Food brings us together - strangers, floggers and friends

1. quail eggs curry or 2. calamansi limes, 3. nasi lemak ct garden comes in packets, 4. chunky beef and chicken satay for our visitors

Food - how do you define it all? 4 letters that mean so much to all of us, especially those who are totally passionate about it. It often amazes me how food lovers "click" on another level, when it comes to talking and deciding where to eat (even when they're eating lunch, they're already planning the next meal). We're very blessed to live in Malaysia, as we get to eat every where, any where and any time (one of the main reasons why I won't leave here for anywhere else!).

1. Karim & Hubert's Beijing to Paris t-shirt shaped like a dragon, 2. charred Hokkien beehoon, 3. sin on a plate aka fried lard bits

Through the blog, I've met loads of like-minded people who love their food so much, they don't mind going to the ends of the earth to hunt down what's good. The best part of course is the sharing of information. While the hunt for the perfect char siu may be an unforgettable experience, I find divulging to others where and how to get to that perfect char siu even more exciting. Being proud of what Malaysia has to offer in the tummy stakes, I often get roped in when visitors from overseas pop by, to give them a gastro tour around town. While they may be strangers at the beginning, after a little nasi lemak with fiery sambal, you find that you'll be chatting like old friends.

1. ladling out Hokkien noodles, 2. two woks get work done quicker, 3. the fire is fiery here, 4. noodles oodles of noodles

Last week, we had the opportunity to meet up with Karim & Hubert, two French fellas who are doing an amazing feat on their year off from work. Their mission - to cycle from Beijing to Paris for one year, without flying. They took off from Beijing in March and made their way down the Silkroad and Tibet but unfortunately they hit a bump there, as they weren't allowed to cross the border there to India. Hence they ended up in Malaysia vide Laos and Thailand, hoping to find sea passage to India. From what I heard, as they're not able to secure a ship willing to take them aboard, they will have to abandon that idea of not flying. Like good Malaysians, we gave them a little "local food tour" - nasi lemak CT Garden for loads of side dishes and nasi lemak bungkus, chunky beef and chicken satay from O Mulia and sinful charred black Hokkien Mee with extra fried lard (all the sin is gone, claims my friend since you have to render the oil out to make it crispy! Yeah, right, tell that to our cholestrol levels!) from Ah Wa's just off Jalan 222. If you want to follow the duo on their travels, see Karim's picasa web album.

1. stewed beef with radish, one of my favourites at Yang Kee, sadly that is in the past, 2. minced beef noodles from Yang Kee that didn't make the mark, 3. food papparazzi hits Yang Kee, 4. all I have left of my pictures on Kung fu pan mee

Coincidentally, the floggers also had got together that weekend, to hit Old Klang Road to fulfil an almost year long promise Precious Pea made to Black Tie White Lie to bring him eat the famous Kung Fu Pan Mee in Taman Sri Sentosa. See what I mean, we love food so much that we don't mind waking up at 8am to meet up! No pictures of the super long and "pappardelle" lookalike pan mee, as I accidentally deleted my images. It was great fun with 14 people cramping in 3 plastic square tables at the place. To maintain some order, the waitress had to ask us to hold our hands up (like school) to place our orders. The pan mee, still remains good with loads of texture but I felt the chilli sauce accompanying it now is too smooth and processed looking. Sigh, there goes one important part of the dish.

1. chinese doughnuts being cut, 2. sweet potato balls with a slightly chewy texture, very different from the other one in Petaling Street, 3. marble cake detail, 4. the master at work with his peanut pancake

Next it was the beef noodles at Yang Kee where we discovered that quality of the food there has detiorated tremendously. Seems the owner passed away and his wife runs the show. Guess she made some changes to how items are cooked as the noodles weren't cook (too much flour and soft), minced beef topping was not tasty anymore just like the stewed beef with white radish. Feeling dissapointed, we hit the market to get the much raved butter cake. On the way, I took pictures of the doughnut and sweet potato balls stall. I preferred the chewy taste of the sweet potato balls but didn't think much of the doughnut though. Butter cake was a crowd favourite as everyone was queueing up for their sweet share (you can cut them to halves or quarters). I got a selection; chocolate cake, butter cake and marble cake. The crumb of the cake is very fine, moist and pretty tasty but I don't think it used real butter though. The stall also sells the large peanut pancake, which we tried (as it looked very good and it was!) a slice piping hot from the skillet. While the morning crawl's selections weren't great, the company was fantastic (Nice meeting everyone even though I didn't get to say hi to everyone - thenomadgourmand, Unkaleong, Simon Says, You Get What You Give Sometimes, Ipoh Mali Talak Sombong, Kusahikeat, Food4thot, Motormouth from Ipoh, Food Cookies, tankiasu and Kampungboycitygal.) For more pictures, see my Flickr Set.

Nasi Lemak CT Garden (CT Roses)

Jalan Dewan Sultan Sulaiman

Kampung Baru

Kuala Lumpur

(Halal. Open daily from 6 pm to 5 am. To get here from Jalan Raja Abdullah if you are coming from Bank Pembangunan, take the left turn when you see Jalan Dewan Sultan Sulaiman. It's either the first or second turning on the left hand side. As it's a one way street, drive down all the way round the field and you will see the one storey building on your right hand side opposite the school. My previous blog post is here.)

O Mulia Satay

300-1, Jalan Tun Razak

Kuala Lumpur

Tel No: 019-371 3639

(Halal. Open from 5-11.30pm, closed on Sundays. Each stick is 60 sens. Get the google map here. To get here, if you are coming from PWTC on Jalan Tun Razak towards KLCC, you will pass by Istana Budaya and the National Blood Bank. Keep left when you see Wisma Sejarah and Hospital Pusrawi, pass by National Library and you will hit the traffic lights. Just after the traffic light on the left hand side, at the corner is O Mulia satay. It is opposite the Marinara building and near Celcom building. Previous blog post is here.)

Ahwa Restaurant

66, Jln 14/48

Section 14

Petaling Jaya

(Non halal. Open at night. It’s directly behind the Shell station along Jalan 222.)

Pan Mee Stall

28, Jalan Seri Sentosa 9A

Taman Seri Sentosa

Off Old Klang Road

Kuala Lumpur

Tel No: 016 - 288 3911

(Non Halal. Open from 8am to 3pm. Closed on Mondays. To get here, drive to Old Klang Road from PJ Old Town. Take the second right hand turn at the traffic light to get into Taman Seri Sentosa. Follow the road i.e. Jalan Taman Sentosa and drive past apartments and high tension wires. You will then see a Petronas petrol station on your left which is on Jalan Taman Seri Sentosa 8, take the first right down Jalan Taman Seri Sentosa 8a and then immediate left at the shophouses (there's a 7 Eleven at the corner). Drive down the road and take a right again at the end of the row where you will see Kedai Makanan BW Pasifik. Take an immediate right turn and drive down to the end of the road. The Pan Meen stall is on your left hand side facing the wet market. My previous blog post is here.)

Restoran Yang Kee

No. 52, Jalan Hujan Rahmat 2

Overseas Union Garden

Kuala Lumpur

Tel No: 03 - 7784 3799

(Non Halal. Open from 8.30 am to 7 pm. Closed on Mondays. My previous blog post is here.)

Sweet potato balls/doughnuts

Overseas Union Garden morning market

Stall located in the middle walk area opposite the actual market

Buttercake and peanut pancake stall

In front of Restoran Sun Sea (where they sell the pork noodles)

Overseas Union Garden

Available during the morning market only.