Food : Honkee Porridge @ Damansara Uptown

14th November 2009 - Made a visit to a newly opened Honkee Porridge outlet located at Damansara Uptown. The delicious Honkee Porridge is a legacy that has been passed down from one generation to another. The Honkee Porridge came from a long history since 1949; the name spans 3 generations, started with their late grandfather whom got the stall going six decades ago in Petaling Street, Kuala Lumpur.

The visit is not a coincidence but an appointment made with Jonas to check out Eric's newly opened Honkee Porridge outlet. The outlet is easy to locate but finding a parking spot is not an easy task. I didn't manage to snap much of the things we order as we immediately dig in when the dishes arrived due to hunger.

The table set up

Yu Diao (Yau Zhar Kwai)

For the first time I see "Yu Diao" in a menu, didn't knew it is "Yau Zhar Kwai". Maybe that's what they called it in Mandarin. New vocabulary added to my database:)

Century Egg Porridge

I ordered the Century Egg Porridge. The porridge texture is smooth, easy to swallow and digest. As for the eggs, there is nothing wrong with it. Which is a good thing.

Chee Cheong Fun with Sambal Curry

I tried this, found it a little dry, even Eric himself thinks it's dry and require some remediation. However, Jonas was really enjoying this dish. I believe it's a matter of personal taste. I think Eric would need to re-brand this as Dry Sambal Curry instead! :)

Jonas and his family gives a thumb up

As said not much pics to share, most were snapped in a hurry, and I am not a descriptive person when it comes to food for sharing. The other things we did ordered were Fish Porridge, Pork Innards Porridge, Honkee Nasi Lemak and etc. Check out the other dishes they had to offer at Honkee Porridge.

The Damansara Uptown outlet made it's opening just 2 days ago on the 12th November 2009; Besides this outlet, they have another stall opened at Lot 10, 2 days before this outlet. This two outlet are managed by the brothers, Eric & Herbert while the original Petaling Street stall is managed by their sister. Thus when you are tired of rich, oily and meaty food, do welcome a light taste of Honkee Porridge at one of these outlets.

Honkee Porridge
71 Jalan SS21/1,
Damansara Utama,
47400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor

Sony Alpha : Photography Talk By Zainal Halim

8th November 2009 - I got to meet Zainal Abdul Halim whom is a seasoned photojournalist working for Reuters. Zainal, whom had been doing plenty of different photographic assignment in many places including The Afghan War was invited by John Shum (from Sony Malaysia) to give a Photography Talk for the Alpha community. The talk was held at Federal Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.

The talk starts from 1pm and it was 3 hours long; It tiring, but inspiring. From the talk itself, it clearly tells how far Zainal would go in taking good photographs. He shared all his past assignment photos, experiences, as well as explaining the do and don't as a photojournalist. His assignment photos can be found in his online portfolio. He shoots with mainly 17-35mm and 70-200mm lens. There's too much to share, and I don't know where to start.

The few key items I remember from this talk

• Always look for a clean background when composing (background centric)
• Look up high and look down low for interesting composition
• Anticipate the flow, go a step ahead
• Close up to the subject for impact
• Rule of third!
• Put everything into a single shot (photo for the news)

After the talk, it becomes clear to me that not everyone can be a photojournalist. It's a tough job and obviously there is no second chance in a shot. All shots done by a photojournalist are not suppose to be tempered; only a minimal exposure leveling and cropping is allowed. Risk is also a factor as a photojournalist put their lives in danger if they go on an assignment in a war zones. For that, I respect them on their bravery to tell story with actual graphics for the public.

Photo shooting session after the talk

Overall, it was a great knowledge sharing session given by Zainal. More importantly, thank you Sony Malaysia for the effort in organizing this with just a minimal fee of RM 10! Besides the inspiring talk, at the end of the session we have model shooting by the pool side. I wasn't much in a mood for shooting models, thus I head back home for a nap after taking a couple of shots:P

Food : Full House Lifestyle Store and Cafe @ NZX

4th November 2009 - Coming close to 2 years, I finally manage to set foot at NZX (NieZeXui) for the first time. The much talk about NZX becoming a flea market with a concept of covered boulevard in providing a comfortable outdoor shopping experience was a little disappointing on my visit. The place is none other but a ghost town. Basement parking are blocked, lights are dim at most corners, and there isn't much shops there. I guess that explains why it gives me a spooks although there is CCTV installed within the premises! Although, I like the concept... too bad it's not lively enough, otherwise it easily bested Petaling Street.

Enough said, having heard of rumors that NZX is to be closed down for it's bad occupancy. I decided to make a visit. Though the place isn't lively; Yet there is one shop that is full of live, and that is Fullhouse Lifestyle Store and Cafe. I basically had made a dinner appointment here to check out the place. Btw, I manage to get here safely thanks to saimatkong's video map.

The menu was pretty comical with some artwork of it's own. Some of the dishes are visually illustrated via Artwork such as the Thomas's Favorite and Tracy's Favorite. For the record, these dishes are not meant for Thomas and Tracy only :) It's a set lunch that is valid from 12:00pm to 4:00pm. If I were there at that period of time, I would probably ordered them as they cost RM 14.90 and RM 16.90 respectively.

the menu

Flipping through the menu. We ordered Wok Sear Chicken Chop (RM 16.90), and Wasabi Fish & Wedges (RM 16.90) as our main dish; Soft Shell Crab (RM 10.90) as side dish; and Ice Blended Mocha (RM 9.90) and Red Grape Fruit Green Tea (RM 4.90) as drinks. There is a 5% Service Charge with no Government Tax on the final bill. Now, here's the food we ordered.

Soft Shell Crab

I'm a sucker for Soft Shell Crab and this dish is really to my liking. It comes with Wasabi Mayonnaise, but I prefer to eat it as it is. It's still tasted good with and without the mayo.

Wok Sear Chicken Chop

Tasted a little of it, quite good. The chicken is tender and juicy, I would have traded my Wasabi Fish & Wedges for this instead.

Wasabi Fish & Wedges, with Ice Blended Mocha

The Wasabi Fish is just a fish chip comes with Wasabi Mayonnaise, nothing special on this dish. In fact, I found it quite disappointing.

Red Grape Fruit Green Tea

Besides being a cafe, there's other things you can shop besides food. Things like clothing, beads, photo frame, candy, and many other souvenirs.

The interior decoration of lifestyle store

some clothes available for sale

some other things

for the ladies

One of the signature decoration of this store is the Mini, unfortunately you can't buy this :D

Full House's Mini

Full House Lifestyle Store and Cafe
Block C-G-11 Nui Ze Xui
Jalan PJU 14/41B, Ara Damansara,
Petaling Jaya, Selangor