Malaysia Food Blog, Malaysia Travel Blog

The month long Malaysia International Fireworks Competition 2008 has finally ended. The winner of the competition went to Spain while Malaysia was the 1st runner up, not bad huh. It was a pity I didn’t get to witness team Spain’s performance last week, as it was highly praised. But getting to witness three out of five possible performances is still quite good for me.
I thought it was going to be Australia’s turn in the MIFC finale last night at Putrajaya, but that didn’t happen. Instead, all the teams were combined into Team Global - which Malaysia led the fireworks performance. It was an explosive and thrilling display that entertained the largest crowd turnout in the competition!

Luckily there were little clouds and the sky was clear on the finale night. There was almost no wind though, so there are plenty of smoke in the photos. Such a pity.

Spain’s fireworks in the finale was the most creative and outstanding, so nice that it clearly stood out from the rest. They also managed to program the fireworks to really match with the accompanying song’s rhythm!

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Technorati Tags: MIFC, Putrajaya, firework

Contest has ended! The grand prize goes to Chingy Her winning entry -

Theme: Sushi Assassination
Slogan: Attack of the Rebellious Ninja

2nd place goes to cumi&ciki -

Theme: Dress up as any japanese god/godess/deity .. place to be decorated as a Shinto Shrine!
Slogan: SAKE ROOM where you can find “A Tipple Good Enough for the Gods” !

Congratulations and enjoy your party and meal!:) Thanks to those who have submitted their entries via commenting!

Sake Room is throwing a contest for 2 creative readers of vkeong.com to win a party at Sake Room Restaurant. Best of all, the party set up will be based on the theme of the winning submission!

The rules are simple:

1. Submit a cool theme and catchy slogan for a party at Sake Room (e.g. Geisha Night, Samurai Gone Wild) via the comment section.

2. Winners will be picked by Sake Room’s director, Melissa.
3. Contest will run until September 30, 2008. So, you have plenty of time to come up with a creative theme and slogan.
4. Contest is open for everyone in Penang who’s reading this!
5. Good luck and have fun!

Prize details:

First prize, the winner will get:
1. RM120 worth of cash vouchers usable in Sake Room Seberang Jaya.
2. A bottle of “Sawanotsuru Genshu” worth RM174 - the award winning sake four years in a row, Monde selection. Dry aroma and a little fruity.
3. A party set up in Sake Room based on the winning theme and slogan.

Second prize winner will get RM80 worth of cash vouchers.

If you are a Japanese food lover, you surely surely wouldn’t want to miss this opportunity. Frankly, this is one of the easiest online contest. Even I myself will enter it if I could, lol. So, what are you waiting for?

p/s: Please make sure you enter your name and email address correctly in the comment. Else, I wouldn’t be able to contact you.

By the way, Sake Room is giving vkeong.com’s readers a discount card to enjoy a 20% discount on the total food bill. Print it and use it as many times as you wish! Discount card valid until 30 November 2008.

Technorati Tags: Sake Room, Restaurant, contest

It has been almost six months since my first visit to Sake Room and there had been some changes. If you didn’t know, Sake Room Sushi & Lounge serves a large variety of excellent Japanese sushi and Fusion dishes.
Located in Seberang Jaya, it is definitely one of the best restaurant in Penang for Japanese food. The director of Sake Room, Melissa has taken over the kitchen as the only chef and has introduced many new dishes to the menu.
Recently, Melissa invited me over for to sample the new dishes, which I gladly accepted - knowing that I would be in for an awesome meal. I also get to bring along a guest - who else but Siang Leng

The first dish to arrive was actually a soup - Baby Shishamo Soup @ RM11.90. Shishamo (Japanese smelt fish), or more commonly known as pregnant fish and traditional gin’an soup are used to prepare it.

At first glance of the second soup, we thought we were going to have tea. But this is actually another appetizer newly introduced in Sake Room - Zen Kettle Soup @ RM8. A number of fresh seafood like abalone, shrimp and vegetables like cabbage and carrots are cooked together in a combination of Dashi broth, sake and soy sauce.

If you were me, I bet you will think that the soup is prepared earlier in a big pot then transferred to the kettle. Well this is not the case. According to Melissa, every dish in Sake Room is prepared to order where quality will not be compromised.
For us, it was a new and unique experience to drink soup from a tea cup instead of a bowl. Because of the relatively large amount of fresh seafood used, the soup is very flavorful and intense - simply the best Japanese soup we ever had.
The kettle may look small but it contains enough soup to serve each of us twice. Even after the soup was finished, we get to eat the seafood ingredients left in the kettle. I have especially enjoyed the abalone, lol.

For starters, Atlantic Salmon Ceviche @ RM14 is a Carribean inspired dish. Served in a cocktail glass, it uses cajun spices and togarashi tossed in with avocado, orange bits, tomatoes, salmon and Ikura. Ikura is the Japanese term for salmon roe, which are round in shape and red in color.
Sake Room gets their supply of Ikura by importing them from Japan and processing them to be edible themselves. Ikura has a rather strong fishy smell and by applying a little pressure using your tongue, they will pop in your mouth!

Next up was Naruto Maki @ RM22 - An appetizing and beautiful dish which is said to take time and experience for a sushi chef to master. Without using sushi rice, paper-thin cucumber instead is used to wrap around the Atlantic salmon and crab.

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Technorati Tags: sushi, Penang, Japanese food, Sake Room, Sake

22nd AUgust 2008 is the opening day for one of the biggest shopping mall in Northern Malaysia - AEON Seberang Perai City or also known as Jusco Bandar Perda in Bukit Mertajam. It is such a nice coincidence that I happen to be in Bukit Mertajam at the same time it opened the doors to the public.
To be honest I have been waiting for this mall to open for years. Because, we the BM kias really deserve a better mall and AEON Seberang Perai City is the perfect answer.
I think the one of the most exciting part is that the first Big Apple Donuts & Coffee outlet in Penang will also open here. It is something food bloggers in Penang have been anticipating. Best of all, it is only 10 minutes away from my house!

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Technorati Tags: shopping mall, Jusco Bandar Perda, Bukit Mertajam, AEON Seberang Perai City, Penang