Spring Garden Nourishing Ginseng Series

Two days ago, I was invited for a food review in KLCC! I hardly dine at this mall, and this was a nice "treat". Kinda miss the days when I hangout here more often :P

Btw, the restaurant that I dined is Spring Garden Chinese Restaurant. This is one of the many restaurants under the famous Tai Thong group of restaurants. 

The Double-boiled Fresh Ginseng Chicken Soup with Rose & Snowly Lily Bulbs

The main purpose of this invite was to taste the Nourishing Ginseng Series, a new series that they have launched from October till 31 December 2013.

Personally, I like the idea of the nourishing food especially when it comes to Chinese food. Usually, what gets into my mind is clear, "light" food - which I particularly like (well at times :) ).

Double-boiled Fresh Ginseng Chicken Soup with Dried Scallops & Golden Corn

There are a total of 6 dishes, and the highlight to me is the 2 soups. As expected - they are "light" and yet packs a punch with full ginseng served! The double-boiled fresh ginseng chicken soup actually came with well.. a rose bud (say oooooo haha).

Fresh Ginseng Broth with Dried Scallops & Bean Curd

The other highlight is the 2 broths. I found these a lil heavier in taste but I guess, it will appeal more to those with a heavier taste bud.

Fresh Ginseng Broth with Duo Scallop

The last 2 of the series is the desserts - also one of my favourites (yes, I admit I like things sweet!).

Double-boiled Egg with Honey, Fresh Ginseng, Bird's Nest & Aloe Vera

Fresh Ginseng Pudding with Bird's Nest & Aloe Vera

Between the 2, I prefer the double-boiled egg with honey, fresh ginseng, bird's nest and aloe vera. It's a rather unique pudding - a first for me :)

Apart from the Nourishing Gourmet series, we were also served some of the restaurant's popular dishes. 

On the whole, this was a very nice dinner. I think I know where to bring families and friends now for good Chinese food!! :) And yes, I might just be back for the nourishing gourmet dishes - after all, it's only RM18++ per portion!!

*Restaurant located at 4th Floor, Suria KLCC.

Oh Hey, I'm In The Press!

Appearing in the press. Ah, it has always been a nice feeling. And every year since 2005, I have appeared at least once. Much has been related to the projects that I've done - and then some recognition (like the one as finalist in Men's Health Singapore or appearing in Men's Uno magazine for KL's Top 20 Personalities).

Well, but this year - I do not have any mega project. Summer Love Bangkok has been scheduled to next year (due to my new job - grrrr). And while I've been active on social media - including a new Youtube channel (TeddyBenTV ehem ehem), but that to me is also not worthy enough news to get into mainstream media (well not yet hehe).

But hey, saying all that.. I was pretty surprised that I got into the press still. And it's all thanks to Papulex. Some of you readers will remember me posting about my journey as one of the selected bloggers for the Bloggers Challenge.

Well, yes, I won the challenge (hooray!) - and then they recognised me over a press event. So the reporters came, and tadaaa.. I was in the press! Hahhaa!

Yes, English, Chinese, Malay - press you name it.. you can see a happy smiley me! :D

Btw, that's not all. Apart from being featured in the press.. the main thing as being the winner fot the bloggers challenge is the Grand Prize winnings. The winner could choose to learn anything and Papulex will fund it (value up to RM3000).

Initially, I chose to learn scuba diving but then schedule clashed. So I opted for the other thing that I really wanted to learn - which is iOS app programming. This was the beginner's crash course scheduled over 3 days.

Well, it was a rather tight 3 days and I guess, as of now, programming is not my forte (not yet perhaps?). But still, I thank Papulex for allowing me to learn some new things. For with or without the winnings, I would have still gone for the course someday.

And to which, I do hope to look into it a lil deeper someday too :)

Taiwan Souvenirs Giveaway

Taiwan. One of my favourite holiday destination.

And just recently, I had a short trip there. It was really short - ie. less than 48 hours. Well, it was due to some "unavoidable" work commitments.

But short it was, the trip was fun. Taipei has grown to be even nicer now (as compared to my last trip 2 years back). And despite it being a short trip, I managed to visit some familiar places like the Shilin Night Market, and the cool shopping area - Ximending!

Oh and to which I met Sulley there. Seems like Monsters University is rather huge there for Sulley is everywhere :) Personally, I would have loved to buy the big Sulley home - if I had checked-in luggage!!

Btw, I've gotten some souvenirs back from Taiwan which I'd like to pass to you guys. 

Postcards from Taiwan! I love that the designs are pretty cool - not the regular touristy pics :)

Animal kingdom bag tag, keychains and the Bear magnet cum bottle opener! Btw, I love the fact that the Formosa bear seems to be quite an icon for Taiwan! :)

If you'd like one, simply fill up the form below. Like my previous giveaways, I'll then randomly pick the lucky people to receive them. It might just be you :)

Bear Food (Den Den Bistro)

Over the weekend, me and mum went to Oasis Square for lunch (after sending my brother off at the Subang airport). 

Not really having eaten there before, we weren't too sure of which restaurant to eat in at first. 

But then, we passed by this Japanese restaurant - and they had this huge poster of Sleeping Animal Plate (or simply a Sleeping Bear ala Rilakumma). 

While some of the other restaurants were rather tempting, we however thought of trying this - partly, we wanted something "light" (which Japanese meals always gives that impression). Secondly, well.. they served BEAR! I just thought it's worth a try!

So in we went, and started to order. The food looks rather different, and is somewhat kinda fusion. 

Amongst others, we ordered the Tofu dengaku and Den Den roll - which honestly looked really pretty. 

The other dish we had was the ToroToro Egg with Anchovy - which were poached eggs, that I like!

And of course, we ordered the "sleeping animal" dish or as I'd rather call it Bear Food (or Sleeping Bears/ Rilakumma meal?). 

Now, how did the food taste? Personally, I felt it was more beautiful to see than to taste. Not that it's bad.. it's just not super yummy. Overall, I love the eggs the most - and boy, did that come in a huge portion!

The bears, sadly to say was a lil of a letdown. 

But hey, it's not all bad. I mean, I still think this bistro/ restaurant did something right.. having those fusion dishes, and going with unique cute bear food. I'm sure many bear fans will just want to dine here to take some pics with it (yeah, guilty, I admit!). 

But to come back? Hmm... let me try the other restaurants around there first before any return - soon.

*Address: 

Den Den Bistro

R-05 Central Plazza 

No. 2, Jalan PJU 1A/7A

Oasis Square 

Oasis Damansara

47301 Petaling Jaya

03-77344335

*Opens lunch & dinner

Ninetology U9Z1 Review (And Ryu's Hoduken!)

Android phones. What another one? 

Well yes, and again I'm here to share with you guys on one of Ninetology's latest and premium smartphones - the U9Z1. 

Firstly, before we dig into the model, here's some overview. Ninetology prides itself as an ASEAN brand, with sales channels across Malaysia and Indonesia. 

And the U9 series (also pronounced at "unite"), is the higher end models from the company. 

The company launched 3 new models under the U9 series - the X1, Z1 and Z1+. I have btw, reviewed the X1 previously. 

And well, this time round, I'm reviewing their other model - the "larger than life" Z1. The reason for the tagline? Well, it's the size - for this phablet is 5.7 inches wide.

But that's not all - it also has gorilla corning glass ie strong glass that don't break so easily.. which means you can play ping pong with it (well, if you don't have a bat.. why not right?).

The back is the aluminium back body! That's quite something as compared to many plastic-ky Android phones in the market!

There's a few other features to this model as well.. to which I've compiled the features into a video. Oh and in case you are wondering why the title of the post is Ryu's Hoduken.. you'll find the answers in the video!

*More info of the U9Z1 can be found at Ninetology U9Z1 product page.