Moving and Kokuryo!

It was Friday the 11th. Moving day and I was all psyched up for it. Not quite so prepared though. I'd not finished packing yet despite trying my bestest to put aside time to pack before toppling into bed each morning after work. Luckily, WP who was helping me move was quite flexible in terms of when he could do it that day so I had a few hours to finish packing. By 11.30am, I gave him a call and he came over. I was both relieved and surprised when we actually managed to load all my stuff into his car! I had thought that we might have to split it into two carloads. So we set off for Glasgow.

Less than 1 hr later, we arrived. Here are some photos of the flat before I messed it up with my stuff!

Sitting room view 1

Sitting room view 2

Bedroom view 1

Same bedroom view 2

It was past one in the afternoon, so we just piled my luggage into the flat higgledy-piggledy and then left for lunch at Kokuryo on Argyle St. Kokuryo is definitely one of the plus points of living in Glasgow I have to say! I love Korean food and this is the only Korean restaurant in Scotland. Well, they are supposedly about to open a branch in Edinburgh soon, so Edinburgh Korean food lovers, you can rejoice!

I normally go for spicy dishes but I decided to try the bulgogi this time. WP ordered an omelette for a starter, claiming it was amazing. After helping myself to about half of his omelette, I agreed! I offered him my rice cakes instead, although they were probably poor compensation. The bulgogi was full in flavour but having to wrap it in lettuce made for messy eating. I think the bibimbap still rules!

Side dishes

Tteokbokki - Spicy rice cakes

Korean omelette with spicy dip

Bulgogi (above) served with lettuce and ssamjang (below)

Miso soup

Dolsot bibimbap

All work and no sleep makes for a very tired me, unfortunately. WP kindly gave me a lift to Falkirk where I took the train back to Edinburgh. My train to London the following day would be from Edinburgh. I slept all the way on the train and also as soon as I got into my sister's flat. zZZ

Independence day, not

What comes to your mind when the 4th of July rolls around? Independence Day in the US accompanied by fireworks, I'm sure. But that's not what I'm talking about. The 4th of July is more than that to one of my friends in particular. It is none other than the day she was born!

So, to mark that day, those of us who could make it decided to meet for a meal at Iglu on Jamaica St in Edinburgh. Karen's choice. In fact, I wasn't even sure what we would be doing until I finished work on the day and got her text. HS kindly gave me a lift to Edinburgh and we found the place with the help of Googlemap on my trusty Tocco! :P

View from our table

HS and Karen

Me and Lai Ling

Karen and I

Jill and HS


Fishcakes with a high fish: potato ratio

Selection of Scottish meats

Purplelicous blueberry cheescake baked by....Peckhams!

Cake-cutting , but the cake was pre-cut!

All pics above taken with the Tocco camera btw. I forgot to take pics of the mains, sorry. The food was great however, trust me.

Beanscene on Argyle St

Dear reader, you may soon notice a spate of retrospective uploads on this blog ! That will be me trying to catch up after having been on nights and holiday.

On the 2nd of July, I rushed up to Glasgow after work to officially sign the lease for the flat. Afterwards, Ajeet and I met up with CW to have dinner at Kokuryo followed by coffee at the Beanscene on Argyle St. The mocha and Blegian waffles there are great btw. I'd just got a new Samsung Tocco and was eager to try out the camera on it. Hence:

The interior of the Beanscene

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum opposite Beanscene

I also took pics of Ajeet and I but we both look exhausted so I shall refrain from uploading them to avoid offending your sensibilities :) The camera is not that amazing despite supposedly being 5 megapixels. I hereby admit this after comparing pics of the Kelvingrove Art Gallery with Ajeet and CW who both have the Nokia N95. So if you're looking for a cameraphone, get a Sony Ericsson cybershot I say. I still love my Tocco though..

Nocturnality

Is there such a word? I think so.

I am currently on nights - my third to be exact. I think there might be light at the end of the tunnel yet.

Several things were doing my head in on my first night. I had been woken up at 10am the same day, and not managed to return to sleep since. Also, there was the problem of when and how best I should move to Glasgow among several other things. I'd also booked flights to Berlin for next week, but had not been bothered to book accommodation and had been imagining myself wandering homeless around the city.As a result, by the time 10pm rolled around, I had a good-going migraine and was finding it a challenge to function at higher level. I managed to fall asleep sitting down and only woke up with a nurse practically shouting my name. At 9am, as soon as I reached my room, I toppled in bed and was away in snoozeland for 9 and a half hours.

The second night was much better. I'd managed to do some research on accommodation in Berlin and I was feeling less sleepy. I also managed to watch the first and last five minutes of a Mexican movie.

Tonight I feel like I've actually accomplished something of value after not managing to pick up on simple things which made me feel like a first class idiot in front of my SHO.

I booked somewhere to stay for next week and it actually looks nice!! I am looking forward to this. I think I've also managed to formulate a better idea of when I'm going to move. All I have to do now is to pack.

Currently important dates in my diary:

Moving D-day 11 July

Leaving for London 12 July

Berlin 15-18 July

London again 18-20 July

Good Auld Reekie 20 July +/- Glasgow

What's your favourite Malaysian food?

A colleague of mine recently went for a 2 week holiday in Malaysia. She'd asked me for a list of food to try. Below is part of the email that I sent to her:

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Rice (Nasi) dishes:
Nasi lemak (coconut flavoured rice with a spicy sambal or chilli paste made from anchovies, and usually served with egg - either hard boiled or fried,cucumber and chicken curry. Not to be missed.
Nasi biryani
Nasi kunyit - turmeric rice, don't let this stain your clothes!
Bubur ( rice congee, great when eaten with yau char kway/fried dough sticks)
Claypot chicken rice ( rice cooked in a claypot with chicken, salted fish, and soy sauce)

Noodles (Mee/Fun):
Char Kueh Teow ( not to be missed! Stir fried broad noodles flavoured with dark and soy sauce, egg and cockles and served with a spicy belacan dip)
Chee Cheong Fun ( Chinese steamed noodles served with various sauces and fish cake)
Yee Meen (pre-fried noodles served with an eggy sauce)
Asam Laksa ( A noodle dish in a sour fishy soup with tamarind and cucumber)
Kari Laksa ( A noodle dish in a reddish, curry soup base)
Wanton Mee ( Noodles - can be served dry or in soup, with prawn or pork dumplings)

Seafood (Makanan Laut) in general is amazing - I love salt and pepper squid/calamari.
Fried catfish served with chilli is also great.
Ikan bakar (literally meaning burnt fish, can be found at some stalls. This is served with a squeeze of lime and a spicy dip. Stingray is usually the sea creature of choice for this style of cooking.)
Shark's fin soup is a delicacy you will find in Chinese restaurants.
Keropok lekor ( Savoury fried fish cake eaten with a chilli sauce)

Meat dishes (usually eaten accompanied with rice):
Ayam masak merah - A Malay way of cooking chicken in a red sauce, usually accompanied by peas
Kari - multiple variations of this occur
Rendang - beef/chicken cooked in a coconut stew

Roti Canai - An Indian flaky pancake served with curries. I absolutely love this.
There can be many variations of Roti (bread), like Roti telur (with egg), roti tisu (sweet and light, also very big!),

Dessert:
Kuih is a Malay term for cake. If something is named beginning with kuih - it generally will be dessert!
Onde onde ( small green balls made of rice flour, coated with freshly grated coconut and filled with gula Melaka - a special brown sugar).
Tau Foo Fah - Soybean Curd served with warm, sweet syrup.
Ais kacang - 'nutty ice' - sweet corn, red beans and jelly topped with shaved ice, syrups and condensed milk.
Bubur cha-cha - yam and sweet potato cubes in coconut milk and sago.

Drinks (Minuman):
Cendol - Amazingly fragrant drink made of starchy green jelly (the cendol), gula Melaka, and coconut milk. Not to be missed!
Bubble Milk Tea/Pearl Milk Tea - I like the yam/taro flavoured version of this. The bubble/pearls are gummy balls made from tapioca and are usually black in colour. Not to be missed!
Teh tarik - 'pulled tea' - a national favourite. Try to watch the process of making this!

Fruits(Buah):
Durian (a really thorny exterior with soft creamy yellow flesh, you'll either love it or hate it)
Mangosteens ( small, round, purple on the outside with creamy white flesh. Tradition has it that this should be eaten alongside durian as mangosteen has cooling properties, while durian is heaty)
Cempedak ( Cempedak goreng is the fried battered version, which I prefer to the raw fruit actually, as the frying brings out the flavour)
Mangoes (the yellow ones)
Longan (literally Dragon Eyes - small sweet fruit about the size of cherries, but with brown skin which peels off to reveal translucent flesh and black stones. I can devour bunches of these)
Rambutan ( unique fruit that I've not seen outside of South East Asia. Hairy red fruit with sweet white flesh, about the size of a golf ball each)
Rojak ( literally means all mixed up - various fruits are cut up and mixed with a sweet black sauce)

Seasonal: Zhong (Chinese dumplings made out of 'pulut' or glutinous rice, during the Dumpling Festival, which is kinda now - wrapped in large green leaves - they can be savoury or sweet)

Miscellanous:
Dim Sum - including Pao (buns with all sorts of fillings) are a must!! This is a great way to have breakfast.
Popiah - spring rolls , can be fried or steamed. Great for a snacka
Yong Tau Foo - Various veggies eg aubergines, chillies, bittergourd, even tofu are stuffed with fish paste.

-------------end of excerpt-------------

It occurred to me as I was composing the email that it would come in really handy for the next time I go home, just to make sure I don't miss out on anything!! I remember beating myself up about not having roti canai after returning from a trip home once.

What would you have included on this list?