Smooth Radio

When I was in Glasgow, I used to play Fly FM music online. Then, I discovered Smooth Radio which was a UK radio and I have been listening to it eversince. U get to choose which part of UK u want to listen to and I usually choose 'Central Scotland'. Smooth radio plays similar songs to Lite & Easy but there are less advertisements on Smooth radio. Get the app now!

Listening to Smooth radio brings back memories of Glasgow when the daily news, weather report or traffic report comes up :)

Menthol crystal for nose block/ sinus

Eversince returning from Glasgow, I have been suffering with a blocked nose due to allergy to temperature change. Nasal sprays worked for awhile but I did not want to continue taking it forever. The gp also said once I stop taking the spray, my mucus secretion will be higher.

This week I was down with a fever and a really bad, painful sore throat. It also does not help that the nose decides to be blocked too. So, sleeping at night can be a hassle because I have to breathe through my mouth, which makes my throat hurts more.

The gp recommended some allergy tablets and also menthol crystal for my blocked nose. They really look like crystals!

I was told to put a few pieces of me thol crystals into hot water in a cup and breathe from it. Being my first time, putting one or two tiny crystals didnt feel like it would work. So, I added five more! When I added the hot water and inhaled the steam, woosh it went straight up my nostrils. It felt like i was having a mint sweet. It was very minty and when the steam gets into the eyes it hurts.

Miraculously, my nose was completely cleared in ten seconds. It was like magic.

But the cleared nose didnt last long. As I fell asleep my nose blocked again:( 

Will try a lower concentration of menthol tonight with more inhalation to see if it works.

Cuteness

Keep calm and move your ass

Expresso Lab Cafe @ Avenue K

Next to Urbean Cafe is Expresso Lab. It was my first time patronising that cafe. I actually left Urbean after my smoked salmon sandwich and as I passed expresson Lab, their tiramisu caught my eye. There was only one slice left and it looked like the Tiramisu from Alexis.

I gave it a go. RM12 per slice.

The verdict: Its still not up to Alexis standard. I do like that they put chocolate chips in between layers. 

The tiramisu from F by Buffalo Kitchens in  Telawi 3, Bangsar is better than Expresson Lab's.

Urbean Cafe @ Avenue K

The last time I was raving about the smoked salmon sandwich at Urbean Cafe in Avenue K. I just had some yesterday for the third time and it was still my favourite kind of meal. Their gourmet bread which is walnut bread topped with chives cream cheese makes it even more delicious.

My sister ordered Smoked Salmon linguini which was just as good. The pasta was cooked to perfection.

Another star for Urbean.

 Try their coffee too.

Witnessed a snatch theft outside Avenue K, Jln Ampang

I was at Wisma Central yesterday having a bite at 12am at the mamak when I heard a loud scream across the road. Opposite Wisma Central was Avenue K mall. The scream came from a lady in front of Starbucks. Her handbag was snatched by a motorcyclist. I saw the smile of the motorcyclist as he held onto the lady's handbag while speeding off.

Everything happened so fast. First when the scream was heard, we had to register where the scream came from.

By the time we knew where it was, the motorcyclist was already a distance away so we could not see its plate number. 

There were also a few other motorcyclist involved.

I started getting suspicious of every motorcyclist that stopped by the mamak, holding onto my purse tightly eventhough there was only RM10 inside.

I lost my appetite to eat.

The lady's scream was etch in my mind till now.

Starbucks located along the main road of Jalan Ampang is a call for extra security. Any bad guy can just easily walk in to rob the patrons and run off in mere minutes.

A word of advise, dont bother carrying a handbag anymore. It attracts the wrong type of people.

My Sunday in pictures

Urbean @ Avenue K

If you have not checked out Avenue K, you should. They have completely revamped the place and there are plenty more interesting shops than before. Previously, their concept was for the rich. Currently, the shops are more affordable such as Sushi Zanmai, Daiso, Nichii, H&M, FOS, Cotton On and others. Even their supermarket called Presto is not that expensive. 

There are a few restaurants located at the  Concourse level like Noodle Shack, Miso Korean BBQ, Expresso Lab, Old Chang Kee, The Loaf and Urbean.

I have tried Noodle Shack and Miso, but They were not to my liking.

Urbean's concept reminds me of Plan B. The menu is short and simple. I liked that they have smoked salmon in their menu at an affordable price.

Urbean's menu:

I had smoked salmon sandwich with their gourmet bread. Their gourmet bread was walnut bread. It was sooooo good omg that I gobbled up everything in a jiffy and I wanted more!! The layer of chives with cream cheese was amazing :)

I have been shopping at H n M more of late because of their buy 1 free 1 shirts which are good for gym.

F concept by Buffalo Kitchens, Bangsar

'F' is actually the name of the restaurant situated at the corner of Jalan Telawi 3 in Bangsar. It was located above Chawan. Its concept is by Buffalo Kitchens. When I walked into the restaurant, there was a shelf with pots and pans. I was told that Buffalo Kitchens was actually a brand for those pots and pans.

The restaurant has a smoking and non- smoking section. It is not a big restaurant. They have this open concept where at one glance you will see their open kitchen, bar and dining room.

We were seated at the corner closest to the kitchen which was not really an ideal place to be dining. This was because the hear from the kitchen affected us and there was no aircond at our section. Because the kitchen was an open concept, we could smell the frying, and we were sweating while eating. That was the not so enjoyable part of the night as we were stuffy and sweaty which thus made us feel tired after our meal. 

Nevertheless, their food was amazing! 12 people, 12 main dishes!! Their menu was unusual and their drink list was interesting too. A few drinks from the list made us laugh like 'Jade Dong Ding', 'Pussy foot', 'Naked Scot' and 'Long Black'. Their drinks menu:

F's food menu:

We started of with appetisers. I wanted to try their 'Duo of crabs' which was soft sell crab and fish cakes. But, because we intend to share the appetiser, the friendly waitress said it will not be enough. She suggested we get the tapas platter which came with a variety of meat such as smoked salmon, smoked duck, beef tataki, hummus, tiger prawns with romesco sauce, freshly baked sour dough, extra virgin olive oil, olives, almonds, grilled bell peppers and sea salt. We went ahead with the waitress suggestion and it was a good choice. Two orders of F's tapas set was good enough to share between all of us.

The funny thing was we were famished therefore we almost finished the meat before the bread came. The waitress was like, "You should stop eating because there was bread to go with the meat."

F TAPAS SET:

For our mains, each of us ordered different dishes. For pasta, we had a choice of angelhair, linguine, squidd ink

1. SOFT SHELL CRAB AND  SEAFOOD MISO CARBONARA

2. SMOKED DUCK BREAST ARBONARA

3. PAN SEARED BARRAMUNDI AND RICH SEAFOOD RISOTTO

4. BEFF TENDERLOIN WITH DUCK FAT POTATOES AND SNOW PEAS

5. OVEN ROASTED CHICKEN CHESTNUT ROULADE

6. FUSION CHICKEN ESCALOPE WITH SPICY WEDGES AND ARUGULA

Drinks:

For dessert:

APPLE CRUMBLE

HOMEMADE TIRAMISU - good stuff

CHOCOLATE BROWNIE ICE CREAM - freshly baked brownies. We were told to wait 20 minutes for it to be ready.

Despite the ambience being a let down, the food was perfectly cooked. Go back for the food, but choose your seats wisely ;)

Allan Wu says..

One month!

 A month of not blogging goes to show I was too busy to open blogger and start writing. Its a shame really because I still take pictures of everything I do. But, its just pictures kept in my phone. As time goes by, even I forget where or when that picture was taken.

Whats new?

- My hair is now at a managable length.

- I have lost weight but still have more to lose.

- I realise I have become 1 cm shorter!! aka growing old with bad posture :(

- I bake every weekend

- I am busier till I do not have time to even read the newspaper

Whats not new?

- I still love food

- I crave for Japanese food everytime

- My blog ratings are decreasing due to my hiatus and I don't think I care anymore

Introducing my new favourite sushi restaurant- Ichizen. It is located in Pavillion and they currently have 20% discount for any sushi till 30th November 2013.

I loved the food. I liked their service. They come round almost every minute to check if you need to refill your tea. For a new restaurant, it was really packed and there was a queue outside. They do have a good choice of lunch sets which comes at a reasonable price. But, for this month, I am definitely all out for their sushi.

To die for at Ichizen - Salmon mentai sushi and Unagi sushi

Of course, I still enjoy Sushi zanmai. Afterall, Zanmai will always be cheaper. But for more variety, Ichizen is the next best place.

Recalling delicious food from Zanmai:

Besides Japanese food, the craze for burgers has not stopped. This new place called Fuel Shack sells fantastic lamb burger for RM14. There is one at suria KLCC food court and another at the convention centre.

For a meal that is affordable, head over to Restoran Deen at Taman Melawati for some fantastic naan and tandoori.

On another note, The Petronas twin towers turned pink for breast cancer awareness month in October. I loved it that way :)

PIHCS 2013 was a wonderful learning experience.