The Beer Deal in Perth!

Let's begin with the beer review as I promised to write about beer in Perth end of this month. I mentioned Little Creatures in my earlier blog when I was in Adelaide so this is it. Visited this bar called My Place located in the heart of the city. It's just directly opposite to Madam Maude or is it Miss Maude? Quite a nice cozy place but I noticed I was the only "chink" in there. But what the heck?! People there looks friendly and getting drunk was more important than to worry about anti-asians at that time :)

LITTLE CREATURES (PALE ALE)

Little Creatures ain't really a beer... It's pale ale. Apparently those bums in OZ thought me the differences between beer and ale. They're both simillar except beer contains hop whereelse ale doesn't. And also it is brewed differently. They said beer uses the yeast which is fermented from the bottom and ale uses the yeast fermented from the top. Or was it vice versa? Can't really remember. I only knew how to drink that night. Anyway, this beverage comes in full pint size bottles at 568ml. It's really crispy, not too dry and quite a thirst quencher. Sadly, I find my Little Creatures that night missing something in its flavour. It wasn't as fragrant as I had it before. (5.2%alc)

JAMES SQUIRE (POTTER)

This is a very unique beer. It has a rich chocolate taste in it. I know, what the heck???!!! Chocolaty beer???!!! YUCKS! But wait!... I wasn't so keen to try it at first but after a sip of it, WOW! Amazingly it was a good combination! A must try for tourists visiting Perth. I wouldn't call this a beer, but at least it's one of my favourite alcoholic beverage from now on. It is thick, creamy and the colour is dark like stout. Yet it's still a beer. The dark colour comes from the chocolate. Yes... It is really brewed with chocolate. Try it! You won't regret it for sure... (5.0% alc)

JAMES SQUIRE (I.P.A.)

I.P.A. stands for India Pale Ales... I didn't quite like this drink... I have to say that it is quite smooth but it tastes like as though methanol has been added in the drink for the extra kick. The colour is more towards brownish or rusty gold. Written on the side of the bottle:-

"Convicts weren't the only thing the English exported to a hot, distant country. At about the same time James Squire embarked for Australia, this style of beer shipped out for India's shores. Spoilage was offset during the long journey by adding more hops and increasing India Pale Ale's alcohol content - it's unlikely the same kindness was offered to the 'passengers' of the First Fleet." (5.6% alc)

I wonder if you noticed that this beer review doesn't have any prices? Honestly, I was pretty drunk that night. I forgot to take the receipt after paying and I returned back to my hotel and knocked out. I think I couldn't even walk back properly. If I am not mistaken, the prices for each bottle of beer ranges from AU$5.00 - AU$6.00. So, it's still quite affordable especially for blokes like us who comes from the Boleh Land! CHEERS EVERYONE!

My in-flight meals from Rome - KL

Well, I have to say that Malaysia Airlines have fairly improved on their in-flight meals. People always think that in-flight meals are always pre-cooked food which taste terrible or it's always the typical cold sandwiches. Let me change your views from now on :)

Upon departing out of Rome, we started with satay for starters. Satay is a traditional BBQ chicken/beef skewers marinated with lemongrass topped with spicy peanut sauce. It is a traditional Malay dish which is loved by all races and all ages in Malaysia. The ones served by Malaysia Airlines is delicious and the meat is very tender. It is not dry but juicy and piping hot too. The spicy peanut sauce is thick and rich with aroma. This is the award wining signature dish for Malaysia Airlines and should I say, I'll give my 2 thumbs up for this dish! :)

Then there came my food tray which initially served my appetizers. 2 garlic breads, smoked salmon with prawns accompanied by fresh vegetables and a bowl of mixed fruits. I don't think I'll need to explain much about the garlic bread as I have mentioned about it in my previous blog. Anyway, the smoked salmon was a little dry but the flavour is still there. Squeeze the lemon juice on it to remove the fishy smell and viola! It tastes quite good. The prawn was fresh. It gives a good chewy sensation in your mouth. As I love vegetables, the fresh vegetables around it makes the dish more exciting with crunchiness in your mouth.

My main course was the stuffed pasta in cream sauce with cheese. It's 3 slices of pastas stuffed with cheese in it. This is the first time I had such a dish and may I say, it was fun to try new flavours. The stuffing in the pasta makes it quite a heavy dish. The flavour is a little bit flat and there's a strong cheesy stench. But in overall, it still is quite a good dish.

Later in the night, I got a little hungry and needed something to eat. For supper, I requested for an instant noodle from the cabin crew. In about approximately 5 minutes later, the cabin crew served my delicious instant noodle in a 5 star manner. You can see it in the picture that this is what we call luxury instant noodles. It's cooked with prawns, chicken, tofu and vegetables. Eat it with the sliced chilli and it's the perfect instant noodles!

Then there came breakfast time before we landed in Kuala Lumpur. I tried the chicken noodles for the first time. Sorry to say, this dish isn't that good. It was too salty and the noodles were a little overcooked. The vegetables were too soft as they were overcooked. Although the looks of the dish is wonderful, it is still a mere disaster for me. Had to consume alot of drinking water after that meal due to it being too salty. The fresh fruits served with it played a big part of cleaning my tongue :)

Roma, Italia

This is my first trip to Rome... Really great to be there as I've only seen this beautiful city on TV and magazines. For the first time there, I was so excited about trying their original pastas and pizzas and whatever food I can find.

Day 1

Upon checking into the hotel, I took about 2 hours nap after the long flight before I begin my adventure in the city. As I arrive the city riding on the hotel shuttle, I saw many historical sites and buildings. I was dropped off somewhere in the middle of the city called Via Luigi Petroselli and everything there on begins on foot. Walked for nearly 45 minutes and I discovered a restaurant or shall I call it "ristorante" called Comparone, or is it called Trastevere... Not sure which is the actual name as it has 2 names written on their signboard. Anyway, this restaurant has been established for 200 years, as what they claimed. Had my lunch there and the place is just perfect! The cooling breeze in summer makes the whole ambience wonderful!

I was recommended to try their minestrone soup as the waiter claimed that they originated this recipe. Minestrone soup is actually vegetable soup with a little bit of pastas in it. Boy was it good! The amount of vegetables in it were trully generous. It includes celery, potatoes, carrots, zucchinis, basils leaves, oregano and some pastas. This was the best minestrone soup I had besides Campbells canned minestrone soup :) EU$8.00

My main course was rather exciting.... I had a lobster linguine in tomato sauce. The linguine was "Al Dente"! Which means it's cooked to the tooth! There should be a slight resistance in the center when it's chewed. The tomato sauce were cooked with diced garlic and it was sprinkled with a generous amount of chopped parsleys. The lobster was quite a shocking too! Although it was only half a lobster, it was really fresh. The meat was succulent and juicy. Only negative part is the lobster was a little too salty. Overall, it was still a great dish. EU$18.00

I couldn't wait to try their local beer immediately after my meal. I was recommended the Nastro Azzurro beer. I didn't like it at all. First things first, I couldn't read the ingredients as it's all written in Italian. Tastes like pilsner beer. The reason I didn't like it is because the flavour really isn't there. I can taste the hop but no fragrance whatsoever. The only positive remark I could give about this beer is that it's "quite" smooth... I'll give this beer a 2/10 rating based on my taste. (4.6% alc) EU$6.00 restaurant price

Had a long walk after my meal and I bought a small bottle of Peroni beer at a drink stand near a piaza which I've forgotten it's name. This beer tastes better than the earlier one. The flavour is richer but still rather flat to compare with our own local beers. There is quite a strong malt flavour in it too. This I can tell is a lager beer. Overall, it is not bad. (4.7% alc) EU$2.50

It was dinner time then when I entered a pizzaria. Of course I'll need to try a pizza here in Italy. This is where pizza originated from and I'd be a fool not to try it. They sell pizzas in 2 ways, by slices or the whole thing. They charge pizza slices by it's weight. The average price is about EU$1.60 to EU$1.90 per 100 grams. Since I'm an eating machine, I ordered a whole pizza which is close to 700 grams. I tried the 4 cheese flavour which they call it as "Formaggi". It contains mozzarella, fontina, feta and parmesan cheese. I was kind of greedy too at that time so I asked the waiter to modifiy it by adding pepperoni on it. It turned out great BUT it's totaly different from the pizzas we have back home. The crust is really dry and it tastes like Indian naan bread. I noticed their style of baking pizzas are making it slightly burned and chared. The end of the crusts are crispy. EU$12.00

Day 2

Rented a car on the second day. Took a drive to Pisa to visit the leaning tower. It was a long drive and decided to stop at a rest area. There are many rest area restaurants along the highway and it's called Autogrill. I ordered some sort of sandwhich which it's bread is like pita. Tried 2 types of their sandwhiches which was the Buffolini and Capri. Buffolini is grilled with beef bacon, beef fillet, feta cheese and vegetables in it. Whereelse the Capri is grilled with pork ham, feta cheese and vegetables. It tasted good but it has a very strong cheesy stench. Buffolini EU$2.50, Capri EU$2.00

As I arrived Pissa, I was amazed to find Duff Beer! In case you do not know what Duff Beer is, it's a very famous beer brand which only exists in The Simpsons cartoon. I was shocked that such a beer from a fictional cartoon is brought to reality!!! Bought a 6 pack which costs me EU$18.00 and drank it immediately. Funny thing, it tasted really good! Maybe it's good because it is not made in Italy, instead it's made in Germany. For more info, visit http://www.duff-bier.com/. (4.9% alc) EU$3.00

I had my dinner in a restaurant called Ristorante Ingresso. The place setting is typically Italian like what you watch in the movies. This is a place where the Godfather Don Vito Corleone would have his meal. I had to try how the spaghetti bolognaise (pronounced "bor lo nay" here) tasted like. It looked different as the tomato sauce is more brown than red. They use pork lard to cook the sauce which makes it extremely delicious! A mixture of beef and pork was used to make the sauce too unlike the typical plain beef or chicken style we have back home. The waitress told me that this is the original style of cooking bolognaise sauce in Italy. EU$9.00

Day 3

Today I travelled South of Rome heading towards Sorrento. Had my lunch in a local restaurant which I have forgotten it's name. Tried the lasagne and it turned out OK but more on the dry side. The portion is really huge and thick. It has minced beef, minced pork, mashed hard-boiled eggs with lots of herbs and spices. Honestly, I'd prefer the lasagne in Dave's Deli back home 10 years ago. EU$8.00

After visiting the town of Sorrento, the drive continued all the way to Amalfi. Took some pictures before heading to Risto Al Corso located at Vietri sul Mare which was about an hour plus drive from Amalfi. This is quite a famous restaurant recommended by the locals. The place setting isn't bad. Dining area is upstairs as the ground floor is only used as a reception and kitchen. Everything inside the restaurant is red and black in colour. Although the lightings are a little gloomy, it still gives a warm welcoming feeling. This time, I had a superb meal with numbers of varieties. They gave a free appetiser which is some sort of fried dough balls with herbs in it. Tasted good but the only thing is it might be a little dry.

Grilled Prawns were fresh. They were extra large too. European size if you know what I mean. Garnished all over with freshly chopped parsley. Squeeze the lemon on them and it'll give you a slight zest in the flavour! EU$10.00

Then there came the The Joint Brace. It came with 3 types of meat which were grilled pork, grilled veal and sausage. It turned out "so so only lah" :) It is garnished and cooked the same way as the grilled prawns. Squeeze the lemon in it, and you'll get the same thing too. I'll explain about the sausage later as I ordered extra sausages after having this. EU$8.00

My main course was the Penne Arrabiata. The portion was extremely huge. It's cooked with capsicums, cherry tomatoes, parsleys, oregano leaves with chicken and pork. YUM! YUM! YUM! It tastes extremely good! I love it so much! It isn't too oily and the flavour is just wonderful! EU$5.00

Lastly was the 3 sausages... And I thought sausages come in a shape of the you know what, but this is different. It doesn't have the pork intestine as the skin instead it's just the meat. It is fully homemade. This is my favourite dish I had in my whole Italian trip. I love it so much! My mouth is watering now as I try to describe it. It's really juicy and tender. But I believe a picture is worth a thousand words. The picture has 1 sausage missing, I ate it before I took a picture of it :) EU$5.00

Had some wine during the meal. Was recommended to try Sam Marcus red wine. I don't know what kind of wine this is but it tasted quite good. Goes well with our meal and very appetising. EU$6.00

When I got back to my hotel in Rome, decided to get one last round of booze before I hit the sack. Tried a bottle of Birra Moretti. It's a lager beer and this is the first Italian beer which I quite enjoy. There is a little crisp in it, flavour is fairly rich, quite fragrant and smooth to down. I recommend this beer for tourists visting Italy. Shouldn't be wrong :) EU$3.00 (large bottle)

Fatty Chicken Rice

My family and I took a drive to Sri Kembangan to have chicken rice at this place called Fatty Chicken Rice. Well, the name says it all... The owner is a big fat guy and the chicken were all big and fat too. The difficult part about having your meal there will be getting a carpark for yourself. We normaly spend alot of time waiting and hunting for a carpark lot but we were rather lucky today as there was one available parking spot right in front of the restaurant for us as we arrived. Don't worry about the heat there as they have an airconditioned dining area too.

We ordered 1/2 roasted chicken and 1/2 steamed chicken. And also including 3 double boiled soups and 1 plate of bean sprouts "Tau Geh". After taking our orders, they returned to us within a few minutes admitting that they are short of a chicken thigh for the steamed chicken. So we decided to changed our order to a whole full roasted chicken instead. I like the honesty in them as they didn't try to cheat us. Other places would have just shut the hell up and serve us as we ordered with short of a chicken thigh hoping that we never noticed.

The 3 soups arrived first... They consists of a spinach soup, ginseng black chicken soup and a "Yuk Chuk" chicken soup. The soups were wonderful... We drank every single last drop from it except the meat. Due to being boiled overnight, all the nutrients from the meat has gone into the soup hence makes the meat tasteless and dry. But hey! That's double boiled soup for you :)




Then there came the chicken and the bean sprouts. Their chicken are special as they only use free range chicken also known as "Choi Yin Kai" in Cantonese. Funny thing, they are extremely huge for a free range chicken. Although the chicken is roasted, they managed to keep its juicyness of the meat. These all depends on the chef's "Kung Fu" skills of cooking. Unlike other chicken rice stalls who uses normal cucumber as a condiment for the chicken, this place uses pickled cucumbers instead. Crunchy and soury, just makes it more appetizing. The bean sprouts weren't so salty as they used marginal amount of soya sauce and sprinkled with lots of fried shallots. Mmmm... A perfect combination.

I particularly love their rice... It's very fragrant and not so oily as they use shallot oil to cook the rice. Most other chicken rice stalls uses margarine to cook the rice... That's why the rice turns out in bright yellow colour and this is very unhealthy. They use margarine because it's less troublesome and costs much cheaper than shallot oil. In case you do not know, margarine is made of hydrogenated palm oil which is very very high in saturated fat. Cheaper margarines are made of all sorts of chemicals and the most common ones sold in Malaysia are made from petroleum. V-Power for your tummy! Vroom! Vroom! :)

Amazingly after a big meal, it only cost us RM58.40 for everything including our drinks. Talk about eating cheap, you should try this place out if you don't mind the distance.

Location:- Along the road of Jalan Puchong in Seri Kembangan on the way to Jalan Utama.

GPS Position:- N03 01.150 E101 42.224

Meals at 41,000 feet

Sorry for the late updates... Was kind of shagged up after landing in KLIA. Hit the sack and knocked off when I got back home. Was quite busy the next day too and that's why I'm updating my blog today.


I was flying overhead the Straits of Japan heading south at 41,000 feet above mean sea level when suddenly I received a chime from the cabin crew telling me it's lunch time! Yum! Yum! Was rather hungry that day as my breakfast was only a Nissin Cup Noodle. My starters were soft rolls with garlic bread. Apetisers were Japanese Buckweed Noodles also known as "Zaru Soba", main course was grilled sea bass with cream and vegetables, deserts were fresh fruits. The soft roll was never my favourite but I always enjoyed the garlic bread although it's a little bit tough.


The "Zaru Soba" is only available for Japanese routes. We don't normally get this served on board unless we're flying to Japan. It's really good especially when you mix the "wasabi" in the sauce. It gives an extra "kick" into the flavour. So, don't have your "soba" without one.

The grilled fish was quite fresh and blends especially well with the cream sauce. Add a couple dashes of black pepper, viola! You've got yourself a delicious main course... Sadly, the sweet peas were rather old. The rest of the vegies were just fine.

Crab Crab & Crab In Narita!!!

I'm currently in Narita, Japan... Came back after a long day shopping in the Aeon Shopping Center buying Japanese products which we couldn't find back home in Boleh Land. Got back to the Holiday Inn Tobu Narita hotel just in time for the crab buffet at 6pm LT. It costs JPY4000.00 (equivelant to RM140.00) per person. They serve BBQ King Crab and cold Queen Crab. If you don't know what kind of crab these are, they are the ones where you watch those crazy guys fishing them in the show Deadliest Catch from Discovery Channel.

The King Crabs are bigger and saltier with a jagged shell whereelse the Queen Crab has a smoother and rounder shell with a sweeter taste... They call the Queen Crabs here as "Kumogani" or also widely known back home as the Spider Crab. I ate about 2kgs of King Crab and about 1/2kgs of Queen Crab. With a bloated belly and two thumbs up, I raised my white flag surrendering myself to retirement :)

Got back to my room, took a shower and it's time to relax with an ice cold beer... Drank the Suntory All Malt Beer for the first time. Gave it a try and apparently it tastes really good. The flavour is rich and crispy. It costs me JPY500 (equivelant to RM18.00) for a pint in the hotel. Although everything in Japan is expensive, booze here is still cheaper than back home in Boleh Land. (5.0% alc)

Adelaide... OZ

Adelaide, Australia.

Besides strip clubs, XXX shops and pokies, there's nothing much to do in Adelaide. It's a superbly laid back town. You can't find a descent bar around without slot machines but I manage to find a small little bar called The Little Bar at Hindley's. Had a pint of Victoria Bitter and decided to head back to the hotel. They weren't so friendly with Asians especially "chinks" like me. If I was Indian, I think they would have killed me :)

I woke up late at 6.30pm LT today... Walked out the hotel at 7.15pm and every shop and restaurants were closed. The only restaurant still open is called Mekong & Thai which is just directly opposite my hotel... Of course, their food sucks and that's why I ain't going back in there again. I tried their food once 3 months back and it was terrible. Imagine, a "guai lo" was frying my Nasi Goreng Kampung :) Since every restaurants were closed, I had no choice but to have take aways. Tried out this outlet called Wok In A Box. They serve Chinese "dung chows" in a box like what you see in the American movies. Ordered the "Hot & Spicy" and it costs me AU$10.95. It's stir fried noodles with beef, chicken, onions, capsicums, chili and chili sauce. Damn it was terrible! Maybe it is more for "guai lo's" tastes but not for us.

After my crappy meal in my room while watching Ran & Stimpy, decided to get some booze. Ordered room service for 2 Victoria Bitter, 2 Crown Lager, 2 Coopers original pale ale and 2 Coopers clear.

Victoria Bitter:

VB has always been my favourite when I'm in OZ... It's easy to obtain practically everywhere in OZ and it doesn't give you a disappointment. It gives a good flavour of its Lager but it ain't so bitter. I would prefer it to be a little bit more bitter to give the extra "umph!". (4.6% alc)

Crown Lager:

They call this the premium beer. It costs more than other beer. I don't undertand why they call it a Lager... Tastes more like Pilsner beer to me... It's quite flat in flavour but I have to say, it's really really really smooth for beer. (4.9% alc)

Coopers Pale Ale:

They call it ale, I call it beer. We "chinapek" can't really tell the differences between beer and ale unless we look into its ingredients. Honestly, it tastes rather OK to me. Flavour is much richer than the rest but the "kick" really isn't there. (4.5% alc)

Coopers Clear:

Low Carb Beer... Really regreted trying this bull crap! Tastes really really dry... If you think Asahi Dry Beer is dry, wait till you try this crap. It's like a desert running through your throat and into your belly. Tastes rather flat like Duty Free Tiger beer back home. This is definitly a No No for recommendations... Unless you're size of a freaking Hippo and decided to keep a low fat diet, by all means, GO AHEAD! (4.5% alc)

I have to say, there are more beers to try in Australia... Different states makes different beer. The best beer I had is called Little Creatures which I tried in Perth. It's really good. I'll keep you guys further updated with the Little Creatures end of this month when I'm there. Cheers!

My New Blog!

Greetings everyone!!!

This is the first time I'm creating a blog. As a commercial pilot and I've been to almost everywhere around the globe, I've decided to create a blog regarding good food and good booze from around the world. I love food and I love getting drunk. I live to eat NOT eat to live. I never cared about unhealthy food either because I believe in living life to its fullest! Nothing else could statisfy the average Joe like me besides good food and good booze. I hope this blog of mine could give you good tips and information for food whenever or whereever you are. CHEERS TO ALL!!! :)