August Food and Haul!

The Haul

August was filled with heartbreak, and with heartbreak comes therapeutical shopping! Let's not forget the food, of course~ Got some new clothes, a new make-up product, and some awesome items from Daiso!


We've been on a search for a pocket-size lapdog for quite some time to replace Dukie in the house, and one of these searches led us to Summit USJ to take a look at an adoption drive organized by Malaysian Dogs Deserve Better. Most of the puppies had been adopted, and what was left was mutts which were to grow into perhaps huge sizes.


After that, we went for a little shopping. Saw some nice fashion pieces, but mum wasn't interested. She had previously been to a corporate dinner with a Venetian theme so she had to get some Venetian masks, and we were in search of those because I wanted one for a make-up experiment.

Fuchsia bag @ My One Shop, Summit USJ- RM39.90

We didn't really get the masks we wanted, but I did get a statement bag and some long-awaited silver ear hoops for my helix piercings.

Za Total Hydration BB Cream UV - RM22.85

Before that, we actually went to Mid Valley for another shopping trip, from which I got some BB cream to replace my to-be-finished foundation.

Straight Soba Noodle Soup Base - RM9.90 (I believe, on promotion)

Yoshinoya had a display sale at center court on LG floor, and that's where we got our Meiji and Glico sticks (refer below~). It's also where I got this Straight Soba Noodle Soup Base (on promotion)~ I mixed it with some hondashi (had some leftover from making tamagoyaki), and it tasted much more like those you find in restaurants~


A trip to The Curve proved fruitful. My mum has always avoided that mall, even if we went to Ikano and Ikea, which is just opposite. There's been a lot of stories about dark entities, and with the rising crime rate, the place just seemed less appealing.


But for some reason, my mum just had a sudden interest to go there - on a public holiday Monday, no less. Oh well. The moment we exited the suspending metal box, there was the Padini Concept Store, with items up to 70% off. Need I say more?

Tank tops @ Padini Authentics - RM9 each

Printed dress @ P&Co Essential - RM19 (after discount)

We browsed mostly the promotional baskets and racks, and the selections were awesome~ Vincci and Padini are basically under the same management, so a lot of Vincci and Padini outlets in malls have condensed all the outlets available in that mall into one to three shop units.

My mum completely disagrees with the public wearing of the "whore" tee.

F.O.S often has sales for T-shirts and shorts, and we took advantage of that promotion! 3 tees for RM45, when the original price is around RM25+.

Pink ribbon-strapped sandals @ Vincci - RM24+

Some lady stepped on my sandal and *BAM!* the entire back portion of my sandal came off, so I got a new pair from Vincci! And they're pink!

My new fedora~

The last time I had any pens like these were when I was in primary school, and those had glitter

Gluesticks, exclusively for make-up use~

Couldn't find one at Summit USJ, but this one was pretty enough, and it fits!

The Daiso in The Curve is almost as large as the one in The Mines, if not larger. Found a few items that I needed and wanted, including some soba noodles (one medium sized packet served 3).

 The Food

Now, practically every shopping trip will involve good food, or at least food that we crave. Which is why we follow on with the shopping trip even when we know there will be no potential purchases.


Pasta Zanmai is one of our family favorites, ever since we decided to try it out approximately a couple of years ago. I'll admit it's a bit pricy for pasta, but we consider something like a treat for the day. Usually we would ignore the rice and other dishes further back in the menu, preferring their house specials - Japanese-style pasta - instead.

Forgot what this is called, but it's a miso soup based pasta~

And usually, the dish itself falls extremely short from the picture in the menu. I mean there should be some degree of resemblance, but most of the time when the dish arrives, you're left thinking, "this ain't what I ordered".

Hokkaido melon parfait @ Pasta Zanmai - RM13.50 (excluding tax, and this price is the "I think I remember" price, but the melon parfait is cheaper than the other three parfaits)

The other most desirable item on the Pasta Zanmai menu are the desserts~ They have ice cream, parfaits, crepes, and other delectable Japanese desserts. My favorite are the parfaits - it comes in banana chocolate, strawberry, and matcha red bean, however they have recently added a Hokkaido melon parfait to the menu, and it's not bad~


I think any person who lives in Malaysia will know the flavored biscuit stick snack called Rocky. That's actually the renamed version of the original Japanese Glico Pocky (renamed due to "vulgarities in the name"). Locally, only chocolate, milk and strawberry flavors of Rocky are available, but in Japan...

Meiji Lucky stick - RM2+; Glico Almond Pocky - RM5+

They have tons of flavors of Pocky, and though I can't name any of them, just the thought of it makes your mouth water. Rocky costs about RM1.90 to RM3.00 here. Pocky costs almost double, if not more. The quality however, is well worth the money.


The same sticks by Meiji are a little lacking, though. Meiji makes chocolate, and their chocolate is the go-to brand for lots of Japanese. We got the cappucino flavor from Meiji and the almond flavor from Glico. The Glico Pocky was awesome - aromatic, and flavorful; while the Meiji one only had the aroma~

Casserole-baked chicken and potatoes with pear

Since both my sisters have interests in cooking, we usually get treated to a nice, home-cooked dinner every week or fortnight. While my younger sister tends to overcook meats, any dish coming from my older sister's skills are a guaranteed awesome dish~

Cheese-baked asparagus~

 My older sister would fashion a Western dish 9 times out of 10, but none of us are really complaining~ We had some cheapskate pears that weren't really fit for eating, so what she did was stuff it into a casserole along with sliced potatoes and chicken thighs, then baked it~ Served with cheese-baked asparagus~

Orange crepes with whipped cream!

We got a tamagoyaki nabe from Daiso recently, and it's a rectangular pan meant for Japanese rolled omelet (tamagoyaki = Japanese rolled omelet; nabe = pan). And I was also watching one of Ochikeron's crepe videos, and was craving it. Guess what? My sister made some with the rectangular pan~ Then she stuffed it with hand-made whipped cream and orange wedges~


I am an innate fan of soba noodles. At a Japanese restaurant (depending on which one I see first, if the menu has both), I would always order soba or gyudon (beef-topped rice bowl). At the same place where I got the Glico and Meiji biscuit sticks (Shojikiya), I also got some nice soba tsuyu (soba noodle soup base).

Home-cooked zaru soba!!!

And obviously I'd use that to make some home-cooked zaru soba (cold soba noodles). I chilled the tsuyu, cooked the noodles and rinsed it in iced water to remove the starch and to make it cold. You're supposed to serve it on a soba dish, which is something like a deep-plate, but with a bamboo mat on top to further drain the noodles.


I mixed the tsuyu with some hon-dashi, which made the flavor even more like those you would get in restaurants. Topped the noodles with some shredded seaweed paper (nori) and mixed some bonito flakes into the soup, along with a touch of wasabi~ HEAVEN~!