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About a year or so ago, Chicking opened in Malaysia during the Raya holidays (or thereabouts, I remember having a late lunch here with Kemu and Rin). When they first opened, they were so new, they didn’t even set up their drinks dispenser! As a new outlet, my friends and I were willing to forgive their tardiness in service, especially since they were relatively cheap. However, while they were cheap, their food was bad.

I remember Kemu saying that her nuggets tasted like leftover in the open air nuggets that were just heated up before they served it to her. The coleslaw too, was exceptionally bad and definitely not fresh. The fried chicken was limp and didn’t resemble fried chicken at all. Needless to say, we all gave the place a wide berth after that. I’ve been coming back to Tropicana now and then and each time I passed Chicking, I noticed the place was almost empty.

Even during dinner time. And if you’re empty during dinner in Malaysia (UNLESS you’re serving really niche food like chicken backside dipped in wine and served with cheese) then you know that the place has really bad food. Malaysians will even tolerate bad service for good food but never bad food for great service. We’re elitists when it comes to food.

So, what’s the point of this entry?

As you could have guessed by now, I’ve decided to give Chicking a second try. And I think thereafter I’ll pass on it forever.

The good stuff?

The food has improved. At least there’s a certain crunch when I bite into my fried chicken, and the meat does taste like fried chicken. The portions are so-so; for the price you pay it was enough to fill my stomach. All in all, it tasted like fairly decent fried chicken. The meal I took was a Royal Snack, as they called it. One piece chicken, two pieces chicken strip, a bowl of rice and a drink. I changed the rice for mash because I didn’t feel like chewing (much).

Here’s the thing though. After you get through the superficialities of the chicken sounding crisp when you take it apart with your fingers, you realise that the chicken itself is bland. There’s no taste in the chicken (not even of oil like in the mamak) and worse, the seasoning tastes like flour. It’s a meal to fill the stomach if you had no other option, and I’m kind of regretting eating here cause, well, I’m in Tropicana City Mall. There’s always a better option.

Lesson learnt: No more Chicking after this. Possibly never again.

Original entry as appearing at Ink to Screen.

My 3-year old nephew on my mom’s side (whom I adore because he’s a tough and plucky kid) was hospitalised for lung infection recently. Apparently part of the reason he fell sick was because his mom limited his food intake. By limiting his food intake I don’t mean that she didn’t let him eat fast food and the like. It was more like she put him on a crash diet with her, as she didn’t want either one of them developing a tummy.

Background: My cousin sister apparently still has a flat tummy. Fine for you, but to not allow your kid to eat because HE developed a stomach? That’s cruel.

I find that quite disturbing. I can understand limiting food intake to make sure he doesn’t overeat, or that he doesn’t eat only junk food and the like, but really, at a traditional family sit down with rice, beancurd, steamed fish, fried kai lan with sweet and sour chicken? Traditional Chinese foods which don’t have much oil, fats or anything?

I mean, what the hell.

Saying that I am disturbed is a major understatement. At least it underscores what I will never do with my children. If my kids want to eat, let them eat. If they want veggies (when their mommy hates them XD) then they shall have it. If they want steamed chicken or fruits, then they’ll have it. And you’ll can be goddamned sure that if we’re going out to eat with the family, I’ll let them feed him whatever he wants; junk food and whatever he’s allergic to aside.

Blergh. At least my nephew’s recovered. I do feel sorry for her that she got quite a bit of scolding apparently from the whole family, but that’s mom dealing with her. Raising kids in Asia is rarely a solo effort. For once, I am glad this is so.

Context: Nephew is usually looked after by his grandma in the day but stays with my cousin brother’s family, aka my cousin sis’s in-laws.

Original entry as appearing at Ink to Screen.

I have fond memories of Old Town White Coffee (OTWC), Menara UOA, Bangsar. We had Nanowrimo write-ups last year there, and despite the exorbitant prices, most found the place pleasant and easy to work in. We had no hesitation ordering food as we were assured that we could keep separate tabs, which was one of the reasons why we enjoyed the place so much, even if we were almost kicked out for making a wee too much noise (whoops!).

This year though, it would seem that the OTWC is determined to rip us off. What’s happened?

Well, for starters, they insisted that we could no longer pay our bills separately. The new manager says that they instituted the rule where if you wanted to pay for your own food/drink, you’d have to order and pay at the counter straight away, as apparently they had numerous cases where in a group, everyone claims to have not ordered the last item on the order chit, implying that they had a difficult time getting the customer to settle the bill in full.

Fine, I thought, that seems reasonable.

What is NOT reasonable though, is that if you follow their system, and you forget to take your receipt, they charge you twice.

During the first write-in I went to, I ordered an ice-cream, which I later paid at the counter before I left instead of when my food was ordered, as I forgot that they wanted us to pay on the spot if we wanted separate bills. Never mind, I thought, paying for my food after the manager told me sourly not to do it again. I went back to the table and told them that I had paid for my food. I was later informed by Karcy though, that they had charged her (as she was the last to leave) for the ice cream, claiming that it had not been paid, when I know it was. This is partially my fault though, as I pocketed the receipt and did not leave it at the table, having faith in their machine to note that the ice-cream was already paid for. But no, the fact that she was charged again means that the machine did NOT register that my ice-cream had already been paid.

Having been forewarned, the past three weeks, Nano’ers attending write-ins have been paying as soon as their food arrives. However, today was an exception. Chet had to chase the waiter down as after she paid for her food, he took her money but did not give her the receipt. Both Ultra and Karcy ordered food at separate times and did not pay on the spot (Karcy’s food and drink were left on the counter a good ten minutes each time; we all had a clear view of her wheatgrass drink sitting on the counter waiting to grow before it was finally brought over) as they were concentrating more on eating/writing.

So when Aikuchi ordered his food and tried to pay, they ended up charging him for Karcy’s and Ultra’s meals as well. No issue, he paid, took the money they owed him, and we all went on our merry way, thinking it was solved.

As you can guess, that was NOT the end of the issue.

Ultra was the last to leave. When she went to pay for her extra order, she was told by the counter that our whole table had not paid. When we had. This time, Chet and me left our receipts on the table in clear view where they could be seen; our drinks had been paid for. When she disputed the fact, ONLY then did they bother to check in their system to see whether they had paid and guess what?

The receipts for my drink and Chet’s were there. The largest bill of all was not. In the end, Ultra had to pay, for a meal that had been paid twice. I’m waiting for Aikuchi to reply, so yes, consider this a warning.

STAY AWAY FROM OLD TOWN WHITE COFFEE MENARA UOA BANGSAR.

Original entry as appearing at Reach Into Your Soul.

I was in Giant, Ampang Point branch yesterday trying to buy myself a cup of coffee before heading out for an interview. Imagine my glee and surprise when I realised they were selling a can of Nescafe for 99 cents! I picked up a can and eagerly went to the counter, handing over my RM1 note excitedly.

The cashier girl picks up the can, scans it, takes my money and then looks at me expectedly. I look back at her, a little dense. Then I turn my head to the right to look at the price display from the scanner.

It read RM1.70.

Honestly, I was not surprised, and for a moment I wondered if I could have misread the label on the shelf (as it does frequently in Malaysia. The items are often mismatched in the supermarket stores with the price, so you really have to read the label description before buying an item). Then I recalled that it very clearly stated RM 0.99 on the shelf. I told the girl so, and she looked at me as though I was insane for trying to argue with the gods of the scanned price.

So both of us trudged back towards the related shelf, and there you have it! The price was written as RM 0.99 and NOT RM1.70 as she had scanned it in. Her colleague (who was removing some items from the shelves) said that the shelf price was right, and there was a Kak Ju who would know how to handle such transactions. The cashier girl replied that Kak Ju was off and then fairly stormed off to her station. I followed her.

At the cashier, she turned to another senior who tried to get me to pay the higher price. I pointed out that there was a scanning integrity poster right on her cashier counter, one that promised that in the case of discrepancy, the customer need only pay the lower price. Theoretically this meant that I only needed to pay RM0.99 instead of RM1.70.

The senior then waved my concerns away by saying that sometimes the staff took the notice down late. My immediate response (that stayed in my head) was, “And that’s my problem, how?”

In the end, I took my money back from her and went instead of my interview. So be warned. Giant Hypermarket is very unscrupulous, even if they claim to be cheap. They have promises printed in black and white but refuse to honour them (hmm… sounds like some politicians we know, right?).

And in case you were wondering? I’m not shopping there ever again.

Original entry as appearing at Reach Into Your Soul.

One of Malaysia’s greatest strengths that REALLY needs rebranding is its food. We have some of the best foods in the world, and patenting them is going to do more harm than good. However, rebrand them and shout to the world that Malaysia’s the reason these foods exist, and watch the tourist arrivals soar.

Bah Kut Teh is one example. I know a few people haev said that the dish has its origins in China, but we’re the ones who’ve turned this soupy dish into an artform. Klang, for one, is known for their wet BKT (wet in this instance means it’s got a lot of soup, while dry BKT is more of a gravy pork dish). It’s legendary.

BKT isn’t a dish that’s hard to do. At it’s most basic, it’s pork meat in a dark brown broth (often salty) served with rice, chilli padi for the spicy people, and bitter Chinese tea. However, it’s so easy to get this dish wrong, because of so many factors.

I had BKT like I haven’t had in a long time (even if I do visit this shop from time to time). It’s the one they call under the Railway bridge (really, that’s what people know it as).

They’re stingy with the soup (most places give you free refills) and they’re a bit on the pricey side, but DAYUM! Do they know how to make a good BKT!

As I mention before, the basic ingredients of Bah Kut Teh are rice, soup and tea. Most places tend to focus on just one or the other, which makes the meal a bit challenging because most tend to gravitate to the shop with the best soup. After all, the rice and tea are merely so you have something to eat the soup with.

Not with this place. The rice, when taken plain, is hard. The cold tea, bitter. The soup, not that salty. Combine them together, and WOW! The hard rice absorbs the soup well, giving rise to this explosion of flavour in the mouth. The bitter tea cleanses the palate for you to ring it anew.

Now that’s what I call Bah Kut Teh.

Original entry as appearing at Reach Into Your Soul.