: : Magenta : :

Finally! To wine and dine at Magenta, minus the wine, of course. Had to forego this luxury as watching my figure. This time, I went with Aline and Jonathan who were in town for their wedding reception in Kuching. So, it was the night after the reception that we went to have something at a quaint restaurant called Magenta.

Located in a very old house on stilts, we were greeted by the sight of candles and loads of interesting furniture.

At the foyer, we were greeted by Mr. Toad, although we only saw him on the way out. Poor Mr. Toad.

Aline and Jonathan ordered the fresh lime and soursop juice for their refreshments. As for yours truly, only iced water (how boring).

The garlic bread tasted great, according to the both of them. Me, I was trying to control my appetite and managed to win the battle against the bread. However, I lost to the next round.

Now who can resist the tempting fried calamari? I gave into my urge to eat it and had quite a few pieces. It’s not the squid that is bad for me but the batter.

Aline had the chicken peri-peri which came looking like a stupendous work of art. It was great! The entire dish looked so grand and the garnishings were tasty too! The chicken was done just nicely and the peri-peri chilli added a nice flavour to it all.

Jonathan had the salmon hollondaise which turned out to be this delicious cream sauce. Looks good, no? Not to mention the garnishings. Everything is so edible and so eye-catching.

This was my meal : teriyaki cod. I stayed away from the sweet popatoe EXCEPT for one small bite. The cod was a small thing but nevertheless juicy. The sauce was sweet so hidden carbohydrates there (probably one of the main reasons why I did not lose any weight today but gain 0.7 kg!!!). I also polished off this little fried thing. Yep, another carbo. Darn it. Ah well. Musn’t let the fact that I’ve accidently eaten carbohydrates wear me down. Must continue on to the goal of losing weight! I’m also puzzled as to why the cod dish is more expensive than the salmon. Hmmm…

So, that was our meal. It was a very lovely evening and we enjoyed ourselves immensely. Magenta is located in an old house on stilts with a wide concrete entrance. There were beautiful decorations everywhere and the lights were spectacular. It’s just next to Garden Steamboat along Nenas Road but you’ll need to make a U-turn at the traffic lights to enter the compound. Parking is not a problem as the property is quite spacious.

Address Details :

Magenta Restaurant

32 Lot 141 Jalan Nenas

93400 Kuching

Sarawak

Malaysia

Tel : 082-237 878

Email : magenta_restaurant@yahoo.com

7 p.m. – 12:30 a.m.

Closed on Mondays

If you intend to eat at Magenta over the weekend, it’s better to make reservations as they can get pretty full. The staff are very friendly and will be around to assist you at all times.

Anyway, that’s all! Now back to eating my normal low carbo diet. Ah well.

: : PERKATA Charity Sales : :

Sorry about no updates. My streamyx connection is down (what else is new?) and been a bit tired lately.

On another note, I’m helping out at the PERKATA Charity Sale this Sunday 2nd May 2004 from 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Ironically, I’m not selling food but am doing Body/Face Painting. The sale is held at the PERKATA School opposite the Blind Center, along Jalan Ong Tiang Swee. The sale is in aid to raise funds for the school which is for handicapped/physically challenged children. PERKATA stands for the Sarawak Association for the Welfare of Intellectually Disabled Children, translated in Malay, of course. There will be a lot of food, drinks, souvenier and games stalls available.

On the 2nd of May, there will be another 3 more sales going on. Those are at St. Joseph, Chung Hua Middle School No. 3 and one more which slips my mind at the moment.

So, see you there then! After all, the PERKATA Charity Sale is for a good cause.

: : Ham, Cheese & Lettuce Roll : :

It is always a challenge to think of what to have for lunch everyday. Was thinking hard about it when I remember the roll that my sister mentioned. So, decided to do something similar : a ham, cheese and lettuce roll.

Wasn’t so hard to do. Just use a leaf of lettuce, put a slice of ham on and some cheese. Then, roll everything up.

Ta da! The finished product. Then again, it look like a snack. I made the mistake of putting in too much cheese that it became too salty. So, took 3 layers out and left only 1 in. Also, should have washed the ham a bit to reduced the saltiness. Think the next time I do this, I’ll use a less salty slice or more lettuce.

So, that was my lunch today. For tomorrow, there is a little crock pot bubbling in the kitchen this very moment. Bringing herbal chicken soup to work. Yum yum!

: : Ham, Cheese & Lettuce Roll : :

It is always a challenge to think of what to have for lunch everyday. Was thinking hard about it when I remember the roll that my sister mentioned. So, decided to do something similar : a ham, cheese and lettuce roll.

Wasn’t so hard to do. Just use a leaf of lettuce, put a slice of ham on and some cheese. Then, roll everything up.

Ta da! The finished product. Then again, it look like a snack. I made the mistake of putting in too much cheese that it became too salty. So, took 3 layers out and left only 1 in. Also, should have washed the ham a bit to reduced the saltiness. Think the next time I do this, I’ll use a less salty slice or more lettuce.

So, that was my lunch today. For tomorrow, there is a little crock pot bubbling in the kitchen this very moment. Bringing herbal chicken soup to work. Yum yum!

: : Monday : :

Went up to one of the pantries in the office and stumbled upon a surprise birthday cake for one of my collegues in the IT department. So, decided to take a snapshot of the cute itty bitty little cake.

Now, isn’t that a cute little thing? Poor little bear stranded on an island with some candles and a coconut tree. Haha! I did not have a piece though. Had to stick to my diet. Good thing too! Found out this evening that I put back on 2 kg after my Miri Trip! Yikes! So, back to eating salad and controlling my protein intake.

That was the bad news. The good news is that I’ve lost 2.5 inches (6 cm) around my hips! Whoopee!

: : Home Sweet Home : :

I’m back. After spending a great time back home. Was so nice to catch up with old classmates, old teachers (!!!) and old friends. Also caught up with my parents and the Khoo kiddies kidos. They now have a cat that looks exactly like my old cat Smokie! Unfortunately, no camera at that time so no pics. Not as heavy as Smokie though and this time, it’s a she. Surprisingly, her name is Satu (No. 1). Guess she is the big boss of the house. Actually, she’s the neighbour’s cat who found a home at the Khoo’s.

And, unfortunately, I cheated at my diet. Guilty of eating peanuts, sweet potatoe and some starch from the food that we had last nite for dinner!

Pictures up in the next few days.