Manmaru Udon, Mid Valley

WL & I had made plans to visit the KLPJ Wedding Fair held at Mid Valley Convention Centre over the weekend. Psst...psst...wedding bells are ringing. Anyways, I'll reveal when the time is right. It was close to lunch time & we were not even half way done with visiting all the booths. So we decided to take a break & grab a quick bite.

We were at lost of where to eat because there are so many varieties, yet none of it tickled our fancy. Then, we saw Manmaru Udon tucked at the corner next to Amarin Heavenly Thai restaurant. Without further delay, we walked in & took our seat. I called for tempura udon while WL picked teriyaki chicken udon.

About 10 minutes later, the waitress came to serve our orders. I was a little hungry & started slurping over my bowl of noodles, totally forgetting to snap a photo of it. Here is how the udon looks like. I'd must say the udon is springy & of premium quality. It's only a pity that the broth didn't turn out as delicious as I hoped. Or could it be the fact that I wasn't that hungry & affected my judgement? *shrugs*

On the other hand, WL's dish seemed to look more appetizing with the juicy teriyaki chicken slices arranged nicely over the dry udon with onsen egg. The noodles were seasoned with the same sauce from the teriyaki chicken. I took a strands of udon to try & it was more tasty than my dish. But, I wouldn't conclude it as being very scrumptious but at least better than mine.

The price is average; typical of a mid-price restaurant food. With such superb quality noodles, it was a pity that the seasoning was a disappointing. Not that the food was exceptionally bad as some improvement will help the restaurant to a long way. I'm giving a rating 3.5 out of 5.

Address:

S-045A, The Boulevard

Lingkaran Syed Putra

Mid Valley City

59200 Kuala Lumpur.

Contact:

03-2201 1663

Opening Hours:

Mondays to Sundays 10:00am - 10:00pm

TVC Shoot in Taipei

On Tuesday morning, I was called in to my boss' room as soon as I came in for work. The next thing he said took me aback. I was asked to fly to Taipei the next day for a TVC shoot, a trip that he was supposed to go for but has now become my responsibility. I was stunned for a moment & wasn't sure whether to feel ecstatic or angry about the news.

Not surprisingly, I flipped at the thought of the last minute trip & made a huge fuss to my boss. "Do I look like a backup who can stand in at any time just because you couldn't?" I thought to myself angrily. In the end, I made a sacrifice & took the earliest flight to Taipei.

The trip was made more interesting with the people that I was bound to work with. Plus, Taipei is a great city despite my limited proficiency in Mandarin. The city is clean & well-planned while I'm all praised for their people's politeness. Since I'm already there, I wouldn't want to miss the opportunity to visit Taipei 101. Seeing the skyscraper looming in the background got me excited.

Work wasn't exactly smooth sailing but at least, it was completed. For the rest of the short trip, the experience was nothing short of great fun. We stopped by at Taipei 101 first before it closed for the night. The admission ticket cost NT$500, more costly than entering our Petronas Twin Towers. To be able to take the world's fastest elevator up to the top floors, why not?

The world's fastest elevator truly didn't disappoint, rising from 5th floor to 89th floor in 37 seconds! The ceiling of the elevator lit up with bright LED lights, reminiscing the starry night sky as the elevator rose to the upper floors. The sound effect & music made us felt like shooting up the stars. Awesome!

In order to reach the observatory deck, we had to climb 4 flight of stairs to arrive at 93rd floor. I'd have to admit the view was not the most stunning night view as one part of is pitch black (I believe that's the hill horizon). Nevertheless, it was still nice to witness Taipei's bustling night life at such high altitude.

Next, we descended back to the lower floors. The rest are mostly souvenir & snack shops; theatre rooms to view video recordings of the skyscraper's construction & its pyrotechnic fireworks on New Year's Eve. Here is the mass tuned damper that keeps the Taipei 101 at bay during typhoons & earthquakes.

Our tour did not end just yet. Not wanting to miss Taipei's famous pasar malam, we took the cabs to Shihlin Night Market. It's considered the cleanest night market I've ever seen in my life. Although I ended up with empty hands, I got to try out their pricey cut fruits. Their pineapples are the best - so juicy & sweet, not acidic at all. Taking a stroll at the night market felt quite safe because I didn't feel like I was being followed & pickpocketed. That's not to say there's no risk at all, but the people are generally nice people.

On our last day, we had lunch at this artistically designed restaurant right next to our hotel. You wouldn't believe that it's a restaurant because it resembled an art museum. The food was a little pricey but tasted pretty good.

When we packed our bags & headed to the airport, we left with heavy hearts. The city is so clean & the toilets are fantastic - squeaky clean & futuristic XD. Did I mention that almost any building you set foot on has free high-speed WiFi, with no password? I'm coming back for you, Taipei. That's for sure. I guess I should rest my case for being angered by the last minute trip. Anything to have great travel companions to fill in the bitterness.

Go Thai @ SS2, PJ

It was day off today & took the opportunity to complete some of the tasks off my to-do things to complete over the long holidays. I got a hair cut at a Korean salon, then had lunch with WL before heading back to his home for a rest. At night, we decided to try out this new Thai restaurant at SS2 called Go Thai.

Go Thai occupies a small space at Jalan SS2/24 which is a row of shops nearby the popular durian spots. When we arrived, the restaurant was already filled with dinner crowd. We took our seats & ordered our food. I called for kuay teow soup while WL opted for braised duck rice.

The kuay teow is rather interesting because it's not the broad type of flat noodles we usually at hawker stalls. The noodles are narrower in width & slightly translucent in colour. It came in clear broth with pork balls & fish paste. The portion is a little small by Malaysian standards but at least the taste is quite authentic.

WL's braised duck rice came in small portion too but nevertheless, it tasted pretty decent. The amount of duck slices were miserable, although miserable, had some vege & half piece of boiled egg to complement the dish. Not the most ideal but better than nothing.

Go Thai is definitely a family restaurant because the premise is not spacious & the air ventilation is poor. In fact, it would be more comfortable to sit at the pavement outside the restaurant. It's the kind of restaurant that promotes a quick fix to a hungry stomach. I'm giving this restaurant a rating of 3.8 out of 5.

Address:

187, Jalan SS2/24

Seksyen 22

47300 Petaling Jaya

Selangor

Contact no:

012-2891922

Opening Hours:

Tuesday to Sundays 11:30am - 9.45pm