Royal Cafe

hey verbatimcries,
well i have read your blog,

you said that you ever went to cafe royal?is the owner female? i’m not sure, i just wanna prove that the owner like a boy? but she’s female? oh no,, she’s my rival i think hehehhehe

can you email me?
thanks a lot

ROYAL CAFE,  Jln. Merbabu, 21

The first time i visited *click on * Royal Priesthood Cafe was on the new year’s eve 08, it was a pouring one. My friends and i were sloshing all the way there… they were probably half swearing for making them walk somewhat far. Iron Chef and I stumbled on this rather cool ‘makan’ spot by accident. Guess it was the night of Xmas when J.C lead us there after lingering at Ijen Catholic Church  (hehe). ” Wei, new eating-makan spot in Malang!”, that’s what we said, and decided to tak a look and report back to our friends later on. We were greeted by this woman, whom i assume was the owner because she sat behind the paying counter and she was so nice! =) Nice people are hard to forget.

:: Ijen Church during Xmas 07 ::

Back then, the food menu were not many and most dishes were beef base, not many choices for my Hindu friends and some of my Buddhist friends who does not take beef due to religios reasons. To the Hindus the cows are their sacred animal, to some Buuddhist who prays to the Goddess of Mercy they too don’t consume beef.  However,  i got to say the name of their dishes are very intriguing!
Hei! Did i mention the atmosphere of the place was good??!!! The soft lighting used definitely help create the nice atmosphere. Their dining style is Al-fresco and they have a room for those who wants to host a mini party!! They have a mini bookstore that sells christian songs, books and some de-stress hand balls =) lots of cute accessories there too
Nearly one year later…

So back in November 24th 2008 i think… someone asked me where should they host a private party? Jeng… Jeng… Jeng… I reccomended RPC! (Probably sounds like i’m bragging here just in case Aka reads this! I’m not, merely telling the truth.)
A mismatch party was held! We had a great time in that private room and the service was great!

We were allowed to decorate the room and blast some music of our own

it sort of looks like we were in a conference room or meeting room.. hehhe but it was the Birthday girl’s turn to give a speech!

:: TauHwa and Ayam Plecing ::

After nearly one year in RPC, their menu doubled! They not only serve Western food but Local menus and of course Japanese food too! I ordered the food in the pic above! Ayam plecing is spicy (i like), a little different from where I ‘ve tried in the Balinese resto and i ordered that white tofu looking thing, which is well known to the Hock Kien clan (Singaporeans and Indonesians) as TauHwa and famously known to the Cantonese clan (Malaysia and Hong Kong) as Tau Foo Fah! Err.. it had too much ginger flavouring inside! Slightly different from the ones i have back home, which has no ginger flavour at all, just your choice of brown sugar or white sugar syrup.

Who is RPC’s owner? To be more precise, the woman whom i met in RPC may or may not be the owner, perhaps she was helping out to run the place.  Oh my GOSH!!! Anyway it’s a nice place to chill =)

Fancy “burnt fish”?

Actually what i meant is IKAN BAKAR that literally means burnt fish in Malay. Coming from the same ‘Kepulauan Melayu’, yes the dish is very much popular here in Indonesia too just like Malaysia! The cooking condiments are different though. Will tell more throughout the post

Ikan Bakar you can find it at most hawker spots, bound to meet have a few in every area. Usually this Ikar Bakar stalls are Al-Fresco, meaning outside never indoors. It’s the same in Indonesia. You can have Ikan Bakar by the beach (Jimbaran, Bali) and Al-Fresco restaurant but never indoors.

May I present you:

:: IKAN BAKAR 52::

It’s been open for nearly one year now. I’ve not been here before until today. The idea of coming to Alun-alun Malang for a meal never strikes me unless i got other matters to be in this place. Hustly and bustle of alun-alun is something i won’t look forward to especially under hot scorching sun.

I usually frequent the IKAN GALUNGUNG for ikan bakar because they have kick-sambal !! I’ve a high threshold for spicy food! Come to think of it, it was Ms.Carey the cousin who took me there. Haha… both of us had some great times there when it comes to glutonny.

What actually caught my attention of the restaurant one year ago wasn’t the food menu but the drink menu pricing on the banner placed outside the restaurant. I’ll show you why,

:: Teh Tawar Rp 100, Butt soup anyone? ::

There i was wondering… “Do they serve tea with tiny chinese tea cups? That one cup cost Rp. 100?”
I don’t drink much after a meal, only sip on drinks to wash off the taste of the meal and prevent from being overly full, obviously i was please to see that!

Check out the Soup section
Sup Buntut in Indonesia is known as Ox-tail soup in Msia aka Sup Ekor (BM)
Butt soup taste like any butt to me, no difference.

The most expensive drink only cos like Rp. 10k which is standard pricing in most restaurants in Malang.

Anyway there was this new drink that for the first time i come across it JUS TERONG BELANDA!!
Now does anyone knows what is that? Durian Belanda (BM) i know it’s called Sirsak in BI and Soursop in English but that? It’s hard to envision brinjal and soursop as one.

Oh ya… Es Mega Mendung is one of my favourites drinks around! MEga in Size and TAste if u have sweet tooth!

:: inside the restaurant ::

Waiters and waitresses all in batik uniform.

:: Dining Area ::

Don’t you love the ambiance? The Restaurant is really big! A place where you may like to have a group of friends to eat and be merry. They have a more secluded sitting area near the washing place but it’s rather stuffy in there.

what we ordered:

:: the satisfying package Rp. 2500 ::

ordered five of that… a basket of rice came for five and turned out we got cheated on our vegetable. For five people heck they gave us very little vege it was the size of small soup chinese soup bowl. As if Sawi is very hard to get now. It was the vege was cooked with urap-urap. By the way, after dinner, the neighboring opposite table i passed on my way out had a big bowl of urap-urap on their dining table which is untouch! Arrgghh… unfair treatment! We girls like our vegetables thank you.

:: Gule Ikan Kakap 1 ekor ::

Curry fish to die for! *YumYum* The shallots did wonders to this santan(coconut milk) dish! A must to order when u come! The best dish out of the four we ordered.
Logically, a person will come to an ” Ikan Bakar” resto to have some burnt fish, but for me i come just to have a fishy meal preferably none burnt. Staying on highlands, away from the sea, sea fish is hard to get unless u go to this kinda resto. If not the only fish you can get in warungs@ kopithiam will be fresh water fish or preserved fish. Why none burnt?
One of the small few reasons i don’t like the ikan bakar here is because after they burnt the fish, the size of the fish shrinks! There will be hardly any white meat to peck on. Secondly, the cooking style for fish are very few. The most famous and common local distinctive style will be using Kecap Manis as marination then bbq it or deep fried the fish. Ugghh… i miss good old steam fish!

One can never go wrong with sweet soya sauce in Indonesia. Practically in every food/ dish/ meal they use their sweet sauce. Be it the ABC brand or whatever.

:: Gurame Bakar Kecap/Kacang::

That’s the Kecap style only this comes with the kacang sauce.
Can you spot the carbon on the fish? Anyway Msia’s Ikan Bakar style we used lots of spices and the fish is wrapped up in banana leave when put on the bbq pit to be more precise it should be called grilled fish! Yum yum!

:: Udang masak Asam Manis ::

Tasted sweeter and there was no tinge or sourness. My grandma makes better one using Asam Jawa!
It was a disappointing portion for it’s price.

:: Sapo Tahu Seafood ::

I asked whether it was Japanese taufoo, waiter said yes.  LIAR! It’s either the waiter lied, the cook lied or the kitchen ran out of Japanese taufoo… Hmmppg. So far the best Japanese Taufoo would be in Matos (halal) an d Sukun Murni.

:: washing area with the secluded dining area ::

The total damage done???

:: Rp. 143, 935 for five people ::

CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT TAX is RP 13,085??!

The VERDICT

If you fancy going somewhere for burnt fish but with an ambiance, this is the place you should check out! Not only the food is affordable and delicious, you are able to dress nicely and smell (smoke free) good after the meal!
IKAN BAKAR 52, Jalan KH Agus Salim, 11, Malang
It ’s the same road as Mitra 1 along the same row of Martabak Agung only slightly further down.

B

URP!!
BURP!!!

Mandarin Oranges

the oriental fruit
like round ornaments hanging from Christmas Tree
filled with Vitamin C

bountiful harvest it is
where the spring is
such zesty sweetness

that bright orange ball
that delights us all
for it is a sign that Chinese New Year is here!

it is a symbol of gold
given to everyone on CNY
to share the good wealth

but NAY…
how can we distribute golds
that has gold diggers?

Pardon the badly put wordplay… but i couldn’t resist the phrases in the head.

These pics and info i got it from an email.

Chinese new year is drawing near. When buy Chinese oranges please beware of
the worms inside. These worms are very similar to the texture of the orange
and therefore can only be observe if you look carefully (long sighted person
may not notice).

The Chinese government had in fact made effort to destroy hundreds of tons
of these oranges and compensate the farmers for these. But however some
culprit may still sell it illegally. That’s why we need to be careful.

Whether the worms is harmful to the human body or not is still questionable.
But generally if few numbers are consumed it should not make any harm
according to doctors. It is advisable to be careful about it.

The worms are the exactly like the flesh of the fruit! There’s not much colour contrast to tell the larvan and the pulp apart. Please be warn… because for me, i don’t have the habit of starring at my fruit intently before putting it in my mouth, i just chomp, chomp and gobble, gobble. It’s CNY after all, my attention will be everywhere not at the fruit.

Joy to the World

…. the lord has come!

I woke up at noon feeling lethargy, hoping the 3 days of flu will wear off with the excessive rest i had the night before. Unfortunately, the virus lay dormant when i slept and work it’s way to irritate me throughout the day, making me feel tired, red-sore nose due to excessive of nose blowing, watery eyes and unhappy me. Couldn’t get any work done at all.

I went to the Catholic Church at Ijen with the girls except for Kuthuk. The church was a full house despite the mass was over. Going there this time didn’t freak me out like the last year. I enjoyed myself this time and manage to accquire some peace within since last night was quite the ‘bomb’. Last year decoration was better according to IronChef, (hehehe) vague memories of it i still have, it was an all white theme, down to every minute detail. White roses, white Lilies and white Tulips were the main attraction that year.

This year it’s pretty simple.

love the sliver tassles hanging down from the ceilings, it was all shimmering from the distance.

The priest doing his thingy-majingy.

For the 40 minutes of my time in church, i was blissfully free from upper respiratory tract infection! Amen!  That is some blessing from Mother Mary. As for now, my nose is stuffy and sore, me ain’t liking it.

Had dinner in Canton which is situated at Jalan Guntur of Oro-oro Dowo market. It’s a HALAL chinese restaurant that sells cantonese food. Personally, it ain’t Cantonese cuisine at all. It has been modified to the taste buds of the locals here.

Place was packed with church goers that came back from the mass. For the first time in two weeks, all 5 of us only got together. We were all so busy with out Methodology TA @ thesis proposal, that we’ve not seen each other in kost at all except for classes. Some of them manage to finish their work with their own lecturers, some of us are at the point of finishing.

sizzling hot plate @ Aneka Hotplate

Rip off of a dish! Small sizzling platter that consist of: squid, prawns, chicken. It was suppose to have beef but i opt not to and the quail eggs were not in the dish! So much Rp.35k

Of all my frequenting times there, this has got to be the starchiest meal i’ve ever had in Canton and it’s the 2nd restaurant here that serves so much of starch in their food after IKANA. *eeeeYuk*

haahh… miss my chummies.<3
______________________________________________________________________________________________

Yesterday cannot be describe in one word to express how am i to feel.
Yesterday was the last class for the 5th Semester. I am going to miss Ethics lecture especially from Dr.Eriko. She’s the best and liveliest lecture from Forensic, love her humour.

After class i made many, many, many, many balls of Tong Yuen. hehehe. I guess i was standing for 4-5 hours kneading the dough, boiling the soya milk. It was a satisfactory self attempt and pleases me that it turn out quite well, according to those who ate it ;P hahaha
Why the sudden notion of making Tong Yuen. Well.. er hurm… story goes like this:
Someone sent me a Chinese sms text on Happy Solstice Festival and Merry Xmas, being the half-a-bucket Chinese around i didn’t realise the Solstice festival was around the corner. I was informed that it was on the 23rd of December from him. To my dismay, i got conned! It was actually on Sunday, and that i only knew when i read thestar online and was asked by Jea whether i am making balls. WTH… i’ve edi set my mind on making it on the 23rd and so i did! I manage to share with many of my favourite people around.

Sweet potao tong yuen in soya milk

To those who actually offered to wash up for me thanks for offering, if only you were a girl i would take up that offer :p
Thanks to Kuthuk who secretly went and wash all the pots and utensils when i was out <3<3

Although i like to do things quite on the spur at most times but i don’t like it when things that was planned so long ago goes awry. Really potong steam! Regardless of what happen last evening, i should throw some praises to the rain for pouring, leaving everyone indoor, hungry, discontented and best of all ending the matter by going for a Xmas eve dinner as planned.

Instead of Pizza Hut, we went to Canton (again! Yes, there is something about that place that i too often like to frequent with cliques).

Food was piping HOT that the steam was captured by the camera. 9 out of 11 were very jakun when they saw the portion of the food! Hahaha. Seriously, most of the students who came from Msia to Malang to study, the size of our gaster@stomach shrunk! This has got to do with the infrequent eating habits of most students who are too busy in Uni. The breaktime we have here is short and only once for the wholeday.

So much food was ordered! I guess Jo was so hearty and jovial like santa that night when he ordered that much of food! =p

The expression from Walaueh really makes me laugh!! ok, so heated arguments will lead to hunger. This pic proves it all on the drooling expression of Walaueh! Haha

Es Menado

The best dessert drink by far! Too think i was the only weird person who enjoys soursop last time in Jatinangor, turns out i’m not the odd one out YO!! hahaha I’m feeling like Marty who found his herd of Zebra’s in Madagascar 2!

When you’re full, you’re happy. The pic tells me they look tummy filled and contented. Not to forget spastic too!

Groupie pic of the majority of the Chinese Community in Malang.

A random fact i must state here: these ppl are the handful of Chingkies that i can count with my fingers ever since after F5 ( not including HOBS, Genius and Cheers)… ohh MAN!
* heart heart heart x 11*

(a bonus pic thrown in!)

Obviously those are not my slity eyes!

What’s cooking?

Today’s Radiology was pretty much a “what the fish??”! kind of situation.
Half way through the exam this specialist doc came in and told the Regular B class students to buck up on their studies cos 15 students only passed the last exam and Regular A class students did better than them. With a dramatic paused only he continue and refer to my class, telling us nonchalantly with a slightly curved smile on his lips that nine of us only passes the exam!

“WTF??!!” bummer dude!! Seriously, all those were pass year questions and they said only that many passed?!! He’s gotta be pulling our legs! Either they didn’t bother marking our exam papers properly or they raised the marking grade so much higher!

Sigh~ heavy and frustrated we were, we went to distress with ourselves with al-cheapo karaoke sessions and some whack the dummy session. Then off we went on a mission buying belated birthday gifts. Shopping is therapeutic and also a headache when u don’t have an idea on what to get for someone! Arrghh~
All was well in the end, got Plushies!! Lovely, soft ones in the brightest shade that there is!

Window shopping or karaoke session cannot beat the ever most therapeutic activity in the kitchen
Finally, I’ve got the time to whip a couple of dishes from zilch experience, only relied on recalling of taste. I had great help from Kuthuk and Yum! My lovely kitchen helpers =) What will i do without them…. i think there would have been lucky 7 starve to death.

:: fried tom yum bihun::

I felt something was lacking of it…. but they think it taste good! Haha… It’s always the cook who makes the biggest critic! As long they ate happily and were satisfied.

:: Barley and Fu Chuk::

My tastebuds have very low tolerance for sugar. I don’t fancy too sweet of a drink unless it is really meant to be. 4 ppl against 3 said that the barley drink wasn’t sweet enough. I can’t please everyone, and it’s healthier to take less sugar. Gymnema sylvestre betul la this four mangkuks!

Hmm… Apparently, the Chinese and Indian make barley drink differently. We all got to know the difference at the end of the day. Chinese just like adding Fu Chuk and Gingko nut if it’s available If not it would be the same as how anyone does it. Gingki Nut increases the brain memory effectiveness. I need those soon!

:: Stir fry Lala (clams) with dried chillies::

Oh my, clams @ la la @ kerang batik were sold so cheaply in Giant!! Yum got so excited and wanted me to cook for her. Hahahaa… So we bought nearly 1kg of clams! I got to say this is one of the better dishes i made so far for a first timer.

I enjoy cooking as long there are guinea pigs with big appetites and someone there to prepare the condiments for cooking!! I hate the cutting, chopping and cleaning up part.  Lol! Whatever it is, i’ve still have no confidence of preparing meals for the family… not yet anyway. Still in thoughts.

Presentation is not my forte.
Why bother?
When the food at the end of the day is going to be metabolize in the Gastrointestinal Tract system =)

Glad i did some kitchen work and the food session went well. A month ago, out of the blue my Indian chummies had a big cook out session in conjunction of Deepavali! I didn’t help out at all because of long list of activities to get done. The food was wonderful! Lip-smacking Indian cooking! A rare treat indeed, because the IronChef refuse to cook frequently to our request Hard to bargain with this woman.

:: Nasi Tomato::

:: Curry chicken (L), Vegetables, tahu sambal::

:: Vegetables Kumar::

::Shredded Cabbage/ cap chai::

Bahagianya aku!! To have such friends !