dessert

COFFEE BEANS, TEA LEAVES & CENDOL

/ Alan Atkinson / Leave a comment

It has been quite a while since a visit has been made to an “established” coffee joint. Can I say established? I just did. Should the word be a “branded” coffee joint instead? Here it means a well known name with many outlets. To be more precise, a cafe brand with strong financial backing.

Jeannie and I had some time at mid-evening. I asked Jeannie, “Coffee and cake with icing, the soft, mushy, bakery icing that we used to get at cake shops when we were kids. Don’t know what made me come up with this type of cake. I don’t think I was craving for it. Maybe nostalgia had something to do with it. Most important was the coffee, that was a must.

I suggested getting away from our “work stations” for a while, just to chill. Go some place nearby. We wounded up at The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. It was our first time at this outlet in Taipan since it went through a renovation transformation. The renovation was quite a while ago.

I think its new look was more clinical – modern, more chairs and tables in which it meant that everyone was sitting closer to each other. Quite nice. The interior design was quite strange though, with a wall (no, not that wall intended to divide two countries), parallel to the counter, starting from the entrance, dividing the room, and stops mid-way. It was almost full house at that time we were there.

At the counter, they had a nice rectangular screen which was about a metre long and 10 inches wide. It brought the menu to us instead of the usual big menu screen boards at the back of the counter (which they had, too). It’s nice to see the menu up close. Maybe, it’s meant for little kids… little kids with lots of money.

The cendol cake.

We made our orders. We didn’t want anything too heavy as it was close to dinner time. They had a special offer – Iced Mocha with a slice of cake. We decided to have the iced Mocha with whipped cream. We usually don’t have whipped cream to our drinks, but we thought why not “live at the edge” for a change.😉😂 As long as we don’t make it a habit. As for the cake, we went for the cendol cake. Mention “cendol” (spelt “chendol” in the old days), and an image of an Indian uncle with his green (don’t know why but the cendol sellers on tricycles always had their trikes [short for tricycles] in green) tricycle with the manually operated ice-shaving machine. We always asked for more liquid brown sugar.

The cendol slice of cake had the green noodles and red beans, both ingredients for the delicious cold cendol dessert / drink, which is always served cold. That’s the reason for the ice-shaving machine. It had a sort of biscuit as its base and the rest of it kind of cheesy. By the way, the cake served here was about 20% to 30% smaller in size than what you would get at other cafes for the same price.

The Iced Mocha with the whipped cream was quite ordinary.

We were there for the experience. It was quite a pleasant place to hang out, chill and relax.

We definitely will still spend more time with homegrown, entrepreneurial spirit of people who have started up their own cafes like Good Ground Bakery, Bakeyard, Jings, TBX, Contour, Foliage Coffee and many more as they all have their own styles, decor, food and beverage mix – they are less commercial and more people centred. Generally, each of them offer their own unique experience to customers. It’s a nice way of giving reason to why you will be spending more than the coffee shops and mamaks. No doubt that they have their own experiences to share. They, too; are becoming more sophisticated – upscaling the experience for their customers.

We headed home for dinner – one of those rare occasions that we have home cooked dinner. Prepared by the Batik Influencer chef.

Jeannie and myself.

A FIRST FOR ME: ATTENDING A BABY SHOWER

/ Alan Atkinson / Leave a comment

Bayswater… Somewhere in KL. Attending a babyshower… A first for me.

When you KL-ites and Malaysians hear “Bayswater at KLCC”, you will say, “I know where that is”. Heck no, you don’t! You think it is at KLCC, don’t you? You will even argue and dispute with Google Maps. Like I did! Google maps would have been heading you to the spot, but you will most probably say, “But KLCC is on the right, about a mile away”.

In the end, I decided to follow Google maps and we arrived at our destination about half hour early. We, Jeannie and I; like to be punctual.

We waited in the car until it was nearly 6.00pm. Then, we walked to the function room.

So, this place is not physically at KLCC…you know…the shopping centre. And as for “Bayswater”; I assume that it is because it is in the Lake Titiwangsa area. Can’t see the lake but sure can see an abundance of water…flowing…from the sky… It is raining heavily. So, yes, “baby shower”.

There was a counter set up at the entrance where a couple of your ladies greeted us and asked us to choose between a pink and blue  ribbon, that we would wear as a tag to indicate if the baby coming, will be a girl or boy. Of course, my wife, ever so loving as she is; decided that I would choose pink.

We were among the earliest to arrive. So, yes, we are here, sitting at one of the tables in the middle of the room. It was sort of a nice setting, with no walls on both sides of the length of the room. We were surrounded by the lush greens of the surrounding gardens. No wonder it is called “Gardens at Baywater”.

The room was decorated in colours do tell, of pink and blue.

The view of the surroundings.

There was a “throne” on stage for the hosts of the evening. It was their day.

The throne for the parents-to-be.

Some of the goods which was presented to the couple when they were blessed by their mothers.

Dessert was served, first. That is healthy thinking. In a book that I read, “Fit For Life”, (1) it says that you start your meal with dessert first. Fruits, I think it was, as dessert.

Dessert: Sweets. The green one on the left is a sort of jelly with pieces of fruit on top. The brown one on the right is sort of a yogurt with a strawberry on top [strawberry dah makan (2) before this picture was taken] 😂

The strawberry is missing. Who pinched the strawberry?

The ceremony started when Thenappan and his beautiful wife, Sivagami; took their places on the throne. Thena, as he is more popularly known; is Jeannie’s colleague at work.

Next, Thena’s and Sivagami’s mothers blessed the couple by a short ceremony with a marking of oil, incense or ointment of some kind; on both, husband and wife. Then, they put some bracelet bangles on the mother-to-be’s hands. The last part of this process was with flower petals. A lady offered flower petals on a tray to the mothers. The ladies took some of the flower petals and dropped a few of them on top of Sivagami’s and Thena’s heads.

I now know why Indian ladies wear so many bangles. The  multiple (being American here) bangles create sweet musical sounds. The baby in the mother’s womb will always hear the sweet, melodious sounds of the bangles as they knock against each other on her hands.

After that, all the ladies in the room were invited to do the same as the mothers of the couple did. Jeannie was the first in line to do this. She has always been fascinated with customs, traditions, clothes and food of people from different cultures.

She put the ointment on the back of Sivagami’s hand, cheeks and forehead. She even put the ointment blessing on Thena’s forehead. Then she sprinkled flower petals on top of their heads. She completed the process by placing bangles on Sivagami’s hands.

The ladies waiting for their turn to do the honours.

When this part of the ceremony was completed; we were then invited to proceed to dinner. The food was good. It was Indian cuisine, buffet style.

Then, came the moment – the highlight of the evening, the reason we were all here for – Is it a boy or girl? There was a little pre-planned “tic-tac-toe” game on displayed where the couple started flipping the cards over. It had to be a 4 blue and 4 pink card turnover, with the last one opened: blue.

The evening ended with people having photographs taken with the lovely couple. I will add to this article, a photograph that the couple’s photographer took of Jeannie & myself, Sivagami & Theana and another colleague from their office; when I get a copy of it.

Sivagami and Thena

It was a very pleasant drive home, driving through what would otherwise be the very busy streets of KL, but smooth flowing today, as many people would have travelled back to their homes, out of town for the long holidays. Aaahh… if only traffic was like this everyday.

NOTES:
1. FIT FOR LIFE by Harvey & Marilyn Diamond
2. “Strawberry dah makan” is the “strawberry is already eaten” in Bahasa Malaysia.

CALAMANSI COOLER

/ Alan Atkinson / Leave a comment

The weekend came and went in all fury. It was so fast, that we did not even feel it. Feel may not be the right word. I think a better word is “experience” it.

So, if the word “experience” is a better choice, “Why don’t you edit (is a better word for “making a correction”(?)) it?” you may ask.

Too much work to do so. If I change that word, I would possibly be swayed (by myself) into editing the sentences or paragraphs or even changing the whole meaning in this paragraph, which may in turn cause a mood swing. Haha.

It was one of those (now) infamous sweltering afternoons that we are (I dare say) getting used to. Or are we? The sun is blazing hot. A while (long while) later, the rain and thunderstorms come pouring down on us to the extent that certain parts of the Federal Highway begin to flood with a few inches of water.

On this afternoon, however; it was dry. Jeannie, my wife and I; did a few errands in the morning, had brunch and thought we’d go to our common (more like my) hangout: Good Ground Bakery (GGB).

We were greeted as usual, by Joanne and Monique. I told Jeannie that we had to try their fantastically refreshing drink: Calamansi Cooler. And Joanne makes it super nice. We both ordered a calamansi cooler. I opted for this drink instead of my usual coffee order (It is usually an americano though of late, I go for the flat white, too – both great drinks from here, at the GGB).

I don’t know how they get this drink to this level, but it is an awesome thirst quencher. It was a good drink to keep Jeannie and I company as we chillax, something that we enjoy and is quite rare to us because of our hectic daily schedules.

The Pecan chocolate cake. It is delicious.

GGB is famous for it’s…you’ve guessed it: bakery. It makes great breads and pastries, never fails to delight. It’s testimony is by its constant flow of customers, both dine in and takeaway.

People come to establishments like this for the experience. They have the space to do their own thing. You will see many people of all ages come and read books, real books i.e. at a leisurely, calm pace. Or, work on their computer with whatever they are doing and you will notice that they are not stressed out as otherwise would be a common sight. Or they meet with family or friends over a mugga (as in “cuppa” for tea) coffee.

It is mainly an experience each time I visit a cafe or an establishment like Good Ground. I like observing people mainly because everyone is different. And I could be looking for that unique characteristic someone might display that I can use for my book that I am writing (work-in-progress). I find it absolutely intriguing that everyone seems different.

Here, I am penning, or is it S-Pen stylus(ing?) some ideas for an article down in the Fold.
Using a metal straw. It keeps the drink at the same temperature when it leaves the glass to the time it gets in our mouths, perhaps? This drink is awesome!

We ordered a slice of Pecan Chocolate cake to go with our drinks. We shared this cake as it was too much for either of us to finish a whole slice each, by ourselves. It was delicious. Sarah, the owner of GGB, is a fantastic pastry chef. You will see that she, together with all her staff; are dedicated to providing the very best in all they offer, to their customers.

Notice the tattoo? That’s a swagger (1) pose.😁😂

It was a nice hour and a half or so that Jeannie and I had. We left, somewhat refreshed, to continue the rest of the day. As we left GGB, we felt some rain drops falling. Dark rain clouds were forming, readying for a thunderstorm. A cool evening, perhaps?

NOTES:
1. Meaning of “swagger” : walk or behave in a very confident or self-important way.
If you see me write, “I will take you somewhere swagger”, it means I will take you or show you
somewhere smart or fashionable in my writing, like here, at Good Ground Bakery.
2. There is an attempt here, sometimes as usual, to challenge subtly, the written English language to past
its boundaries to add “colour”.