MIGF Grand Finale Dinner...

All good things must come to an end.. This year's MIGF Grand Finale Dinner was hosted in the Grand Dorsett Hotel in Subang ( formally known as the Sheraton Subang ). The ballroom was decorated in a similar theme to the Opening Ceremony, with red candle burning every where.
Entertainment for the night was a band called Deep Blue from Brisbane.. we were impressed by the guy playing the cello on stilts ( see bottom left photo ) .. what balance !

Clockwise from top left :

1. The Emperor's Tureen - Coconut Chicken Consomme with Sea Cucumber and Fish Maw Sun Dried Scallop Soup

2. The Emperor's Revelation - Wok Fried Frangrant Rice with Assorted Seafood and selected Japanese Tobiko

3. Delicacies For the Emperor - Chilled Pumpkin Cream served with Durian Thousand Layer Cake and Cream Yam Puff

4. Dutch cheese from Avid Food Services

5. The Imperial Catch - Steamed Cod Fish Served with Braised Pickled Mustard garnished with Chervil

6. Royal Roast for the Emperor - Roast Marinated Rack of Lamb with Raisin Reduction garnish and grape sauce

As far as food was concerned, there were some hits and some misses. But overall, i would say it was pretty good considering that they were catering to such a huge number of guests.

MIGF 2009.. how quickly a year passed..

Well.. October is a good month to dine out. There is the Sydney International Food Festival, food festivals in various cities of UK, the San Francisco Street Food Festival, and for the foodies in Malaysia, we have the MIGF.

This coming Monday, the organisers will host the Grand Finale event at Dorsett Subang ( formally Sheraton Subang ), and i am looking forward to the event, although i wish it could be held somewhere in KL City Centre. Subang, to me, is Timbuktu. I dread facing the traffic jam and worse still, on a Monday when i am usually not in the best of moods !

The Launch was held 1st October at Royale Chulan Hotel. It was a well received affair, with the KL Mayor Datuk Ahmad Fuad officiating the event. I hear he is quite a foodie himself and rather skilled in the kitchen. I was rather ambitious and told myself that i must sample the food from each and every booth, but my extremely full tummy halfway through forced me to be selective of what to eat.

I made it a point to check out the MIGF Menu at the participating restaurants.. here are some of the photos :o)

Xenri in Menara Hap Seng ( my favourite of the three )

Pacifica in Mandarin Hotel ( the food met my expectations )

L'Heritage in Royale Chulan Hotel ( they did not have a a la carte menu so you are forced to order from the MIGF menu if you insist on dining in this restaurant )

Wow.. There really is a iPhone app for everything !

Now it will be more convenient for me to blog :o)


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

I want to have my photos on the cover of National Geography...

There.. i put it in writing... i will make that statement my next goal in life... i know i have a lot of learning to do... composition.. lighting.. exposure.. creativity... what i need now is a lot of practise !

I recently attended a talk by world famous photographer, Steve McCurry, at the Annexe Gallery in Central Market Kuala Lumpur. I arrived 10 minutes before the talk was scheduled to start and the organisers already closed the door because the room was packed to the brim.. they were afraid the floor would give in because it is an old building. Thanks to my gentle persuasion, they let me in.. and i was lucky enuff to get front row seats so i had a good view of the slides projected on the screen :o)

Mr McCurry has travelled all over the world, on assignment for National Geography and i am sure a host of other magazines. What a dream job, for me at least.. to wake up in a new place every other week.. meet new people.. see the best and the worst that life has to offer.. what would i give to live that life ? Is the grass always greener on the other side of the fence or should i be content with the comfortable life i am now living ? Did Mr McCurry have to make a lot of sacrifices to get to where he is now ?

Mr McCurry takes amazing portrait shots. I wonder what his secret is ? What does he say to his subjects to bring out the emotion in their faces ? Since they are mostly non-English speaking people ( like the the famous Pashtun Afghan girl, Sharbat Gula ).. he probably has to ask his translator to speak to them.. Well, Mr McCurry.. if you are in need of an assistant, please give me the opportunity to send in my resume :o) What i lack in skill and talent, i will make up for with my enthusiam and ability to think out of the box :o)

A picture speaks a thousand words..

Thanks to Airasia ( Now Everyone can Fly ), i have had the opportunity to travel to a lot of destinations over the past few years. My knowledge of the region has increased ten-fold or maybe even hundred fold, and there is really no textbook which teaches you more than travel experience itself.

What better souvenir to take with you than photographs. Everywhere i go, i take hundreds of photos and will create a CD of pictures which helps me to re-live the experience of visiting that foreign country.

Will post some photos of a city i recently visited. Any idea which city this is ? It is not a place which is tourist oriented and the customs officers were surprised when i announced my travel intentions :o)

MIGF - no, this is not a bad word :o)

Sometimes i ask myself, why is it i love living in Malaysia. Is it the weather ? The people ? The vibrance ? Well.. at the end of the day, i have to admit that malaysian food plays a huge role in making Malaysia inviting.

Ever since i started working, i have been a self proclaimed foodie. No week is complete if i don't try something new. In recent years, i have expanded my food hunt to overseas destinations and whenever i travel, good food is always near the top of the list. I will spend hours searching blogs and reading reviews and work these recommended eateries into the itinerary.

MIGF ( Malaysia International Gourmet Festival ) made its debut in 2001 and was started in response to industry cries to breathe life into what was then a very small fine dining scene. The Festival's aims were to increase the size of the local fine dining population and ultimately to make Malaysia an international food tourism destination of choice. Special Festival Menus sold at special prices help to attract a new generation of diners ( although i personally think the prices are still beyond the reach of this "new generation" ) and Festival Awards provide valuable recognition and encourage more people to take up careers in the hospitality sector.

18 days into the festival, i have sampled the Festival menus in 5 of the participating restaurants ( Kebab & Quarma, Zing, Westlake, Senses and Restaurant 39 ). Some elaboration on the latter two :

Senses - Hilton Sentral

I particularly enjoyed the Table Smoked Tasmanian ocean trout and was fascinated by the "smoke" which came out of the wine glass when the waiter lifted the glass. Is it carbon dioxide ? Drats.. i should have asked the waiter when i had the opportunity.

I was also wide eyed when the "Game Consomme with truffle noodle" was served. The waiter brings out a bowl of thick brown soup.. and he holds a cylinder tube and squirts out some sort of paste. When the paste gets heated up by the hot soup, it magically turns into noodles. Clever huh ?

The chef was generous with the amount of truffle on the organic Bintje potato although in my opinion, the truffle was baked a little bit too long and thus over-burnt. Is truffle mushroom heaty ? My throat felt sore after munching on the truffles and i am still feeling the effects at the moment of typing this blog entry :o(

Clockwise from top left :

1 & 2) Table Smoked Tasmanian ocean trout, Nordic deep sea shrimp with sour cream and chives

3) Organic Bintje Potato and Truffle

4) Tokaji Souffle

5) Heirloom tomato on organic durum toast, marinated mackerel, smoked olive oil

6) Organic Bintje Potato with Truffle Centre

Restaurant 39 - PNB Darby Park

The view from this restaurant is amazing. So amazing that the food, ambience and entertainment is secondary.

I enjoyed the sweet, smooth and melodius voice of Ann and her keyboardist. So much so that we decided to take our time to enjoy the food instead of heading of to Redbox for a karaoke session.

Restaurant 39, to my knowledge, is the only restaurant serving gourmet Malay food. Chef Ashar cleverly amalgates local cuisine with the style and flair of Western dishes. And by incorporating small portions and elegant presentations, his fushion style is unique.

Clockwise from top left :

1)Chilled coconut juice Gazpacho

2)Cinnamon Chicken Consomme with Potato Scallion Patty

3) Asian Pennywort Salad with Poached Lobster

4) Grilled Marinated Spring Chicken, Nasi Ulam, Chili Solok, Percik Sauce and Fine Beans

5) Amazing view of KLCC and KL Tower

6) Background : Deep fried Chempedak

18 November 2008 - Khadijah Ibrahim : The Pearl Anniversary Concerts

Wow... 30 years in the industry. Khaty is a star.

I kept my expectations low as i have previously been dissappointed with stars past their prime. Whitney Houston for example performed with lacklustre spirit at Kiara Equestrian Park and could not hit the high notes. In Genting Highlands Arena of the Stars, Connie Francis was not only horizontally endowed beyond recognition, she did not sing with the strong unwavering voice which won her fans during her hey day.

Despite her age ( she will hit the big five oh in less than 2 years ), Khaty had enough stamina to carry the concert into the third hour. She did 2 costume changes whilst the audience was entertained by her musical partners, Dato Ahmad Nawab and Ramli Sarip. I must confess, this is the first time i have heard the latter two perform. Call myself a Malaysian ? I have added "learn more about Malay culture" in my list of Resolutions. Ramli Sarip in particular woke up the audience with his energetic grooves, charismatic presence and booming voice. Khaty jokingly accused him of "stealing the show".

I particularly enjoyed Khaty's rendition of "Ku Pendam Sebuah Duka" which i think is her most popular hit. She was gracious enough to duet the song with one of her backup singers whom in my opinion has the vocal talent to make it big. How's that for confidence ?

Well Kathy, i hope you are able to raise enough money as per original target for your Underprivileged Children charity. Congratulations on a successful concert and please entertain us with more hits in years to come.