Embrace Your Potential @ Chin Swee Temple Genting Highlands: Day 2

Remember our previous post where we sent ECF up to Genting to embrace his potential. Well, he left you with a cliffhanger. He's back to complete his post with Day 2. 

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Hi everyone, it's me, ECF again! Sorry to keep you waiting for this post as i was busy enjoying good food most of the time. So I went to Chin Swee Temple a couple of weeks ago (Day 1 link is here) and here was what happened in Day 2. Enjoy! 

On day 2, all of us were forced to gather at Sky Terrace at 7am in the morning. Not sure if this is normal for everyone, or just abnormal for me because it's pretty darn freaking early. Anyway, I still managed to reach there on time as I didn't want to miss the fun of meditating at Sky Terrace.

Morning scene at Sky Terrace, cold and peaceful.

We began with walking meditation. The objective was to clear your mind and bring awareness to every step that you take. The process took about 10 minutes before we proceed to breathing meditation. Basically, there were 3 types of breathing meditations- first you breathe into your stomach, then you inhale using your left side of nose and exhale using your right side of nose, and vice versa, and the last one was you exhale like you are short of breath or attacked by asthma.

Everyone sat down before breathing meditations start.

A pressure indicator device.

Here was my result, I am stressed out.

After the end of meditation session, I felt extremely fresh, at the same time extremely hungry as well, and the breakfast came at perfect timing.

Peanut porridge.

And fried mee with vegetable.

A plate of not so oily fried mee, because of the vegetarian meal.

The porridge was hot, but who cares, I was hungry.

We finished off the whole bowl really fast.

I felt really warm because my stomach was filled with hot food in cold weather. After taking a short break, all of us back to meeting room to discuss about the mandalas. During the session, the facilitator finally revealed the secret of mandala: The first mandala was my true self, and the second mandala was my other self that I want others to see. And we discussed what do we think or how do we feel about every mandala.

And that was the end of Embrace Your Potential event. Below were some pictures taken before I left the place with a heavy heart.

Before we call it a day at Genting Highlands, we had our lunch at a mamak at Gohtong Jaya, a place located nearby the Genting Skyway station. Nothing special about the food there, but... oh well.

Nasi goreng pattaya.

Nasi kandar with ayam sambal.

Overall, I was really satisfied with the event as I had gained unforgettable knowledge and experience from it. I look forward to join another Genting event and meeting new more people. Till then, see ya!

Food Tree's Ramadan Buffet

The month of Ramadhan is a time for everyone to gorge themselves silly with food. I’m not kidding. People just like to makan, and makan and makan some more. I mean, why shouldn’t they? The restaurants are all providing us with buffet after buffet for really economical prices, to help both your stomach and your wallet.

Well, Forever Hungry does not miss out on the chance of great Ramadhan food. We were fortunate to be invited to a special Ramadhan buffet spread by the good people at Food Tree, under the OWG group.

This is a pretty unique review because we were not only served Malay dishes, but also halal Chinese dishes like the siao long bao and bing pei (frozen skin) mooncakes. More on that below.

The one problem with Food Tree is its location. If you were expecting the place to be a huge tree laden with food, please grow up. Food Tree is located in Glenmarie, notorious for its peak hour traffic jams and difficult to navigate (if you’re not familiar with the area) roads. I will provide a map and possibly the GPS coordinates below.

Now on to the food. The one thing I love about Ramadan is how everyone comes together to makes delicious food, regardless of race. Food Tree is no different. As you will see in the pictures below, there is a variety of food available, from Chinese to Indian to Malay cuisines. All halal of course. 

Look at that delicious spread. 

Look at all those food we're going to eat!

The Singapore Chilli Crab. 

It was a bit cold by the time we got to try it but it still retained that spicy, tangy taste of the Singapore Chilli Crab. I didn't like to use my hands but for the sake of good food, what must be done must be done.

Mutton Rogan Josh. 

I think this is a mutton made by a person called Rogan Josh who was so proud of his mutton that he named it after himself. Very regular mutton, and I would expect this Rogan Josh to average as well. But, y'know, it's all speculation up to this point.

 Ayam Tandoori. 

Typical mamak food. I didn't really like this one because it was too dry. And nothing is worse than dry chicken meat in your mouth. Believe me, I know.

 Nasi Kerabu Pucuk Paku. 

Rice, a staple for any Malaysian Ramadan meal. 

 Siput Sedut Masak Cili Api. 

As a person who cannot eat anything spicy, the name itself scared the living heck out of me. But it turned out to be quite manageable. The only thing was that I needed other people to teach me how to eat this. The trick is to suck really hard and hope that the siput is not shy and comes out from its shell.

Nasi Kerabu Taugeh & Kerang.

More rice? Wow.

Xiao Long Bao. 

Insanely, this usually porky dish is halal. But that takes nothing away from its taste. Aside from maybe the lack of pork, this is a relatively good replica of the soupy xiao long bao you find at Chinese restaurants. Again, the main issue is that it became cold. 

Next came the appetizers, which were strangely served mid-meal. I don't know why either. And because I was mouth deep in food by this point, I may not have been able to correctly name all the below food. But you probably can judge for yourself based on the pictures right?

 Okay, you may not know it but this is filled with kiwi paste. Imagine jam, but kiwi. Lots and lots of kiwi. 

Yam balls. 

I think. I'm definitely sure it's yam though. Balls? Maybe more like egg-shaped. So Egg Shaped Yam Balls.

 This is shrimp fried dumpling with roe. 

Again, I'm not really sure, but I'm hazarding a guess that what I put into my mouth was shrimp. Of that I am most certain.

This is definitely ABC ice kacang. Honestly, it was too sweet. And when I say something is too sweet, it's probably capable of inducing diabetes at a moment's notice.

  Mango shaved ice with sago. And a cherry on top. Beautiful ain't it?

Technically, the next dish isn't a dessert. It's bing pei (snow skinned) mooncakes. As all mooncakes go, there's a choice of lotus, red bean and other different flavors. This awesome smiling chef here is Chef Chee, the guy who made it all happen. 

 Chef Chee with his masterpiece.

Of course, let's not forget these pretty ladies, Evelyn and Choulyin who tried their hand in making the mooncakes. Not as nice as the Chef Chee's but close enough. 

 Delicious snow skinned mooncakes. Made by the chef and not the pretty ladies, mind you. 

Finally, this is possibly the best thing I ate all night. Seriously, all the above dishes I have gone through, has to bow down to this one dessert. Get ready to feast your eyes on what may possibly be the most delicious dessert you have ever laid eyes on.

DURIAN PANCAKES!

I don't know why they called it durian pancakes because these babies look like freaking durian PILLOWS! So soft, so yummy and so DURIANY! I had to slap myself several times to prevent taking too much for myself. If I was alone, this whole plate below...

...would become something like this.

I'm serious. It's that good. But it's kinda expensive at RM6 for a bolster, I mean plate.

It's Puasa Month already. So why not berbuka puasa at Food Tree? The Aneka Bazaar Ramadhan 2012 buffet costs about RM78.90 for adults and RM39.45 for children 5-12 years old and senior citizens above 60 years old. This awesome buffet will feature an international cuisine which changes every day. So you can be sure that no two dinners will be the same. This buffet will be available from 23rd July to 17 August 2012.

More info below:

OWG Food Tree

Address: 10, Jalan Pelukis U1/46, Section U1,
Temasya Industrial Park,
40150 Shah Alam, Selangor.

Phone: 03-5566 8079

Website: www.owg.com.my

Cheerios!

FH Quickie: Kangaroo Burgers

I don't know where most of you stand on kangaroos, but I think they're adorable. In fact, I think they're so adorable that when my friend Michelle asked me whether I wanted to try kangaroo meat here in Melbourne, I didn't even think twice. Remember, the answer is yes, just in case anyone asks you the same question.

Never say no to this! 

So we headed to this little shop in Melbourne called 1000 £ Bend, where they had something called a Grilled Roo Burger. If you're like me, the first thing you will imagine is this.

RIGHT IN THE CHILDHOOD!

Fortunately, my childhood was saved from further bashing when the actual burgers came.

These whoppers really works up one's appetite, especially when one has been out walking in the windy cold Melbourne weather.

Pictured: A ravenous appetite.

What I will say about kangaroo burgers is, GIVE ME MORE! The meat tastes very...outdoorsy. That's the first word that came up for me. 

Outdoorsy. It's now a word.

It's not like beef or chicken but more towards a mix of lamb and venison. You know, the taste of the great outdoors! That's how kangaroo meat tastes like. Michelle said it tastes rustic so we'll also include that in here.

Rustic tasting.

But the burger came with a little too much veggies for my taste. I would rather have more kangaroo meat. If I wanted veggie burgers, I would have gone to Lord of the Fries. Just saying...

Overall, delicious. Plus, 1000 £ Bend has the cheapest beer in town at AUD 2.50 a glass. Oh, I forgot to mention that kangaroo meat and beer goes REALLY well together.

What doesn't go well with beer?

So the next time you're in Melbourne, you should head on over here for some outdoorsy meat and a bouncing good time.

More info:

1000 £ Bend

Address: 361 LT LONSDALE STREET
MELBOURNE VIC 3000
Opening hours: Monday - Wednesday 8am - 11pm
Thursday - Friday 8am - 1am
Saturday 10am - 1am
Sunday 10am - 11pm

Cheerios!