CNY Feast - Yunnan Garden 云南园酒楼 @ One-North [NTU Alumni Club]

Chinese New Year (or Lunar New Year as some prefer to call it as it is essentially not limited to only the Chinese) is coming to an end tomorrow. 

Fifteen days of celebration, many of which were spent on feasting and constant snacking! Let me bring to you one such feast that i had last Friday at Yunnan Garden @ one-North.

It was my first time to this restaurant that had its beginnings in the 1970s as a humble cafeteria in what used to be called Nanyang University (now known as Nanyang Technological University) and since i am clueless on its specialties, i have to rely on my trusted colleagues to make the order.

Yusheng

There is one dish that is a must-order for any feast during Chinese New Year; the prosperity yusheng (发财鱼生)! Its cultural significance is generally restricted to the Chinese community in Southeast Asia although i heard its popularity has spread to other parts of the world.

Most of us would know at least one or two of the auspicious blessings being said as ingredients like pepper, oil, peanuts, sesame seeds, fish etc are added; for example, 年年有余 when fish is added to signify a year full of abundance. As our server was a non-Chinese, her blessings were in English! Kudos to her effort! 

After tossing the ingredients as high as we could (instead of voicing words of wishes and blessings, we spent half of the time talking about work!!!!), we finally sat down and enjoyed the 'fruits' of our excessive arm exercise. The slices of salmon were so chunky!!! Me like!

Prawns in Mayonnaise and Broccoli

Boasting a crunchy exterior smeared in a fruity tasting mayonnaise, these prawns topped the yummy rating with juicy and seafood-sweet meat! Having the nutritious broccoli by the side kind of enticed me to have more to balance out the supposed "poison" of prawns! 

Tofu with Mushrooms

In my opinion, this was honestly a bit too bland for me and the tofu had a bitter aftertaste that didn't quite sit in. 

Yunnan Pork Ribs

Oh my god, this was heavenly!!!! Generally boneless, eating each piece was just such a blissful affair; imagine sinking your teeth into each piece with the juiciness literally bursting in your mouth, filling it up with an aroma of delicious flavour! 

Thinking back, it was almost like a sweeter and meatier version of the sweet and sour pork ribs i had in Melite Chinese Restaurant. Sounds like i have my wish come true! 

Triple-Egg Spinach

As expected, this didn't impress me. I believe i have mentioned somewhere in this blog (good luck in verifying since i have over a thousand posts) that i have tried this dish in many restaurants / tze char stalls and so far, only the one in Paradise Inn was worth a mention. 

Yam Paste

Similar to Western cuisine, a Chinese feast would require dessert to conclude the meal and nothing's better than to have yam paste! 

I liked the texture of the paste and it wasn't cloyingly sweet! The downside to this was that the coconut milk was a tad too overwhelming. At the start, i was under the impression i might be drinking more the milk than eating the paste. 

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Location

11, Slim Barracks Rise, 

#03-01, NTU Alumni Club

(Off. North Buona Vista Road, via one-North Gateway)
NOW MOVED to 1, Fusionopolis Place, 
#02-02, Galaxis Singapore 138522

Reservation

Call 6665 8888

Website

http://www.yunnangarden.com.sg/

Price

Yusheng (S) - S$58.00

Prawns in Mayo and Broccoli (S) - S$26.00 

Tofu with Mushrooms (S) - S$15.00

Yunnan Pork Ribs (S) - S$16.00

Triple-Egg Spinach (S) - S$24.00

Yam Paste (L) - S$30.00

[Subject to GST and Service Charge]

Ah Piaw Wanton Noodles (阿標雲吞面) @ Johor Bahru [Malaysia]

Since the unfortunate 'demise' of Ah Biao wanton noodles in Singapore a few years ago, i have been wanting to check out the original store that hailed from Johor Bahru. 

It wasn't that hard to find since the signature signboard can be seen whenever my brother in law drives to taman sri tebrau; a hot spot in JB where you are likely to find a high proportion of Singaporeans.

However, it took me a few more trips before i could finally step into the non-air-conditioned restaurant (honestly, it was more a kopitiam than a restoran). Can't blame me when there were so many food options in the vicinity!

Ta-da - here's what i had with my family! 

This was of the rare occasions i actually enjoyed the dumplings and the soup; the former was meatier than many of its counterparts back in Singapore and the soup was surprisingly light with a gentle pepperiness to it. 

My order - black style wanton mee! The noodles were as delicious as i remember them to be even though mom found them to be on the harder side (in her opinion, slightly under-cooked). My only complaint had to be the 'flakes' of hardly appetising char siew! What has happened to the smoky juiciness i experienced back in the Singapore branch?!?!

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Location

Jalan Keris, Taman Sri Tebrau, 

81100 Johor Bahru

Malaysia

Map

As above (red star) and super near to the hawker centre where i had the amazing butter crayfish!

Price

RM 6 a plate

Day Four (Down the Highlands to Kuala Lumpur): Ipoh - Cameron Highlands - Kuala Lumpur Trip 2013

6am - Rise and shine! Not that i have much of a choice since the parents have the tendency to wake up very early in the morning! I am only thankful that Cameron Highlands didn't have much of a night life and i managed to sleep relatively early the night before. 

After the complimentary hotel breakfast, it's time for us to take the pre-arranged shuttle to the capital of Malaysia; Kuala Lumpur! As you could see, it was drizzling and the weather was so chilly! 

Whenever friends ask if it is recommended to stay in Cameron Highlands for more than one night, my standard reply would be "only if you have signed up for tours"! Otherwise, it would be pretty boring unless your purpose is to relax with minimal disturbance. 

Drove past the small town of Ringlet which was still around 45 kilometers away from the Tapah exit of North South highway.

Friends are aware i am the type who would like to make full use of my time to travel within a country. If i am going to spend over 10 hours to get back to Singapore, i might as well stopover somewhere along the way; hence, the visit to Kuala Lumpur before going home. 

The first time i did that at Cameron Highlands, i had to take a taxi (sorry, there wasn't any meter) to a bus station in Tanah Rata where i had to endure a 4-hour journey on a 40-seater bus. The most memorable part was when the bus pulled up at a rest station and there were literally hundreds, possibly thousands of black flies! 

My apology; i digress. This time round, i did a bit of research and found a much better option via Kang Holidays. I forked out only RM35 per person (similar to what i paid for the 40-seater) that came with a hotel pick up!

It was a direct trip with only a short 10-minute toilet stopover and the best part was we practically had the whole 13-seater van to ourselves; saved for a quiet Caucasian tourist who was at the back! You may click HERE for booking and more information on the available transportation services.

Spectacular view of the mountains along the highway! 

8.00am - Shuttle left Rosa Passadena hotel. 11.15am - Reached Times Square (Bukit Bintang). I am so grateful to have found Kang Holiday! Given my last experience, I was fully expecting to reach our destination earliest by 12noon.

KWC Fashion Mall

This was our first stop after exiting the service apartment because i have heard it was comparable to the Platinum Mall in Bangkok! Frankly, it was a tad disappointing and prices were not exactly economical.

You may refer to the above for a rough gauge on what to expect. 

Some pictures for your viewing pleasure too. Of course, i could be biased since there were a lot more lady wear. However, it was a Saturday yet the mall wasn't packed. Try walking into Platinum Mall on a Saturday.

Berjaya Times Square seemed very near right?! I had the same impression too but my attempt to walk from the hotel to Kenaga Wholesale City mall was a failure! We eventually took a cab...

KL Chinatown

A trip to Kuala Lumpur is never complete without visiting Petaling Street (Chinatown), especially when i am bringing along my folks! 

It was teeming with people; both locals and foreigners! As i have always said, i don't have a problem with navigating in KL Chinatown, so long i don't deviate beyond the touristy section. 

The daily night market was still in the process of being set up but i am not that interested; knowing it was just a lot of stalls selling fake branded goods.

Food for the win! Must try number one: Air Mata Kucing!

Must try number two: the nutritious Gui Ling Gao (Herbal Jelly) from 恭和堂. You can find the shop at both ends of Petaling Street. By the way, despite the word "jelly", it wasn't vegetarian and had tortoise shell as one of the ingredients. 

In my recent trip, i chanced upon must try number three: KL hokkien meet from Lian Bee! Please click HERE for my review. 

Hm...... Why is this phrase so popular?! 

Dad was complaining we had eaten way too much, again! To appease him, i suggested walking back to our hotel which was essentially a straight road down along Jalan Pudu

Walked past the imposing KWC Mall.

Arrived at Times Square shopping centre in 15-20 minutes where the Christmas atmosphere was in full force. Damn, it was almost three months and i have yet to finish blogging about the trip. 

Uniqlo was having their opening sale! 

After resting for an hour at our now-tidied hotel room at NS Golden Green Serviced Suite @ Berjaya Times Square, we hit the street again to check out Pavilion shopping center.

Christmas decorations along the street at Bukit Bintang; KL shopping belt.

The crowd was incredibly huge and i don't think i have seen something even close to this in Singapore; save for special festive periods like CNY bazaar. 

Pavilion was amazing and truly a shopping paradise! I went at the right time i guess with many stores having discounts and the whole place was immersed in the Christmas mood! 

It was almost like Christmas wonderland.

Without the snow. 

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For Day One (Ipoh), click HERE. 

For Day Two (Ipoh), click HERE. 

For Day Three (Cameron Highlands), click HERE. 

For an overview of my trip, 

Click HERE.

Suckling Pig & Roast Goose @ Restoran You Kee (有记XO烧腊之家)

After that scrumptious meal i had with the Kon-Tan couple at You Kee in January, i made it a point to ask my mom and sisters to join me for another short trip to the Malaysia where i could once again partake in the best char siew ever in my whole life! 

Twenty days was all it took for me to be seated in the Chinese restaurant, surrounded by my family. Frankly, this was already an achievement; should the restaurant be located in Singapore, i bet you would see me in the same premise within a week! 

Cantonese Roast Goose

[广州烧鹅]

My aim was obviously the epic char siew although i could not say the same for my family members who embraced a much healthier lifestyle. 

Hence, this roast goose order which turned out to be plump, juicy and honestly, tasted beyond my expectation. So much so that i preferred this over the signature XO roast duck. 

Suckling Pig

[乳猪]

I shall not be talking about the oh-my-god-that's-delicious char siew but you may wish to note that i ordered the large serving for just the four of us! 

Kon had mentioned that the suckling pig in You Kee was another must try (we were simply too full the last round) and i was determined to place an order this time round! 

They were as sinful as they should be and featured crispy pork skin that was as usual, addictive to a suckling pig lover! Having said that, i pondered for a while after the meal if i would travel all the way from Singapore just to have a piece of that suckling pig.

Answer - nope but i would do that for the char siew! 

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Location

83-83A, Jalan Dedap 7, 

Taman Johor Jaya, 

81100 Johor Bahru, 

Malaysia

Price

Cantonese Roast Goose (top quarter) - RM 48

Suckling Pig - Minimum RM 30

Additional Information

For information on the menu, map showing the location of this branch and addresses of other branches, please click my first post on You Kee HERE.