Off Topic - Calgary Apartments

I just came back from a successful business trip and took a local small airline to visit the remote place and meet up with the potential client. It was a day trip flying in the morning, driving tens of kilometres and then back to the airport at night. In situations like this, you just hope to own or rent Calgary Apartments just to rest in between the journey to recuperate.

I am happy that the trip was fruitful albeit a bit tiring waiting long hours at the airport. That's because we went 3 hours earlier so as not to miss the domestic flight after parking the car at the airport. It was very near our rented apartment. If you are a student or just graduated and found a job, you might like to look for apartments to rend in Calgary which caters to a wide range of people like you and me - from retirees to working adults.

There are various budgets to suit every pocket and your affordability. From family suites to bachelor pads, there is something to cater for everyone. So, just check out the link above and who knows, you might find something to suite your taste and wallet. You can read up more about it from the link above and perhaps find pictures to your liking of the most appropriate apartment or condominium to rent for your family. The web site is neat and easy to navigate. So this post is off topic from the usual food post with lots of photos.

Lunch at a Chinese Restaurant

 

Some time back, I treated dad to a Chinese restaurant in Penang Times Square on the third level of Birch Plaza phase 1. I forgot the name of the restaurant but I must say that it is very popular with bridal couples and almost every week, you can see it is books for a wedding banquet. Above is my order of sweet and sour fish with capsicums, red chillies and onions.

 

Here is my favorite dish - Nestum Prawns. The fresh prawns are deep fried with Nestum cereal flakes and some Indian herbs for that crispy flavor and zing.

 

For vegetables, I usually order the ubiquitous brocolli with Shitake black mushrooms and some garlic and oyster sauce. The ingredients are all stir fried in a wok before serving them piping hot. 

 

Here are all the dishes ordered for just the two of us. My dad drove me to Penang Times Square to oversee stuffs to be done to my small condominium and thereafter, we hopped over to the next block for some sumptuous lunch.

 

Food from Various Places

 

Here is fish fillet braised with almond flakes and poured with lemon sauce from Mizi at Tesco outlet in Straits Quay. Veges such as sliced carrots, a floret of cauliflower, some green peas and steamed potato wedge are garnished to complement this delicious meal. I love patronizing Mizi Bistro for its very affordable and reasonably charged western food. They also offer a fusion of both western and eastern food and there are 3 branches in Penang - one in Prangin Mall, one in New World Park and the latest in Tesco, Straits Quay. The chain of food is owned by a former executive chef with working experience in a 5-star hotel.

 

This is my favorite dish of fish florentine which consists of dory fish fillets on top of braised spinach and topped with cheese powder. The white sauce was just pure ambrosia and heavenly!  I will always order my favorite fish and the waiter can already anticipate what I am going to order each time I come here.

 

As you have already guessed, the dish above comes from a Chinese restaurant - slices of fish stir-fried with chopped spring onions and garlic. It was ordered from Xuan Xin Restaurant in Gurney Plaza, an upmarket shopping mall in Penang which is currently undergoing renovation and expansion. You will be lucky if you can find a car parking bay during school holidays!

 

Also from Xuan Xin Restaurant, this is large prawn omelette and garnished with parsley. Though this meal looks appetizing, the doctor just advised me to cut down on seafood like prawns which has high cholesterol. I just went for a blood test last week and the results were not too good, I failed in 6 categories of the overall test which means that certain abbreviations like HDL, LDL, etc were above the normal range. So now I am taking 1,000mg of Omega-3 fatty acids 3 times a day to lower my blood cholesterol level and to prevent future heart attack or heart disease. My dad already has 3 clogged arteries and it seems this could be hereditary.

 

Here is stir-fried spinach with oyster sauce, from Xuan Xin Restaurant. You can choose a set meal for 2 persons with several choices of 2 main meals and a vegetable meal from a list of 6 to 7 vegetables and different sauces like garlic, oyster sauce, etc. There are 2 bowls of rice with 2 bowls of soup, a drink each for about RM 50 after tax (USD 16.70).

 

As my friend is a member of Chinese Recreation Club, we went to the Chinese restaurant with 10% discount using the member card. Above is steamed fish cooked in Teochew style which is sourish where slices of assam are added to add the zing. Black shitake mushrooms, straw mushrooms, preserved vegetables are added with slices of ginger and carrots and garnished with spring onions. The fish is garoupa and it is quite delicious in this cooking style. Don't throw away the soup as all the flavors are infused during the cooking and this makes it very delicious.

 

This is fried chicken coated with some batter for crunchyness and added with Thai chilly sauce. I have forgotten where I ordered this meal as I normally snap a lot of photos from the various places for posterity.

 

The set meal above was ordered from a Taiwanese Tea Restaurant in Queensbay Mall near Bayan Lepas. If I don't go to Gurney Plaza every night, then I will be at Queensbay Mall once in a while for a change of location. I love the blue champaign milk tea with brown sago pearls or also known as boba. 

 

 The meal above was part of the buffet breakfast in City Bayview Hotel in Kuah, Langkawi. I was in Langkawi last month for business. See the granite table top which makes the ambiance classy and elegant.

Longing for a Hot Cuppa

Today is very hot and to provide some respite from the sweltering heat of the sun, I am craving for my hot cuppa made from instant coffee powder mix with hot water. It would even be better to have your own coffee maker with krups coffee maker parts

You can check out more about krups coffee maker parts by clicking on the links given and read about it. I chanced upon krups coffee maker parts while surfing for information at home. What's more, you can order online and pay with your credit card via they safe and secure payment gateway. And the items will be delivered right to your doorsteps at the click of the mouse or keypad in the comfort of your home. Some of the items offer free shipping within a certain region. The link of the web site leads to many items that you can choose from to complement your kitchen and make it more complete.

There are many kitchen appliances parts of several brands like CUISINART, DELONGHI, HUROM, KITCHENAID, KRUPS and many more. I like the layout of the web site which is well developed for online purchasing with each item on display well photographed and the back ground removed for easier clarity. The site is McAfee secure tested, so you don't have to worry about malware or spamware installed on your computer system. They also have a blog that you can read up more about it and to attract higher traffic.

Off Topic - Repair Water Damaged Ceiling Austin

I was rather busy lately and did not have as much time as I would like to. There's work to be done every day and now we have a few enquiries from the Middle East for sports products. I also just collected our company calendars last night and waited a long time for my colleague to come back. I hope this is going to be the last year we sent out calendars because the task is laborious and time consuming.

Anyway, you might like to check out on http://www.thesteamteam.com/ which I just chanced upon it while surfing sites for information. And if you stay in Austin area, you might like to read up on repair water damaged ceiling austin, just in case you need such services. The best time to work in a home office is when both my parents are away so that I can have complete peace of mind to work uninterrupted.

This post is off topic anyway from the usual post of food with glorious pictures that may make you salivate. I have snapped lots of food photos recently but just did not have the time to process them and upload to my food blog. As you know, for each post, I normally put up 6-8 food photos or even more, so it is going to take up plenty of time with Photoshop software.

I also did not put up the kolam photos taken a few days ago for Deepavali for my other blog. It was just work and work every day - non stop. If I finished one assignment, more will come along my way and I might just suggest to my boss to employ another administrator to assist me in my work.

Virtual Pad

Guest written by our friend Trent Horton

I was watching direct tv Tucson and there was a show that was highlight new and upcoming real estate. The show highlighted the “Esquire Bachelor Pad”. When they call it a bachelor pad, that is exactly what it was. Everything was modern with clean lines. There were no feminine touches in the apartment. They used the newest technology in the Brooklyn Penthouse. Yes, it had a great view, was two stories and beautifully furnished, but some things really turned me off about the apartment. They had something that was like a virtual hologram of a good looking woman that was projected on the walls and in different places in the apartment. It was just so weird. They called the projection “Charlotte the ghost” and said that she “only came out at night”, which was even weirder. If I started dating a guy and went to his apartment where he had a hologram woman show up all over the house, I think I would be scared off. I would think that he was either a total creep or just really weird. The “Bachelor Pad” would definitely keep you a bachelor forever!

Dining Experience

I am blessed to be able to try out different dishes in the various restaurants all over the country. During my dining pursuits, I will snap some photos for my food blog like Best Asian Food. There won't be any food photos for this post as I am currently busy with designing and sending out calendars for the year end, hopefully before the dawn of 2012 next year. The year end is the busiest time for me and my boss has lots of work for me to do each day. Though I work at my own pace in a home office, I still have to place priority over my work and will only blog during my spare time. I have 7 blogs to maintain currently, so you can imagine the time and efforts put in to update all my blogs. In order to maintain this blog, I hope you will consider tipping my jar using the Paypal button on the right side if you love what you read here.