Nong Geng Ji Hunan Cuisine @ Sunway Pyramid

A quick lunch at Nong Geng Ji Hunan Cuisine @ Sunway Pyramid 🌶️🥢

Last month, when I went to Sunway Pyramid for my youngest daughter Cass's figure skating competition at Skate Asia, we stopped by Nong Geng Ji Hunan Cuisine for lunch.

I only had about 30 minutes to eat because my taxi was coming at 3.30pm to drive me all the way back to Ipoh. So this was definitely a case of eat first, chew later. 😂

Cass's dad ordered three dishes for the three of us — dry pot shredded spicy cabbage, stir-fried silky tomato omelette and stir-fried free-range chicken with tea oil.

Everything was really good, but my favourite was the tomato omelette. 🍅. I honestly didn't expect a simple-looking tomato-and-egg dish to be the star of the meal, but it was SO good.

The bill came up to RM120.50 for three dishes, which I thought was pretty reasonable for a restaurant in Sunway Pyramid. And the portions were quite generous too. Because I was rushing and could only eat a little, there was still quite a lot of food left. Cass happily tapau-ed the leftovers for her lunch the next day. 😂

There was even free ice cream for diners, but sadly, yours truly had zero time to investigate the ice cream situation. 😭🍦

I also really liked the ambience. The waiting staff were dressed in traditional Hunan-style costumes, which added a nice touch to the whole dining experience.

Nong Geng Ji is a China-origin Hunan restaurant chain that came to Malaysia in 2024, and the Sunway Pyramid outlet opened in 2025. It has also received pretty good reviews from diners.

The next time I'm at Sunway Pyramid, I'll definitely go back — hopefully with more than 30 minutes to eat this time! 😂

If you're at Sunway Pyramid and in the mood for something a little different from the usual Chinese fare, Nong Geng Ji is definitely one place you can consider trying. 🌶️🥢

Nong Geng Ji Hunan Cuisine 农耕记湖南菜

📍 Sunway Pyramid, LG1.42

💰 Our lunch: RM120.50 for 3 dishes / 3 people

You can watch a short video of our lunch at Nong Geng Ji on my Facebook Page.

The 10th Day of CNY: Health Checks & Family Lunch In Menglembu

Today is the 10th day of Chinese New Year, and was my scheduled yearly medical check-up and Pap smear.

This year, instead of visiting my usual gynae in KL, I did it at Pantai Hospital Ipoh. After Googling for female health screening packages, I found that Pantai was offering one of the best deals. I chose the Ruby package at RM380, which includes a Pap smear, blood and urine tests, abdominal ultrasound, lung function test, eye test, dental check, and ECG. I also added an ultrasound of the breasts for RM87.

The whole process was surprisingly quick. By 11am, everything was done. I couldn’t see the doctor today as she had to attend a meeting, so I’ll be reviewing the results with her next week. The medical report was WhatsApped to me by noon.

There was complimentary breakfast too. I had to scan a barcode to choose my meal, and after finishing the scans, I headed to the café. The set was quite a big breakfast — sausage, ham, baked beans with bell pepper, scrambled eggs, a slice of wholemeal toast, hash brown and watermelon. The latte was pretty good too. Not the healthiest, but it was tasty and not overly salty. I haven’t eaten something like that in a long time.

My dad fetched me home, and after a quick shower, I drove us to Menglembu for lunch with my dad’s siblings. The drive there took about an hour, but the return trip was much faster. It was my first time driving to Menglembu using Waze — something I’d probably never do in KL. The traffic in Klang Valley is just too horrendous, and I hate wasting time stuck in jams.

Lunch with the relatives was lovely. But after being away from my fur baby almost the entire day, I realised how much I missed her. It made me wonder how I’ll cope if I ever go back to working full-time and have to leave Haru alone in my room for the whole day. I guess I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.

All in all, it was a busy and fruitful day. As for my medical report — that’s a story for another day, if I feel like sharing. Not too bad, yet not perfect either. But that’s life, right?

Watch the video here and follow for more updates here> https://www.facebook.com/reel/1944200619507868

I drove an hour to Menglembu to have this lovely lunch with my dad's siblings at Best View Restaurant.

2025 Christmas Eve Dinner at Hakka Yin Signature, Ipoh

 Our Xmas Eve dinner was at Hakka Yin Signature.

Hakka Yin Signature is our family’s go-to restaurant for authentic Hakka cuisine. Being Hakka ourselves, we truly appreciate the flavours here — especially the abacus yam seeds, which are fragrant, well-seasoned, and you can really taste the yam in every bite.

The black vinegar pig’s trotters are rich and satisfying, while the braised duck with preserved black beans is packed with deep, savoury flavour. On our previous visit during CNY, we also tried the yellow wine chicken, which was excellent.

Prices are very reasonable, and the restaurant is almost always fully booked — so do make a reservation before you go!

Check out my video on YouTube here: 

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/-p5vVx9qFoQ

Braised black bean duck, black vinegar pig's trotters, stir-fried cabbage, and fried fish.

Abacus yam seeds, our family's favorite and by far the best we've tasted.

My loving parents; dad is 82 and mum 79 this year.

Hakka Yin Signature 

54, Jalan Medan Ipoh 4, Taman Ipoh Timur,

31400 Ipoh, Perak

Phone: 017-447 7624

Heading Home to Ipoh… With Haru in Tow!

I’m typing this while waiting for my younger brother, Roy, to come and pick me up. In a little while, we’ll be heading back to Ipoh together — my parents, myself… and of course, Haru. My little shadow. My soul cat. Wherever I go, she follows, as if she already knows that she’s part of every chapter of my life now.

This time, I’ll be spending a long holiday in Ipoh. A well-deserved break to reset, breathe, and let myself be pampered by my parents the way only parents can — with food, fussing, and that familiar comfort that feels like medicine for the soul.

I’m really hoping Haru behaves in the car again, just like she did on her past two road trips home. Fingers crossed she keeps calm and doesn’t hiss at anyone, claw my shoulder, or plot her escape plan halfway through the North-South Highway!

This is just a short update before we get on the road.

Stay tuned — more Ipoh stories coming soon!

Below are pix of our sumptuous dinner at Dancing Fish (Malay-Indo cuisine) @ BSC with my visiting SILs and their families from overseas last weekend.

Dancing Fish's signature deep-fried crispy dancing fish.

Fried tempeh with petai, braised ox tongue in kicap hitam, ikan bakar and pucuk pakis in coconut milk curry.

Platter of deep-fried veggies, squid, otak-otak, and satay with kerabu mango.

Ice kacang and cendol

Deep fried egg tofu.

Alycia Turns 22 — A Birthday to Remember at Hut Dining Buffet, Lalaport

We kicked off December with a double celebration that felt extra meaningful this year. With my MIL’s 80th birthday coming up on 9 December, all four of her children and their families flew back from overseas for the celebration. It’s the first time ever — in all these years — that the entire family is back together under one roof. And what made it even more special was that we also got to celebrate Alycia’s 22nd birthday on the 5th of December.

To mark the occasion, we decided on a family dinner at Hut Dining Buffet at Lalaport, a Japanese eat-all-you-can buffet that has been raved about for its quality. And I must say… the reviews did not lie!

Ordering is all done via iPads placed on the tables, and every dish is freshly prepared only after an order is placed. No pre-made trays, no soggy food sitting under warmers — everything comes straight from the kitchen, beautifully plated and incredibly fresh.

And with a big family like ours, you can imagine how the ordering went.

Umpteen plates of fresh sashimi, snow crabs, hamachi, unagi, shellfish, raw oysters, wagyu beef, and so much more arrived one after another. Everyone had their favourites, and we happily ate to our hearts’ content. Dessert was a highlight too — Haagen-Dazs stick ice creams in various flavours, the perfect finishing touch to an already fantastic meal.

Honestly, it was one of the best meals I’ve had in a long time.

The total bill came up to over RM4,000, generously treated by my BIL who flew in from New Zealand yesterday.

After dinner, we headed back to my SIL’s unit (same condo, just a different unit) for a simple cake-cutting session for Alycia. She turned 22 surrounded by her grandma, uncles, aunties, cousins, sisters, and all the people who love her.

It was a beautiful night — great food, laughter, bonding, and a rare gathering of the entire family. A celebration we will all remember for years to come.

Alycia with her Sarah ku ku from Hawaii.  Alycia spent her baby and toddler days a lot with Sarah before she left to work in Saipan.  The tiramisu cake is from Lacher Patisserie.

These are just some of the dishes that we ordered, which I managed to snap photos of. 

Baked prawns, grilled hamachi, wagyu sukiyaki, deep-fried soft shell crab, grilled saba and California rolls.

Pingu Birthday cake from Alycia's high-school bff. Her bff is now living in Auckland, but she never fails to send Alycia birthday gifts since she left about 7 years ago.

Fresh oysters, sashimi, snow crab chawan mushi, and I can't remember the names of some of the dishes here.

Snow crabs.

More fresh sashimi, baked snow crab with cheese, soft shell crab maki and wagyu don.

Fresh sashimi platter. We ordered many of these.

Ordering is done on an iPad.

Restaurant staff singing Happy Birthday to the birthday girl, with complimentary birthday cake.

Haagen Dazs stickbar ice-creams in four delicious flavours. I shared a salted caramel and macha bar with Cass.

Enjoying her snow crab.

A Surprise Dinner at Mauceri, Khloe Hotel

Last Saturday, my husband surprised us with an unplanned dinner outing. All of us assumed, as usual, that we would be heading to our neighbourhood tai chow restaurant. But the moment we got into the car, he casually announced that he would be taking us to a place called Mauceri. None of us had heard of it, and we had absolutely no idea where it was.

It wasn’t until we were about to arrive that we realised the restaurant is inside Khloe Hotel, a boutique hotel in Bukit Bintang. That was when it hit us — we were all dressed in our sloppy, stay-at-home clothes, perfectly fine for tai chow, but definitely not for an elegant Italian restaurant. Still, we walked into Mauceri trying our best to look confident, pretending we belonged there despite our very “at home” outfits. I consoled myself that I was at least wearing a pair of Nike shorts, Nike sneakers and a sexy sleeveless bra top 😁

Hubby ordered quite a spread: roasted beetroot salad, kale salad, linguine vongole, squash ravioli, linguine prawn, tagliolini (crab meat, lemon and butter), roast chicken and fries. For dessert, he chose a Tiramisu, and the chef surprised us with an orange granita on the house. The food was delicious, and we enjoyed each other’s company.  The tagliolini was superb but the portion was really small.

Almost everyone was present for the dinner, including Alycia’s best friend. The only thing missing was Cassandra, who couldn’t join us because she was busy revising for her SPM.

The Great Washing Machine Saga: A Flood, A Fix, and A Lesson Learned

We’ve all been there. That moment a trusted household appliance decides to go on strike. In our case, the culprit was the washing machine, and what started as a simple repair turned into a two-day saga involving a flooded kitchen, a lot of hand-washing, and a lesson in water pressure.

Everyone in the house, except for someone sitting for a major exam soon, had to hand-wash their own clothes the past two days.

It all began when the technician arrived yesterday. He was efficient, diagnosed the problem quickly—a faulty motor—and replaced it with a new one. RM350 later, he packed up and left, and I was left with a sense of relief. Problem solved! Or so I thought.

Eager to get back to normal, I immediately started a load. But with just 8 minutes left on the cycle, my hope turned to dread. The machine had frozen. It was just… hanging.

A frantic WhatsApp message to the technician followed. He guided me through a "simple" fix: remove the cap at the bottom to let the water out. What he didn't mention was that this would unleash a tidal wave in my kitchen. Long story short, I spent the rest of the day hand-washing a mountain of clothes, hauling the heavier items to the dobi shop, and mopping up what felt like a small lake from the floor.

Round Two: The Technician Returns.

The technician came back this morning, presumably with a little more determination. He did his magic, and this time, he did something crucial: he waited. He stayed for the entire 15-minute cycle to ensure it actually finished. Victory, at last!

After he left, I confidently ran a full load. The cycle completed perfectly. The clothes were clean. But as I went to retrieve the clothes, I saw a new puddle of water on the floor. This was exactly the same problem that had plagued us for the past few weeks.

Another message to the technician. His explanation this time? Our own water pressure.

Apparently, our machine has a ‘U’-shaped drainage design, which is meant to slow the water flow. But our home's water pressure is so strong that it fights against this design, causing water to splatter back out from the detergent drawer. The solution? I have to lower our water pressure.

So, here we are. The machine is (fingers crossed) fixed, but with a new domestic variable to manage. This washer, which will only turn two years old in December 2025, has already put us through the wringer. It’s a stark reminder that modern appliances these days aren't always built for heavy use.

And with at least six rounds of laundry a day in our household, I’ve reached a conclusion: the next washer I buy won’t be a standard model. It’s going to be an industrial-grade, heavy-duty workhorse built to handle the chaos of real life.

For now, I’m crossing my fingers, turning down the water pressure, and hoping this one can survive another year. Wish me luck!

Throwback food pix from two Sundays ago - our lunch at Yat Yat Seng @ Megah Rise, Taman Megah, PJ. 

I grew up eating Yat Yat Seng, Ipoh's famous 'kai si hor fun' (chicken floss noodles) and curry noodles.  Fast forward several decades,  and there are now several branches in KL and PJ. 

Hubby is a huge fan of Yat Yat Seng's curry noodles.  The owner, Datin Seri Denise, is also a friend of hubby's.

Kai si hor fun

Curry noodles.

Steamed chicken and Ipoh bean sprouts.

Wantan filled with juicy prawns.

Pork belly in rice wine.

Quiet Sundays at Pavilion Damansara Heights

Lately, hubby has developed a new favourite weekend hangout spot — Pavilion Damansara Heights. This fairly new mall, which opened its doors in October 2023, is a breath of fresh air compared to the hustle and bustle of Mid Valley Megamall, Pavillion Bukit Jalil, or 1 Utama. It’s quiet, uncrowded, and surprisingly relaxing, even on Sundays.

That’s precisely why he loves it.

Free parking on Sundays, minimal crowds, no waiting in line at eateries — it’s becoming our little Sunday sanctuary. In fact, we were there two Sundays in a row!

Sunday #1: Goose, Pork & Prawn Wantans

Last Sunday, hubby decided to bring us (MIL and I) to try Hong Kong Roasted Goose King, the only restaurant in the mall that was fully packed while most other eateries were calm and quiet. I’m not a fan of duck, goose, or anything with webbed feet, but hubby and MIL absolutely love them.

Hubby ordered a quarter roasted goose, along with cha siu, siew yoke (roast pork), wanton mee with plump prawn wantons, double-boiled choy kon tong (dried veggie soup), and pork porridge. I must say, the food was impressive. My favourite was definitely the rich, flavourful double-boiled soup — loaded with ingredients and full of depth. The wanton noodles were springy and smooth, and the prawn wantons were fresh and juicy. It was a well-balanced, satisfying lunch for the three of us.

Sunday #2: Ramen, Shopping & Cake

This Sunday, the trio was slightly different — it was Sherilyn, hubby, and me. Deciding on where to eat took longer than expected. We walked around the mall for a good 15–20 minutes, checking out menus and discussing options. In the end, Sherilyn chose Aori Ramen, a Japanese restaurant specialising in ramen.

The menu was simple, with limited but focused ramen options. We each ordered a bowl, priced at RM38 per bowl, and added a few sides. While the ramen was tasty, we all agreed that Bankara Ramen (which has an outlet at Pavilion KL) is still our favourite. Thankfully, we spotted a sign — Bankara Ramen will be opening soon at Phase II of Pavilion Damansara Heights! Something to look forward to in future.

After lunch, Sherilyn and I dropped by Guardian Pharmacy to stock up on toiletries. Hubby, on the other hand, had his eye on dessert. He led us to Artelier Coffee, where he enjoyed his usual latte and a slice of Basque burnt cheesecake — the perfect end to a satisfying meal.

As usual, Cass couldn’t join us as she was still at Sunway Pyramid, cheering on her teammates and attending the closing ceremony of Skate Malaysia 2025. Alycia was also busy, working her weekend at her part-time café job.

Even though the whole family couldn’t be together, I still cherish these little moments of food, family, and calm amidst the chaos of daily life. Pavilion Damansara Heights is slowly becoming our go-to spot — and with Bankara Ramen coming soon, I suspect we’ll be spending even more Sundays there!

Lunch at Aori Ramen today.

Coffee and Basque burnt cheese cake at Artelier Coffee after lunch today.

Last Sunday's lunch at Hong Kong Roosted Goose King - very delicious wantan noodles and superb double boiled 'choy kon' soup.

Roast goose

Cha siu and siew yoke.

UO Shin at Millerz Square: A Must-Visit for Affordable, Quality Japanese Food

 Last Sunday, my husband took us to UO Shin at Millerz Square, Old Klang Road, for lunch. This wasn’t our first time dining there—it was our third visit—and once again, we left feeling completely satisfied. UO Shin serves delicious, high-quality Japanese food at very reasonable prices, making it one of our favorite spots for an authentic Japanese dining experience.

Be Prepared to Queue!

UO Shin opens its doors at 11:30 AM, but if you want to secure a table without waiting for an hour, I strongly recommend arriving at 11 - 11:15 AM to queue. The restaurant is extremely popular, and for good reason—the food is amazing, the portions are generous, and the prices are surprisingly affordable for the quality you get.

This time, we were there at 11:15 AM, and were the first in the queue. By the time we were done eating, a long queue had already built up outside the restaurant.

Extensive Menu at Affordable Prices

One of the best things about UO Shin is its extensive menu. Whether you’re in the mood for sushi, sashimi, teppanyaki, or ramen, you’ll find a wide variety of options to choose from. The ingredients are fresh, the flavors are authentic, and everything is beautifully presented. For the taste and quality, the pricing is incredibly reasonable, making it a fantastic place to enjoy Japanese cuisine without breaking the bank. It feels like dining in a 5-star restaurant with 2-star prices.

Efficient Service, But There’s a Time Limit!

The service at UO Shin is efficient, friendly, and attentive. The staffers are quick to take orders and ensure that food arrives promptly. However, each table is only given an hour to dine, so be prepared for a quick meal. This time limit helps keep the queue moving, but honestly, the food is so good that you won’t mind eating a little faster than usual!

Zen Ambience & A Fantastic Dining Experience

Despite the fast-paced dining, the restaurant maintains a calm and zen atmosphere. The decor is simple yet inviting, making it a pleasant place to enjoy a meal. The overall experience—great food, excellent service, and a cozy ambiance—makes every visit to UO Shin worthwhile.

UO Shin KL

Address: Block C ,G-02, Millerz Square by MyKey Global, Megan Legasi, 357, Old Klang Rd, 58000 Kuala Lumpur, Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur

Phone: 03-2779 2558

Hubby ordered 3 plates of this salmon and unagi sushi.  Every plate of sushi was impressively plated and the taste was 10/10.

This Uramaki with crispy bits inside was delish!!  Hubby ordered 3 plates as well.

As usual, my order. And as usual, I could only finish half of it and doggy bagged the other half back for Cass.  She didn't join us as she was at the skating rink doing her favorite thing every Sunday without fail.

Another umami plate of sushi, which hubby ordered 2 plates.

Beef steak.

Unagi Uramaki.  Looking at his photo makes me drool; yet another perfect plate of Uramaki.