Genting Mid-Autumn Festival : Mooncake tasting session

Just 2 weeks ago, I was invited by Nuffnang to join Mooncake Tasting Session in Resort World Genting (yes up there on the hill!!) This is in conjunction with this year’s Mid-Autumn Festival which would be falling end of this month ; 31 August 2012! Never in my life I have tried so much mooncake flavour at one go!

Looked how colourful & yummy are they !


Here are some of the mooncakes I have tried! 

Snow Skin Mango Paste - RM10.50+

I always fancy snow skin mooncake because it is like dessert to me. Best served when its chilled! Snow Skin Mango Paste because not only it smells good but it taste good. The skin is made from pure mango fruits and the filling is a mix of mango & lotus paste. A must have for Mango lover! And its no secret that this is my favourite!

Snow Skin with Kiwi Fruit Paste - RM10.50+ (NEW)

While this remains a favourite for a number for those who attended, I would prefer Mango over this one simply because it did not have the strong kiwi taste in the filling.

Lotus Sugar White Lotus Paste -RM11.00+

This is the most traditional mooncake without any fancy filling or colouring where lotus paste filling are the focus of it. I like how its low sugar because not only the older generation like our grandparents like it that way, I like it not too sweet when comes to moocakes. The skin is done perfectly where it is not too thick and powdery too!

Lotus Paste with Single Yolk - RM11.00+

If you are a fan of egg yolk, then this is one of the must try! 

Lotus Paste with Double Yolk - RM11.00+

If you are crazy about egg yolk, then this one give you the double oomph ! Although I'm not an egg yolk's fan, I know lot's of people are big fan of them because this is Genting's signature flavour which has very good sale!

Sweet Corn Paste with Chestnut -RM11.50+ (NEW)

This is newly introduced! The filling is made with sweet corn paste & chestnut is a sweet combination. And I like how the sweetness of chestnut filling melts in my mouth because I'm a big fan of chestnut myself, used to buy 1kg of chestnut and peel it by myself to enjoyyyy..

White Lotus Paste with Ginseng & Red Dates -RM11.50 (NEW)

This is another new flavour, as much as I like red dates taste here but I don't like any Chinese herbs like ginseng. Anyway I can't really taste the ginseng taste here . But these are good ingredients to improve health being!

Healthy White Lotus Paste with Spirulina Skin -RM11.50+

This is one of my favourite of all! Surprisingly the bitter taste of the skin (made from Spirulina) matched perfectly with the lotus paste sweetness. This is one really good one you should try especially when spirulina is always known to be good as nutritional supplement!

White Butter Skin with Pandan Sweet Corn Paste Yolk -RM11.00+

I still remembered how the pandan leave fragrance taste linger in my mouth with every bite and the sweet corn (custard) yolk filling make this an interesting flavour that I would buy!

Green Tea Lotus Paste -RM10.50+

As much as I love green tea, but this combination does not give me the kick. But I do enjoy the crunchiness  of sunflower seeds (or better known as kua chi in cantonese) in here!

Durian Lotus Paste -RM10.50+

Being someone who are came from a small town (i.e Segamat, Johor) that famous for Durian, Durian is one of my favourite filling to have when comes to mooncake and I have high expectation for it. Unfortunately this durian filling seems to have an artificial flavour rather than those real durian extract which I preferred.

Golden Jade with Single Egg Yolk -RM11.00+

This mooncake is called golden jade because the green colour filling which is made from pandan looked like jade colour! I learnt from my boyfriend's parents that they love this flavour the most because elderly like them like the filling to have the pandan leaves's fragrance as this is not as sweet as the plain lotus paste.

White Lotus Paste with Black Sesame Yolk -RM11.50+ (NEW)

This colour combination filling does looked appetizing right? This rich combination flavour which have lotus paste, black sesame, egg yolk & sunflower seed  is not too sweet and it's really appetizing one to have! 

Red Bean Paste -RM7.80+

Anyone of you are red bean lover? Then you should try this one. This has very rich red bean flavour! 

Assorted Nuts Ng Yan - RM11.00+

If you love nutty lover, then you should try this. This Assorted Nuts Ng Yan mooncake is made from 5 different nuts which are sesame, dried winter melon, olive, sunflower seed, almond & walnut. Although I like how it's crunchy at every bite but a little bit too sweet for my liking!

Money God Cookie

Instead of the traditional piggy biscuit or more famously know as 猪仔饼 (chu chai peng), Genting Master Chef came up with this Money God (in Cantonese known as Choi San Yeh) because it is said to bring luck! A great gift for friends and people who are going into casino right!  It's made of the mooncake skin (i.e flour & lotus paste), so basically it's meant to taste very plain and best to eat it with a cup of hot coffee!

Even Darren from Nuffnang who escorted us to Genting can't wait to pose like Choi San Yeh together with the Money God cookie! Darren has this signature million dollar smile you know, he also can be choi san yeh!

Even this cute Genting pr lady can't stop taking picture with the Money God Cookie also...to keep the luck in her phone I think!

Left is Dragon & on the right is Genting's logo as the mould

I love the dragon mold at the mooncake skin which is specially made in conjunction with this year Chinese calendar dragon year, very pretty! I learnt something during the tasting session that each mooncake mandarin name is craved on top of it and I didn't notice until the Master Chef told us to look at it properly.

Michelle, me & Daniel stuffing ourselves with a total of 16 varities of  mooncake #likeaboss! 

Although this is an enjoyable mooncake tasting session but I think I had more than 4 full size mooncakes (considering I took 1/4 from each flavours and there are total 16 of all) at ONE GO and it's like over my quota for this year! So it's a must have to have chinese tea like (pu er or better known as po lei in cantonese) when I'm having mooncakes because it washes away all the oil inside my mouth and it is known to lower down cholestrol after having this once a year indulgence! If you don't know yet this year 2012 Mid-Autumn Festival or Mooncake Festival falls on 30 September 2012. So another week from now, so don't forget to buy mooncakes for yourself, family or friends for this once a year indulgence ya!

Genting's mooncakes are available at Restaurant Genting Palace, Lao Di Fang Entrance, Good Friends Restaurant, Resort Hotel Lobby, Hainan Express @ TPH, Hainan Kitchen, Coach Cafe and One Hub in Wisma Genting KL. 

Early birds will enjoy 20% discount from 15 July to 15 August 2012. 

30% discount will be given for purchases of 50 boxes (of 4 nos) and above from 15 July to 30 September 2012.

For more info on Genting's moocakes promotion, pls visit 

http://www.rwgenting.com/en/fb/promotions/2012/mooncakes/index.htm

Review : Yamagoya Ramen from Kyushu (Japan) province in Solaris Dutamas

Hi people, how do spend your Sunday?

Shopping , food hunting,or just laze around at home?

Well let me greet you with some yummy food pictures!

Recently the newly opened Yamagoya Ramen (山小屋) invited me for a food tasting session and I asked Shannon along. They are located at Solaris Dutamas and this is their first outlet in Malaysia.

*Note : This is a non-halal food post*

A little background about Yamagoya Ramen, it is a franchaise food outlet that orginated from Kyushu, Japan that recently entered Malaysia. I was told the founder of Yamagoya is is Mr. Masatoshi Ogata came from Fukuoka, the most southwest part of Japan has earned the No.1 title of Tonkotsu Ramen in Fukuoka with 150 shops all over Japan and a few in Bangkok, Taipei, Shenzhen and Jakarta.

So here is it, Yamagoya Ramen claims that they are the 1st original kyushu pronvice ramen in Malaysia. Well it is my first time trying Kyushu province ramen, as this is the only island out of the four I have not visited at all during my last 2 visits in Japan.

Let's see what are the difference!

And there is no way for you to miss the sight of the Imported Ramen making machine which is in a see through room situated at the left hand side of the entrance. Here I can see how the staffs freshly make the ramen for the customers.

A look inside thee restaurant environment, it's small, neat and cosy.

History of Yamagoya on every table in Japanese

The owner Ms Akiyo Tomiie who is also from Fukuoka was there to welcome us and she was kind enough to share the histroy about Yamagoya and explains the different of ramens in Japan and apparently in different province (Kyushu, Hokkaido, Honshu and Shikoku) have different taste of the ramen). She explained that Kyushu province ramen are mainly made from tonkotsu (pork bone) broth and char siu is a must have in their ramen. And that their ramen are freshly made every single day!

The Yamagoya outlet manager Bosco recommended us the following to try.


Mugi Cha - RM2

You might mistake this for Chinese tea because it looked like one and taste a little like it but definitely after a few sip you can tell the difference because it has this fragrant burned smell that will linger in your mouth after every sip. This is not very common in Malaysia but back in Japan this is served for free in almost all restaurants.

Bosco are kind enough to show us what is Mugi cha made from . Mugi is made from Roasted barley tea and it must be served in cold because serving in hot will give the bitter taste. And finally I understand why cold Mugi Cha are served in cold back in Japan eventhough it is winter! And I remembered I boughtsome Mugi cha tea back in Japan too because I really think the taste is unique and soothing.

Mukashi Special Ramen -RM 24

I had their signature ramen that are recommended to try if this is your first visit here. The broth is milky and has which has wholesome of topping from bamboo shoots, wood fungus, bean sprouts, seaweed, spring onions, soy sauce seasoned egg and 2 piece of the must have homemade speacility char siu!

I really like their char siu (known as BBQ pork) it tasted sweet, chewy with little salty feeling at the end of every single bite. Bosco told us that they are very strict when comes to making char siu that he has to go to the pork supplier every morning to choose (by smelling ) the pork to make sure it is fresh and good to make char siu.

Not forgetting their ramen noodle which are homemade, the texture was great, it tasted fresh & chewy, just the right way the ramen should be which many franchise ramen restaurant fail to maintain this standard! It actually tasted and felt like those I have in Japan :) Thumb up for their ramen noodle! The thick broth taste just right and not too oily. Recommended to consume this while it is served hot or else you feel it is oily to eat it.

Miso Ramen, RM 24

Shannon on the other hand tried this and Miso Ramen taste is unique as it a slight spicy. The soup is thick and has toppings such as bamboo shoots, wood fungus, spring onions, bean sprouts and 2 their speacility char siu!

I would prefer this over the Mukashi Special Ramen because of my preference for the broth itself, milky with a tinge of spicyness is just right !

Yamagoya Soy Sauced Egg - RM 4

These eggs are marinated & boiled with soy sauce & with few other ingredients for few good hours and I like it because looked hard outside but soft inside. Bosco told us that they used "kampung chicken eggs" (those chicken that are breed loosely without any vitamin injections)

Fried Chicken - RM 11

When they served this I was wondering why are fried chicken are Japanese speacility. It is served with 5 pieces of chickens meat, a slice of lemon, cabbage & mayonise . I was told to squeeze some lemon juice over the crispy fried chicken and eat it without any sauce.

After my first bite I was like wow so tasty, cant wait for my second bite. It is crispy, very juicy, tender and chewy; the lemon juice is just the perfect combination. I asked Bosco how come the fried chicken taste so good, he said there is a secret in preparing fried chicken, they selected only the best Kampung Chicken and only the thigh of the chicken part is being used here because it is chewy. They have marinated it with their secret recipe for many good hours before frying it just before serving it right infront of us.

It is not secret I am not of a chicken meat fans, this might look normal but it tasted exceptionally good and I just can't get enough of it!

Goyza - RM11

The goyza taste is so so and nothing to shout about. I felt he filling is not that much to chew. For the same price, I would rather order another plate of fried chicken!

Apart from these, there some other dishes are offered in their menu. Kindly click & enlarge to read.

Main dish - Ramen

Side Dish

Drink Menu - alcoholic drink are available here as well

Note : Price in menu is subjected to 10% service charge

In my opinion, Yamagoya Ramen is worth trying because they specialised in Ramen and their Homemade Ramen is freshly made everyday to ensure the quality of the Ramen served are of top quality. The price are reasonable considering the big portion & location (i.e Publika - upper end area). I like how it is not those fancy restaurants that focuses on their quality of their food rather their decorations. Do check this out if you you are Ramen lover or pass by the area!

Yamagoya Ramen
A2-G2-8, Solaris Dutamas,
No.1, Jalan Dutamas 1,
50480 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel : 03- 6206 2220

Operation Hours:
Monday to Thursday 10am - 10pm
Friday to Sunday 10am - 11pm

Facebook: Yamagoya Ramen KL

Proud to be Malaysian. Jom Teh Tariklah with Lipton

If you haven't heard of Lipton, you might not be Malaysian. Because Lipton is the most common teabag brands used in our mamak for our Teh Tarik! And if you don't know what is Teh Tarik confirm(lah) you are not Malaysian!

Speaking of Teh Tarik, it has actually becomes the unofficial national tea drink.

"Drawing inspiration from the unique traits and mannerisms ingrained in every Malaysian, Lipton, the world’s No.1 tea brand, launched a one-of-a-kind “Proud to be Malaysian. Jom Teh Tariklah” campaign today, in conjunction with the introduction of the new instant 3-in-1 Lipton Teh Tarik. The campaign amplifies typical but funny Malaysian behaviours, anchored through a series of webisodes in which Lipton Teh Tarik is positioned as the drink of choice during social gatherings for Malaysians anytime, anywhere –at home or at the office. Essentially, the campaign’s mission is to empower Malaysians to embrace their distinctive Malaysian identity by enjoying a cup of Lipton Teh Tarik."

Hugo Verkuil, Marketing Director, Malaysia and Singapore, Unilever (M) Holdings Sdn. Bhd. said, “Being an expatriate in Malaysia, I have had my fair share of observations with regard to Malaysian behaviours. I find Malaysians a warm and friendly lot, and they truly enjoy what life has to offer. Food is definitely the centre of friendship and laughter."

He further said that "The Lipton team began searching for the best teh tarik recipe that is rich in taste, smooth in texture, yet meet expectations of all Malaysian without losing the authenticity of Lipton’s signature blend. Our two years’ worth of research has finally borne fruit – our winning formulation is, as we put it, ‘two times more power’!

Here is is the NEW instant 3-in-1 Lipton Teh Tarik with two times more power!!!

Meaning we can have our own tea tarik at home, anytime anywhere.. not only just in mamak stalls!

Hugo Verkuil demostrating how to do the proper Teh Tarik!! Well done, he got the style!

Note: To those who are not Malaysian, just to share with you guys Teh Tarik is made from black tea and condensed milk and the name Teh Tarik is derived from the pouring process of "pulling" the drink during preparation. Read more at wikipedia here

Well at the events who are attended by bloggers only, we are truly entertained by MC Melvin Aeria who has done an excellent jobs in capturing our attention. He actually surprised all of us at the beginning because he actually memorised and called out our names without us introducing ourselves. He is hillarious too, he made all of us laugh so much last night during the Q&A games!

p/s: I was lucky to win the grand prize in the games i.e a spa treatment worth almost RM400 at Ozmosis Health&Day Spa. I love this prize!!!

Well after the event, food were served.

What else if it is not Nasi Lemak which is best to complement our Teh Tarik? It's perfect match.

I have the Jom Teh Tariklah moment with fellow bloggers whom I met for the first time before the event started.

From left :Sonia & her daughter and Swee San

And then another Teh Tarik session with blogger friends after nasi lemak session.

Cutecarry, Kiersten, Xiangcool and Alvin

I love the cute Teh Tarik pendrive in my presskit.

It's so cute that I must pose with it and take pic!

Group picture!


Before I end this, I think all Malaysian will agree that drinking tea tarik with friends has become part of our culture! Hence Lipton Proud to be Malaysian. Jom Teh Tariklah campaign would be amplified through the introduction of a six-webisode series. These webisodes provide the platform to highlight six Malaysian behaviours that are distinct and one-of-a-kind. Injected with a dose of humour, these webisodes entail typical Malaysian behaviours that are most prominently displayed.

Commencing today, a trailer that contains the highlight of these webisodes will be posted on Lipton Malaysia Facebook fan page and YouTube. A new webisode will be posted every Monday showcasing familiar characteristics that all Malaysians will recognise starting 19 March 2012. All six webisodes will be available on Lipton Malaysia Facebook fan page, at https://www.facebook.com/LiptonMalaysia

Here is the Lipton Websido trailer and the first webisode Malaysia’s Public Holiday where it actually will be available on 19 March 2012 .

Lipton Websido trailer


Malaysia’s Public Holiday - hillarious right!


So Jom Teh Tariklah at home with the new instant 3-in-1 Lipton Teh Tarik while wathing these videos!

Visit https://www.facebook.com/LiptonMalaysia for more updates!