Big Bad Wolf Book Sale 2017 @ MIECC (Mines)

It's the time of the year again for our annual pilgrimage to BBW for the biggest and badass-est book sale in Malaysia. As usual this is very exciting event for book lovers & parents alike since we can buy books at very good deal starting from RM6 to RM20 including board/hardcover books. Still 5 days left from this date of post, so hurry up!

GPS location: 3.0294235,101.7161985

Parking options; if you're looking for free spot, can opt to park opposite the Mines just outside the Heritage area. There are carpark lots there around the site that used to be a bazaar site now in development. For paid parking, just drive all the way into MIECC, it's a flat rate RM5 per entrance if not mistaken. I've seen people drive up to beside MIECC and the just park outside the carpark (free LOL), not a suggestion and probably risk getting your car clamped. So park at your own risk & choice- i only shared what i see 😏😏

No BBW mobile spotted this year, but this lighting is becoming it's tradition haha.

Entrance is free.

Let the hunt/fun begins.

There is food/cafe available and at affordable prices- slightly higher than normal prices but saves you trouble of going all the way out for some replenishment. Just stop by when you are tired from your hunt & refresh. It's strategically located at window-side corner of the MIECC hall that sells children's activity books.

RM18 for a nasi lemak special with that BIG drumstick. Didn't try this though, was really tempted to actually.

There is also stalls selling BBW merchandise, namely T-shirts, pins and accesories.

Not too sure, what these are for. But seems to be prized books that is of no interest to me ˉ\_(ツ)_/ˉ 

Discounts, now here is a section that you guys should look out for just in case you missed out on all the freebies/discounts.

1. Just using Hong Leong credit card gives you ~10-15% discount. Just cancelled mine last month 😣

2. Send SMS and get 3% rebate off.  Limited to 200 customers per day. Forgot to take the big banner displayer in MIECC, but anyway seems like alot of people ignored this as we still able to get discount at 11.40am on a Saturday morning.

3% off every RM99, not bad still a few ringgit off.

3. Free registration, every RM100 you get RM5 off. Basically a 5% off. We have the friendly BBW assistance helping us to enrol as the pack at these counters near entrance.

4.  Free bookmark only for members this year. Need to remind the cashiers to give you..since i forgot i didn't get. Printed bookmarks not given freely nowadays, signs of bad inflation in recent year.

 (Update: finally i got my hands on one bookmark on our second visit =)

5. Free storage service. Just drop your trolley of books or goods and it will be there for 24 hours in storage, come back to hunt again and re-claim your equipment/armor/acc/stuff books from cache. Just keep the small piece of numbering, pretty neat stuff for free. We actually did that, didn't want to lug out books to our car 2nd times.

6. Free courier service all the way to Mines shopping mall drop point. Wifey saw this, so i think these BBW assistants are really friendly, polite and speaks proper English and on top of that they actually also do a good service of helping people courier truckloads of their purchase to their car. Didn't know until she see it. Thumbs up to the BBW staff

image via google

Finally below is the damage for this year; thanks for another great year of BBW =)

Painting training

1 night training to level up my painting skills with gloss painting. It's quite calming and relaxing to do this while running random songs from Spotify. 

Few things to prepare & some simple guidelines;

a) Buy/prepare some wire brush (wood handle type), scrap cloths and some sand paper to prepare. Clean up dust & brush to roughen up surface - this helps the new paint to adhere easily. Sand paper lightly over the surface and then clean up dust using the cloth which you wet a little first.

b) Prepare to repaint - have gloss paint,  turpentine and some containers with brushes of course. Pour out from can into plastic container and mix a little turpentine to dilute it a bit, but not too much till it's too watery. Place some newspaper to cover the floors or area that might get dripped with paint drops.

c) Paint (duh). Take your time and paint, kind of enjoy the paint. Oh, i do use a face mask, the normal ones you can get from Mr DIY or any pharmacy to keep from directly inhaling the paint fume. Probably bad for health yo.

Result is not bad. It's been more than 10 years since i last painted during my scouting days. Quite satisfying. Gloss paint costs about RM2x, total cost including new paint brush and the wire brush all total to less than RM35. 

Can even paint smooth surface like inside of a wardrobe hahaha.

Let's look for next painting project. Gotta paint em all!

Goon Wah XO Fish Head Noodle & Claypot Loh Shu Fun @ Kuchai Lama

First visited this place about 1 year + ago with D* and SK*. Serves quite unique claypot loh shu fun and decent XO fish head noodle. Finally we have a chance to drop by last week, apparently it opens on Saturdays now, it used to be open on weekdays lunch time only.

GPS location: 3.090435,101.681116

Parking can be easily found in front of the shop row or opposite, just beware that people here seem to double park haphazardly and take care not to get blocked haha.

Anyway, we drop by at ~3pm after our special painting project/training at nearby MDPK2. I continued after work yesterday and finished the gloss paint/job can now. That's RM2x+ worth of paint used.

Back to this food topic, 2 things that are recommended by most people here are their claypot loh shu fun & XO fish head noodle.

Interesting serving style, we are supposed to stir the loh shu fun while it's hot. It is topped with pork lard pieces, fried shrimp and soy covered mince meat gravy and some chilli/vege garnish. Have quite some wok hei. Perfect for pork lovers. And above is 2 servings, so 1 claypot is meant for 1 person. Just take note when ordering.

2nd trademark dish of the place, Xo fish head noodle is served with lai see fun (laksa noodle). Very decent soup base with sourish hint of  ham choi (preserved vege). It's cooked with yam, tomatoes and probably XO sauce of course not to forget bony & skinny fish head. Goes really well with the heaty more salty claypot loh shu fun.

Top view of the presentation. Careful of the heat, but it's only temporary lasting bout 2 mins +/-. 

We also ordered their lemon plum juice drink and 2 glasses of soy drink. Soy drink is nice enough, not too watery but the lemon plum is will be better if a little more diluted.

Overall verdict is it's a decent place to have claypot loh shu fun, but both wifey and me agree that we get a better tasting XO fish head noodle at Kaki Bola Fish Head @ Mahkota Cheras. Plus at no additional charge, we can ask for fish meat instead of bony fish head there. Still this place is worth a try if you haven't visited before.

Total damage comes up to RM53.50 for 4 person + 1 kiddy.

Indian stall under the big tree @ nearby Maharajalela station

Just as i mentioned about this place, then came my opportunity to stop by this place. I would say this place serves authentic and good Indian rice (not banana leaf), but still good. We came a tad bit too early, so fried cauliflower is not yet ready =(

GPS location: 3.1385673,101.6991968

Just take a left from if you are coming from Cheras/Loke Yew direction. Parking is available along the roadside of flats further inside the area or feel free to park at open car park just on right hand side when you turn in from earlier junction.

In morning they serve traditional style roti/naan/chapatti with the 3 bucket style gravy holder.

My choce today is lots of mixed gravy and this thick looking gravy covered chicken. Together with pappadum and rasam (need to request). Have to say its satisfying spicy and flavorful meal.

The rasam served is a bit lighter in flavor, maybe just come at around 12.45pm will just right to get all available dishes.

Ordered a teh o ais limau to accompany meal. Stuffed to the brim =)

Can't make sense of the breakdown either..totals up to RM17. 2 meal 1 with meat & 1 without, 1 glass of iced drink + papaddum + rasam for 2.

Nirwana Maju @ Bangsar Village area.

This place for banana leaf rice is recommendation by a fellow colleague; and it's also his treat. (Thanks L* gor =) It's already a crowd when we arrived @ ~12.35pm. 

GPS location: 3.131131,101.668784

This place stands out during lunch time, just opposite Bangsar Village. Walking down the shoprow, you will notice the queue-crowded nasi kandar shop, almost impossible to miss out there. Parking is pretty tough to find around this area. Probably be better off to park inside Bangsar Village carpark itself to save time. We got lucky this day, perfect timing to find a spot as soon as we turn into the row in front of Bangsar Village.

Our wait lasted about 30min+ and the waiter take order while we wait for tables to be seated. Standard set of white rice costs RM8.50 per pax and briyani rice set costs RM12.50 including a piece of chicken.

Each set comes with curry gravy (chicken, fish and dhal) of your choice to top with 3 vege dishes- the crunchy fried bittergourd, pickle vegetable/cucumber and pumpkin? Other sides being offered are salted chili and  pappadum. Rasam looks like is a separate order now or probably it was because i only requested after we got served with all 3 types of veges mentioned just now.

Served on banana leaf, we ordered medium fried chicken & fried sotong. Must say the fried chicken is aromatic and crunchy, and not losing out is the fried sotong, which i usually don't take much unless it's crunchy good.

On par with sambal style fried chicken if you will.

Big serving at one go, but seems like cannot top up, which is surprising as i thought all banana leaf offers unlimited top-up. Well, portion is big enough as it is now for an average joe i guess.

Here comes gravy being served, my request is mixed all together (chicken+fish+dhal gravy). The gravy of right is a bit sourish type, but still good enough. Not spicy enough to me, but tasteful. Only turnoff i found is the salted chilli. If only it's not fully stuffed with salt inside, it will be perfect - my initial before my 2nd bite. Inside the chili pocket is stuffed with salt which is just well...pure saltiness.



Eating banana leaf rice with so much sides and gravy keeps on reminding me on how Malaysian food uniquely stands out as a blend from melting pot of cultures/flavors (makes sense as much as 'unicorn pooped in your mouth') and be thankful that we only get this standard of food here, not other places. Home is truly where your heart (& tastebud) belongs to =)

Total damage 'payung' by L* gor for 7 person is ~RM136 (about RM20 ish per pax). Not so bad, if you like indian food of similar type with a cheaper budget option there is a stall near Maharajalela monorail station. It's also one of my favorite place for lunch. Just realized it's not logged in my blog entry yet. Okay, coming soon i guess =)

*Updated link for the indian stall near Maharajalela post.