The Pizzazzy

It was a short and sweet trip to KL last weekend. Did lots of small things along some of the big things. Me and Bem set off for KL around 12:30 Friday midnight and to our surprise reached early by 4:30 in the morning to our friends place in KL.

After some two three hours sleep we were woken up by the small fisty banging on the door, and it was Aaditya wanting to meet Ana and Missi as he calls Anand and me. And he was rather surprised to find two missis, me and bem.

After much catching up over tea we all set off for Petronas, the twin towers. After going gaga over the beauty of the twin towers we had a good lunch of Chicken Peri Peri at Nando’s at the basement of the Twin towers. This heavy lunch was followed by some shopping in Bukit Bintang. We picked up some tops of local design and make at throw away prices.

The dinner was Masala Dosas in an Indian Restaurant called James at KL Sentral. After reaching home we saw Johnny Gaddar. Good movie.

The next day Bem and me set off early for KLCC again and once again missed getting the tickets to the sky bridge. And for the third time I was not able to get to the sky bridge as we were late by an hour. So if you are visiting KL and wish to see the Petronas Twin towers and visit the amazing skybridge connecting the twin towers you must make it before 10 in the morning.

We then went to Petaleng Street also known as China Town. But unlike china town in Singapore this one is hoarded with fakes of all the big brands of the world. Jimmy Choo, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Guess, Burberry, Tods, Prada and so on. With my eye for details I found them to be just what they were FAKE. So, we ended up buying nothing.

Our next stop was KL Tower, we hailed a cab and reached KL tower. On reaching the top of the tower we realised that it was quite smoggy and we couldn’t site most of the landmarks as per the recording that was playing in our ears. We posed with the Petronas some more, everywhere you go in KL you will only notice the Petronas standing tall among the other buildings.

We took the mono rail ride till KL Sentral. Lunch was a take away from food court in KL Sentral at home. Since we all were feeling quite lazy after the lunch and cane juice we thought of just relaxing for sometime with Bhool Bhollaiya. Another good movie!

The evening was reserved for a visit to KL eye more popularly known as Eye on Malaysia. This was high on my list as it was added only at the beginning of this year as one more attarction in the ‘Malaysia Truly Asia’ programme and was not there during my last visit to KL.

Eye on Malaysia gave a spactacular view of the KL city, although there was nothing much around the city at night except for KL Tower and Petronas on the right hand side. But the night view of Petronas is very dramatic and beautiful like two big jewels. So, we decided to visit Petronas after KL eye and have dinner at KLCC only.

The twin towers looked amazing and we got some nice pictures of the towers with Amol’s Camera. There is something very attractive about the two towers at night. Beautifully lit up like millions of solitaire diamonds, it emits a sort of positive energy and is very soothing to the soul and eyes. You can spend quite an evening watching the beautiful fountain dancing on different tunes under the shadow of the two towers.

After dinner of pasta at the food court at KLCC we went back home. The next day Me, Neelum and Bem chatted for a long time and played with Aaditya before it was time to leave for Singapore. After a good lunch of varan bhaat, we said good bye to Neelum and set off for Singapore.

My sister, jiju and Urjit have gone for a holiday to London. Urjit prepared for his trip in his own way by looking up google for London Zoo. Since his spelling is good now and he also knows Google is equal to Search, he uses Google to its full capacity by looking up everything and anything he wants. The other day while chatting with Di, she told me that Urjit looked up london zoo videos and was watching them in anticipation of the fun he would have on his London trip.

Isn’t it amazing how a four year old plans his holiday in the new age. When we were his age, holiday only meant visiting our home town during summer vacation. Even when visiting other places we never researched the place. In today’s age even kids have their own agenda and itinery for holidays.

When talking with Urjit he asked me “Mausi Are you in London Zoo!” Since I am trying to bribe him to come to Singapore for holidays I told him “I am in Singapore Zoo, Do you want to see me” he was like “Ya”. There are many places that I have kept for visiting when Urjit is here. It would be such fun to see Singapore with him and all the questions that he would have.

I remember last year he had a small project to do on “My holiday” and had to compile some pictures. There were so many of them which he selected on his own. My sister got them printed and sent it for her teacher to select. The teacher kept only one photo and sent all the others back. But during the selection Urjit re-lived each holiday and as he is blessed with sharp memory and lots of intelligence he could remember things from those holidays.

The funny part about his trip to London is that he was not ready to visit London bridge. He told his mom “I’ll not go to London Bridge Because it is falling down.” Ya the nursery rhyme. His idea about london is “Rivers with Ducks” And he very clearly told that “I want to play in the snow and play with all the ducks”.

Today I heard from them, and spoke with Urjit as well. He is still in Indian Time zone so he was full of action at 6 O’clock in the morning. He declared that he is “In the London” and “Wants to stay back in the London”, yes to emphasize on the fact that he is on holiday in London, he uses “The London”. Seems he is having lots of fun. He has got a bad cough due to the cold weather there. Jiju told me that he was having a tiring time following him and di around. And Urjit just declares he is tired and sits down and then jiju has to carry him around. Poor fellow. Only a four year old can get away with that.

Wish I was four and holidaying in London instead of struggling with project deadlines at work.

Singapore is famous for many things, and one of them is the local food here. You can find lots of different cuisines here like Chinese, Singaporean, Malaysian, Indian, western, Mediterranean, Thai, Japanese, Korean and so on. Being a pukka foodie me and my husband love to explore the food courts here. Our initial stay here was completely filled with both of us trying out the multi-cuisine here. From stall hopping we have gathered the local taste and now understand what makes Singapore so hot and popular when it comes to food.One of our favorite is the Chicken rice. Its simply delicious and mouth-watering and healthy too. I would suggest to anyone visiting Singapore to dig their teeth into this exquisite dish of Chicken and Rice.

Chicken rice originating from China and originally known as Hainanese Chicken rice is very popularly associated with Singaporean or Malaysian cuisine. It’s a boneless chicken dish which is steamed and then treated with ice cold water. Every food court in Singapore would have a stall of Chicken rice. One can typically locate a Chicken rice stall by the whole chickens hanging from rods both steamed and roasted.

To taste the perfect chicken rice you must visit the Food republic at the Suntec City at City Hall. It’s the second stall on your right from the convention center end. And ask for Sergeant’s special set meal. This set meal comes with a portion of Steamed boneless chicken, I usually like it roasted so I make it a point to go for roasted one, a portion of rice, a bowl of vegetable soup, a portion of veggies which is pak choy in oyster sauce. I have eaten the simpler version of chicken rice at my office food court and other food courts but it’s best in food republic. And almost all weekends you can find us here.

How I like my chicken rice: I like to add a spoonful of fried onions on the soup and Pak Choy. As the rice is also cooked in chicken stock and some garlic and ginger it is very delicious on its own. I like to mix some spoonful of soups (we Indians have got something with the curries, so I make it more watery) and add a generous portion of pounded ginger sauce and the chili paste (again the Indian tongue for spicy food). And every mouthful is a juicy bite of the rice and a piece of chicken or the veggie.

For all those who want to give this a try at home here’s a very simple recipe picked from uniquely Singapore site.

Ingredients
1 (2-pound) chicken
1 young green onion, cut into 1 inch pieces
4 slices fresh, peeled ginger
6 tbsp vegetable oil or chicken oil rendered from chicken fat
6 to 8 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 cups long-grain uncooked rice, washed and drained
1 tsp fine salt

Mix together for Chilli Sauce
2 to 3 tbsp freshly squeezed lime or lemon juice, 5 tbsp finely chopped fresh red chilies, 5 cloves garlic, chopped, 3 tbsp finely chopped ginger, 1 tsp fine salt, 1/2 cup boiling hot chicken soup

Method
Boil a large pot of water. Stuff the cavity of the chicken with onion and ginger. Add chicken to boiling water, breast side-down. Lower the heat to a simmer just under boiling point and cook, covered until just cooked through, about 40 minutes. Bathe the chicken in an ice water bath till chicken is cold to create a tender, springy texture. Heat oil in a rice cooker, add garlic, stir fry till fragrant. Add uncooked rice, stir fry for two minutes, add salt and enough chicken soup to cover 1/2 inch above the top of the rice. Boil on high heat, lower heat when steam holes form, cover and steam for 30 minutes till rice is cooked. Chop chicken and serve with steaming hot rice and chilli sauce. Dark soya sauce is the ideal accompaniment.