Benkay Japanese Restaurant

Last Sunday, Mrs Banana and I dine at Benkay Japanese Restaurant in Nikko Hotel. With RM150 food vouchers courtesy from Dad, we ordered a grilled cord fish set, a sashimi set and a green tea ice cream with redbean crushed ice as dessert. All in all, it cost us RM165.
The verdict?

Oishii!!!


Fresh scallop, salmon, tuna, and shrimp with ebiko
















The full sashimi set, with tempura, chawan mushi, miso soup, rice and salad.
















The grilled cord fish
















The grilled cord fish set, also with tempura, chawan mushi, miso soup, rice and salad.















The dessert?
No photo. Finished the lot in a jiffy. We were stuffed and happy.

Food in Korea

Before my departure to Korea, many tales have been told and warnings have been issued to me about the notorious food that this beautiful country could offer. Even Mum said the kimchi and the Korean meals are difficult for our Malaysian stomach. True enough, I saw many from my tour group brought their own supplies of Maggi cup noodles, Milo/Coffee and sambal belacan (the last one is a hearsay, I didn't see it with my own eyes).

Well, to be fair, I think Korean food is not that bad. In fact, I enjoyed most of the food they served throughout the trip. (keyword-MOST, not all).

Yes, it's true. You get to eat kimchi (fermented cabbage, red in color) for breakfast, lunch and dinner. But there are many variety of kimchi, and not limited to the cabbage only. There's anchovies, beans, seaweed, radish, beancurd (taufoo), and potatoes to name a few.

Our lunches and dinners were alternated with barbeque and steamboat only. So, if you have steamboat for lunch, then you will get barbeque for dinner. This sequence was fine in the begining, but after the 5th day, I got kind of sick of it. But you got to appreciate the novelty of having piping hot barbeque/steamboat meal during the cold winter. The only exception to this arrangement was the ginseng chicken and the beef stew (yummy!)

Back to the quality of food, I think it all boils down to $$$. If you can afford it, pay some premium and set yourself for a gastronomy adventure. Likewise, if your tour is a "budget" type, then don't expect to be served with lavish food.

Alright, enough with words, let's go to the photos!


Seafood steamboat, with scallops, shrimps and squids.














Pork fillet steamboat














Ham and sausage steamboat

Assortment of kimchi

Stew beef! Voted the best meal of the trip.

Bam-bi-bap. (Rockpot rice)
















Ginseng chicken. With noodles.
















The chicken is stuffed with rice and a stick of ginseng.
















Kimchi.
















More kimchi.
















Oh! Have I mentioned about the snacks? Mrs Banana and I had a good time with the food stalls along the streets. Here's a sample of stuff that we had tried.


Food stalls are a plenty.
















Selling pan cakes and sweet potato balls.
















Mrs Banana trying a sweet potato ball. 10 pieces for 3,000 won. Though her facial expression was unconvincing, the stuff actually quite tasty.
















L-R: Fried squid, marinated squid fillet, sausages, corn and chicken satay (over the foil). We bought a chicken satay for 1,500 won.
















This lady is selling the "nien-gau" (sticky snack made from flour) in sweet/hot syrup.




















Me smirking with this extra long ice cream in Myeong-Dong for 1,000 won. Eating ice cream in winter is splendid! It won't melt.




















Got this bottle of Soju (rice wine) for 1,900 won.

New RM50 Notes

Bank Negara Malaysia today announces the issuance of a new design for the RM50 banknote to commemorate Malaysia's 50th Anniversary of Independence. This new design of RM50 banknote is the first denomination of the Fourth Series of Malaysian currency notes which will be replacing the existing series in stages.


The New Design RM50 Banknote

The new design RM50 banknote retains the predominant colour of green-blue. The main theme of the design is the National Mission where the first thrust is "to move the economy up the value chain" which reflects Malaysia’s economic transformation to the higher value-added activities in the agriculture, manufacturing and services sectors of the economy.

The dominant intaglio portrait of the first Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Tuanku Abdul Rahman ibni Tuanku Muhammad, is retained on the right and the national flower hibiscus is in the centre on the front of the new RM50 banknote. Design patterns from songket weaving, which are in the background and edges of the banknote, are featured to reflect the traditional Malaysian textile handicraft and embroidery.

The first 50 million pieces of the new RM50 banknote features Malaysia's first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj at the historic declaration of Malaya’s independence and the logo of the 50th Anniversary of Independence on the reverse side.

Security Features

The security features incorporated in the Fourth Series of RM50 banknotes are as follows :

• The Watermark Portrait can be recognised by tints that are lighter or darker than the surrounding paper. This watermark portrait which has a three-dimensional effect appears without sharp outlines. At the base of the watermark, the numeral 50 is clearly visible.
• The Security Thread is embedded in the paper and appears on the reverse side of the note as a silver coloured dotted line. When the note is held against the light, it is seen as a continuous dark coloured line and the repeated text BNM RM50 can be read. When viewed under ultra-violet light, the thread is seen in various changing colours known as the "rainbow effect".
• Micro-Letterings of "BNM RM50" which can be viewed under a magnifying glass.
• Invisible Fluorescent Elements can be seen through various elements of the background on the obverse and reverse side of the banknote and will fluoresce in different colours when viewed under ultra-violet light.
• Perfect See-Through Register feature where the graphic songket design on the obverse side of the note will register perfectly with the same graphic songket design on the reverse side when it is held against the light.
• Multicolour Latent Image of the denomination 50 can be seen when the banknote is tilted slightly and the colour changes when it is rotated.
• Holographic Stripe features the denomination 50 and the hibiscus flower, with a multi-coloured pumping and matt-structure effect.
• Hidden image with moiré effect where certain areas of the design appearance will change when the banknote is copied.

Members of the public are advised to take note of the security features and design of the new RM50 notes outlined above. The existing series of the RM50 banknotes will continue to be legal tender.

The new RM50 banknotes without special packaging will be available through commercial banks on 30 January 2008 onwards.

via BNM

Question: If the new RM50 note is issued to commemorate Malaysia's 50th year anniversary, then when can we expect to see the new RM100 note? Perhaps in 2057?

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas

Sad to say, the Christmas decoration in Malaysia has never been great. Apart from few commendable Christmas trees in major shopping complexes, it's a far cry from the neighbouring countries like Singapore or Hong Kong.


My trip to Korea was filled with a certain festive atmosphere that I had never experience in Malaysia. (Read: Freezing cold!) During the night at Phoenix Park Ski Resort, snow falling from the sky and by the next morning, the entire area was carpeted with a huge white blanket. By the time we reached Everland the next day, the presence of the soothing white snow heightened the visual feast! I'll let the photos do the rest of talking.


At Phoenix Park, before leaving for Everland




















Huge Christmas tree! Note the snow was still on top of the decorations




















White Christmas




















Real snow
















One for the album




















Snowman and toys
















Giant Christmas cake
















Frosty the snowman
















Pearly white trees
















"Carol Fantasy" performance




















With such short skirt, I'm wondering how these pretty girls get warmth?
















Where is Mr Clause?
















There he is!
















Let the show begins!




















Jingle bell rock
















A jolly good one
















Bird's eye view of the Santa Village, taken from the Ferris Wheel
















Aesop World, another part of Everland
















Mascots of Everland
















Here comes the sun, and the snow melt away




















Merry Christmas, everyone

Travel tips to South Korea

Brww...

After a week of freezing winter in Korea, I'm back to Malaysia. (It was average at 2 degree Celsius, but hey, it's freezing for me already!)

Photos will be posted later, so be patient.

What I want to blog in this entry are some handy travel tips/guides to Korea (based on my itsy-bitsy tiny weeny experience).

So, here goes.

Tips #1

As mentioned in my previous post, handphones from Malaysia and nearly the rest of the world are not compatible to the network in Korea (and Japan, so I heard). The only exception to this is a 3G enabled phone, with of course, a 3G SIM card. Therefore, if you want uninterrupt connectivity while travelling to Korea, please get yourself a 3G handphone before departure.


Tips #2

Language is a huge problem in South Korea. Expect a lot of confusion when using English with the locals. Some stores in tourist area may know rudimentary English and Mandarin. (I found out that Mandarin is more widely used than English, due to employment of local Chinese descendant). Be prepared to use hand signal/language for communicating.

The solution?

Before departure, take pictures using your phone. Like this.

Take pictures of thing/location/service that you will need and store them in your phone. Example, for toilet, take the toilet sign or the WC itself. When the need to relieve yourself arises, but the nearest toilet is nowhere to be found, just show the photo from your phone to the nearest person. This will solve a lot of embarassing moments trying to act out the toilet "action" in front of total strangers.

Take pictures of mineral water, taxi, hotel, McDonalds, food, police, etc. This list could go on. Use your creativity.

Tips #3

Stemming from the language problem, remember to bring a calculator. (I know most handphone has the calculator function, but it's more convenient to use an actual calculator). When asking for price, point to the stuff and pass the calculator to the vendor. If the price is right, then pay up. If not, punch some numbers in the calculator to bargain. Clear a lot of confusion.

Tips #4

Bring more cash. While shops in Seoul do accept credit cards, they don't like the small plastic card. Vendors will frown (yes, they did) when you use credit card. In fact, you will unlikely to get any discount when you pay by card.

Tips #5

Get an empty water bottle (or buy a bottle of mineral water). There are a lot of water dispensers available on the streets or in restaurants. Refill your empty bottle with filtered water for free.

Tips #6

Do NOT wear rings or other jewelry like necklace during winter. Mrs Banana lost her diamond engagement ring when slipping off her gloves. (Thank God it dropped into the luggage bag!) We had a lot of putting on/off of gloves, scarf, jacket etc, and it is very easy for these jewelry to tangle and come off unnoticed.

That's all folks. Can't think of anymore now. I will post more if I could remember additional tips.

Greetings from Korea!

Anyon ha seh yoh!

Here in Korea, there's no network coverage. Handphone network not compatible. There goes my dream to buy cheap a hp. Btw, it's freezing cold here.

Will post more when i get back.

Somebody's daughter

Hiyah, received a zip file from Strawberry, contains cute pictures of her daughter, Sofia.
You be the judge, cute or not?