Ever since I had a very bad dinner experience during 'Valentine's Day', I've decided to stop going out for dinner during this supposedly romantic day!!! Nothing can ruin a romantic day faster than a bad dinner!!! Food quality were downright lousy and we have to wait for more than an hour before we were being served... And the best part was the portioned of the food being served... It was a joke and not forgetting it was super duper expensive!!! 

So this year, I've decided to cook for my darling (more like a guinea pig to me!!!) and I will be cooking salmon this time... I spent a few days thinking on the recipe and this was the outcome!!! Actually I'm very proud of myself for cooking all this without any help!!! Not forgetting this was my first time attempting to cook salmon!!! 

Grilled salmon with caramelized onion mashed potatoes and sautéed asparagus top with my home made sauce... Not bad huh!!!

Okay now I will go through the process of cooking this dish (bear with me please as this was my first time attempting to cook salmon and I'm damn excited to be able to pull this off!!!)... 

First, cut the potatoes into small cube and throw it into a pot with water covering all the potatoes... Add some salt in for flavouring... Bring it to boil and lower down the heat... You're done when the potatoes turn soft and mash able...

Take one asparagus and cut it around 2 inches long... Use it as a guide and cut the remaining bunch to the exact specification... You don't want your asparagus to be in different length as this will not look nice when serve!!!

Next is the onion... Peel off the skin and slice it up...

Very minimal marinate for my salmon... I marinated it with a little bit of soy sauce and black pepper... 

Add lots of butter and black pepper for flavouring and you're ready to mash!!! I've added a little bit of fresh milk in it as well...

Besides that, I've added some oregano to enhance the taste of it... 

Viola... Mash potatoes done... 

Now is time to caramelize the onions... Heat the pan up with some butter and put your onions in when the pan is hot...

Remember to stir frequently and reduce your heat so that your onions will not get burn easily... Add some salt for flavouring...

Add the caramelized onions into the same pot where you mashed your potatoes earlier...

Stir and mix it around and you're done with your caramelized onions and mashed potatoes...

Heat up the pan with some oil and we are ready for the asparagus... Chop some garlic and sautéed it with the asparagus...

Add some oyster sauce for flavouring and your asparagus is ready to serve...

Before putting the salmon into the grilling pan, lightly oil the salmon (remember to oil both side) instead of the pan... Skin side down and cook it for around 3-4 minutes and you're ready to flip it over and let it cook for around 3 minutes on the other side and your salmon is ready!!!

Nice??? I like how the diamond charred mark turn out... Crispy on the outside, tender and juicy on the inside!!!

Now for my self made sauce... I heat up some butter and squeeze half a lime in and add a dash of fresh milk... Throw some dried rosemary in and finally some sugar and reduce the sauce... Once it thickens, turn off the fire and you're done!!!

Plating time... It is up to you on how you wanna plate it... But I like mine this way!!!

Caramelized onions and mashed potatoes on the bottom, grilled salmon in the middle with some home made sauce on it and top it off with the sautéed asparagus!!! 

Total cost = Less than RM100.00

Satisfaction = Priceless!!!

That's all for the recipe of my 'Valentine's Dinner 2012'... Prepared and cooked specially for my beloved darling!!!

The first time I went 'Publika', I noticed a lot of people dining at this place... As I'm curious as a cat, I decided to dine at this place in my next visit to 'Publika'... Did some researched before going over so that I got a rough idea on what's good and what's not... As a conclusion, what I get from my research was just five letter words... 'PIZZA'!!! A lot of people recommended their pizzas so I guess this is a must try dish then...

Most of their offerings are indeed very mouth watering by just reading the name and description of it... Lots of things to try but we went there quite early and I can't really eat a lot in the morning so we didn't go crazy when ordering time came!!! Since we went in the morning, we decided to order their breakfast instead of our original plan which was pizza...

 Drink to your heart's content as plain water is free of charge!!!

'Le Petit Dejeuner' that came with two half boiled eggs, hash browns, bacon and sautéed mushrooms... Nothing to shout about this but the mushrooms tasted quite nice... RM12.90...

 Acceptable looking half boiled eggs... Half boiled eggs is best eaten with soy sauce instead of salt!!!

'BIG Ben's Breakfast Pizza'... Since we decided to switch to breakfast set, I still can't get pizza off my mind... Luckily they decided to add pizzas to their breakfast menu... I really like this pizza with a poached egg sitting on top of it... Flavour was really nice when mix with the egg yolk!!! RM17.90...

'Eggs Benedict Pizza'... Again beautifully poached eggs on top of the pizza... Egg yolk oozing out with a gentle poke of the fork... Nice!!! RM15.90...

Will definitely be coming back for more... Next time I think I will go there during lunch time instead... Gonna try their pizzas offering and not forgetting lasagne which is one of my favourite food!!!

Overall Rating - 3.7/5

Ben's General Food Store

Lot No.1A, 83-95, Level UG1,

Publika, Jalan Dutamas 1,

Solaris Dutamas,

50480 Kuala Lumpur.

03-6209 1700

Old 50 cents on the top and new 50 cents in the middle and old 20 cents on the bottom...

Is it just me or the new 50 cents is trying to be 20 cents??? In fact the size is actually smaller than the old 20 cents!!! What are they trying to do??? It doesn't make any sense at all... First of all, why do we need new notes and coins whereas the old one serve us well??? Okay so they have made up their mind to introduce new notes and coins AGAIN but why do you make the 50 cents smaller??? I don't see the rational here... Just to refresh your memory... When the government introduce the new RM5 note made from polymer, all the autopay machine couldn't accept the new note... So why made the same mistake again by reducing the size of the new 50 cents coin??? This will cause a lot of hassle for us as those autopay machine may not be able to accept these new notes and coins!!! Now all these autopay and parking ticket machines need to be modify or worse still, a replacement need to be made!!! Not a very logical move I said... Can someone please enlighten me on this???

See this is what happen!!!
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=%2F2012%2F2%2F16%2Fnation%2F10746236&sec=nation

Recently 'KFC Malaysia' had been plagued with lots of negativity pertaining their staffs and they are making headline for all the wrong reason... Firstly there are  a few videos showing their staffs rubbing the chicken on the sole of their shoe before putting it into the fryer... Frankly speaking these acts are totally unacceptable!!! 

But for me, this new video that went viral on the Internet is even more unacceptable... I'm not siding either party and I don't care who started it, but it is just not right to fight someone wearing your company's uniform... This is a simple work ethics and everyone should know it... If you have a problem with the other guy, that's your problem and please don't drag your employer with you... 

Thanks 'Malaysiakini' for showing us this video!!!

The victim did a press conference today and said that he did not start the provocation as a lot of people saying that he's the one who is wrong... What I can say is I find both party to be at fault... The victim might utter something at the staff as he's already in a bad mood but no matter how people scolded you, you don't simply retaliate by beating someone up especially your customers!!! Mind you, this is a serious offence... There is another person that I find at fault and should resign because of this incident... The manager!!! He/she should be aware of this incident and should act accordingly and stop this from happening!!! So please 'KFC Malaysia', do something to your staff before they ruin your reputation!!! 

My favourite vampire is back with a vengeance!!! Woo hoo... I know a lot of people are disappointed with this movie but still I will watch it... Come on is not easy to get a true vampire movie nowadays plus a hot looking vampire thrown in as a bonus!!! Wait a minute, I believe I heard someone saying 'Bella' from 'Twilight'... Are you kidding me??? You call that a vampire??? Besides she's definitely not hot!!! 

Since most of my friends said that this movie is not worth watching, so I set my expectation to a standard low... But what surprised me was I kinda like the movie!!! Believe it or not, I find it rather entertaining with all the violent and gore turn a notch up from it's predecessor... And regarding the storyline, I find it much better compare to the previous one as I didn't expect it to turn out this way...

Other than the sizzling hot 'Selene', there is a newcomer with the name of 'Eve'... She's an innocent looking girl this minute and a sinister looking one the next!!! She looks so much meaner compare to 'Selene'!!! 'Bella' who is she??? I bet she weep and piss in her pants when she sees 'Eve'!!!

Overall, I'm liking this movie and watch it if you're a true 'Underworld' fan... Ignore all the others who think otherwise just like what I did... And I'm glad I watched it...  

Reunion dinner over at the in-law is somewhat predictable as steamboat is their choice of meal... So 2012 is no different compare to last year... Not a bad thing as we don't have to scratch our head thinking of what to prepare and cook for dinner!!! So I guess I'm really bless... 

 Mickey 'chilli padi' condiment???

Okay, that's all for this year reunion lunch and dinner photos... Till next year!!!

This year we tried something different for our reunion lunch... We cooked something spicy!!! If my memory serves me right, this is the first time ever... Well, there will always be a first time!!! Every year, we cracked our head and brainstorm together for our reunion lunch... Quite frankly, I almost ran out of idea... Besides that, it is not something easy as my parents want certain ingredients and the only way to differentiate it from last year is the way of cooking it!!! It was fun nevertheless albeit a very tiring kind of fun!!! 

We woke up around eight something in the morning to prepare all the ingredients, (though I'm not the one preparing, but still I woke up early!!!) and you know what time we finish everything including eating and taking bath??? Around three something in the afternoon!!! Crazy huh... Okay now lets enjoy the fruits of our labour!!!

HUAT AH!!!