Way Tek, Chai Chze Hian, Chris Kuete, B. Guganeswaran as the starting five.

 

I'm happy to see coach Goh playing Chze Hian, a fellow Sarawakian from a basketball family in Kuching. He was not getting even a second during the last home game against the Philippines. Tonight, he contributed points & assists. He has done his part well against the Tigers.

 

The dragons do not have the best start as usual. The Tigers were leading 7 - 0. Then, Jamal Brown started to hit in jump shot and penetrating the paint. Conquering both offensive & defensive rebound. The dragons managed to move on the right track. When non-shooter like Li Wei is hitting three-pointer, you know that tonight will be a good night for the team & the fans. The Dragons show massive confidence through the court. We continue our lead with no turning back. 88 - 69 was the final score. A margin of nearly 20 points. Keep it up, KL Dragons. We need to start hitting back to back wins.

 

And my pick on man of the match.  I reckoned Chris Kuete yet again. This dude was showing some sick moves as usual. He should be leading the team scoring chart too. Decent.

 

Last but not least, kudos to our Malaysian Football team. This is a long awaited moment. Lets do the nation proud by winning the semifinal against Laos. Best of  luck.

Malaysia last won the football gold medal in the biennial SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur in 1989.

Pork Mee Obsession Oink! Oink!

I wasn't a big fan of pork noodles  back then when i first switched to KL. I noticed pork noodles stall almost in every food court/kopitiam. Never really bother to give it a damn try.

 

Up until my Averis day, when one of my ex-colleague introduced me to Peter's pork noodles @ Mayflower. This crave goes on and turn into an obsession. I once consumed this six straight days in a week. It is a crave that i will order every now and then whenever i go lunch in Mayflower. The secret kick of Peter's pork noodle is the broth. It does not taste MSG, moreover towards to hours of hard boiling with the sweetness of pork. I prefer my bowl of pork noodle to be richly oily.  Together with the generous serving of pork lard and mince make out a great serving of this infamous Peter pork noodles. I know this not the best health concious food but it's temptation is not something that you can deny either. It was featured in TheStar as the best pork noodle in Klang Valley.

 

Restaurant Keam Fatt in Taman Bahagia, SS3 serves another notorious pork noodle. As according to my friend, this stall has been around ever since he was a primary school pupil. It is well known among the neighbourhood with the restaurant literally pack during lunch time and weekend for breakfast. As for me myself, i defined it as the second best to the Peter's version. The broth is peppery and this pretty much cover up the natural porky sweetness. But it is still a better version than most of the regular ones.

 

This is what i will describe as a contemporary version of the pork noodles. Unlike the traditional ones, there is the kick of bitter gourd & tomatoes in the broth. It tastes more like the bitter gourd soup that you will order from any regular chinese "Tai Chow" restaurant. 

Between The Racket & The Shuttlecock

The long awaited Averis - ARC Badminton Tournament has finally kick off today.

After weeks of practices, badminton enthusiasts across the IT, Finance and HR towers gathered at this one day tournament held at a Dewan serbaguna right beside this ala Dubai 7 star hotel wannabe - Menara TM.

 

This is what we are competing for. Me, getting a grid on badminton racket after more than 5 years. It's on the mens double for HR tower.

 

The dude in yellow is the one who cover me from left to right, front to back. This guy in light blue -CY, is our coach cum HR first men single cum HR first mens double. 

 

 Here is some serious action down the court. Mens double Semi - Final. IT VS Finane.

 

 Me, the linesman. Like i know anything about the shuttlecock game !

And here are the lunch boxes. Thanks the ARC for the great hospitality. I guess this will me my last event with the Averis.