Salam..
Things have been rather quick over the week. It seems, as it nears the end of the year, time just flies. Thats for the Gregorian calendar. The jumpstart has been jerky in the celebrated month of 1432's Muharram. Let's hope that the productivity levels will remain ever bullish throughout the year.
Just yesterday, Malaysia trounced our neighbour Indonesia with a 3-0 win at the Stadium Putra Bukit Jalil. The laser incident, which, according to the Jakarta Post "marred the game" made more of the headlines rather than the whipping of the "timnas Indo". Lasers more than 1-5mW could cause damage to the retinas, no doubt. But that could occur in a deliberate attempt. This means, directly putting one's eyeball in the pathway of the laser for a certain period of time. Can this occur in a game where the players are constantly moving about? Wikipedia mentioned of the South Korean goalkeeper who was affected in by lasers beams while playing. Even Diego Maradona and Christiano Ronaldo were not sparred the laser treatment from fans. Back to the AFF cup, in the first group match between Malaysia and Indonesia, the Malaysian goalkeeper too was not eluded when the laser were shone to his face after Indonesia's fouth goal. Anyway, some Indonesian's fan, pointed out that the lost could not be blamed on the laser disturbance. It was more of the lack of focus (by the laser?) of the players that cause them to crumble from the marauding young Malaysian attacks.
In every Malaysian's life, Sunday was indeed the day to remember for a long long time. Singing the Negaraku anthem together is one thing. But to sing the national anthem together in a spirited patriotic mood was emotional.
Let's hope that the match in Gelora Bung Karno Stadium will not be returned in a similar fashion of so called unsporting "Malaysian fans" laser incident. For a record, some national teams have been fined by FIFA for laser beams disturbances.
That was for sports. The next item is going to be something that you do after watching a match in the stadium. It is a ritual which could be used in sync with the other activities, as the Malay proverb says, menyelam sambil minum air. Eating! Coincidentally, the proverb too affirm to this. One can take a gulp while swimming. Discussion while eating? watching TV while eating? Supporting Malaysia while munching away? Some people even study while eating. It provides them with the much needed glucose for their thinking brain. Beware, over indulgence can divert the flow of oxygen for digestion instead. In effect, the book will study you and take the exams the next day!
Some of the ante restaurants in KB will be the likes of Sri Chieng Mai, Payang Serai Restaurant and Syam's Restaurant. All of them serves customers in a clean setting, some what posh looking environment. It is very inviting for diners to be. One thing in common of all of them, or with most restaurants and street vendors in KB, their Tom Yam are one of the niftiest in Malaysia. The flavours are almost frequently rich, fresh and aromatizing. Most importantly,they are able to maintain the richness in flavours in the next visit and thereafter.
Keng Som is an al fresco dining place right in the middle of Kota Bahru. It is deemed halal, although I can't see the halal logo by Jakim anywhere. Even the food premis grade is not displayed. Have they managed to go clandestine with their nightly operations, one would ask.
The place was a little unconspicuous. It is not located in a building but at the side of it in a mixture of metal, zinc and cement structure. Just enough to place a kitchen, a counter and space about the size of 2 badminton courts. If you are able to locate Dynasty Inn, it is just a few doors away from it. The place does not look like an eating place during the day.
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| Keng Som's may look obscured, a few blocks away from Dynasty Inn Hotel. |
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| The facade of Keng Som which is actually the kitchen |
We reached there about 8pm after parking in the alley next to Oriental Kopi Tiam a stone throw away from the Keng Som. I did not realised the parking space just next to Keng Som, which is free for Keng Som's customers.
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| Ample parking space. |
It was already packed with diners, mostly families. We took our seats at a rectangular brown compressed wood table on the tarmac just outside the covered area. Luckily, KB has been free of showers over the weekend. Stars were visible from where we sit.
The waitresses were too busy whisking away serving food. It took them nearly 10 minutes before they realised us. The waitress of Thai descent finally came with a tattered plastic laminated menu. Years of operation has left the lamination clouded with scratches and dirty marks. The words on the menu were not crisp, but still legible. The selection of dishes were impressive, divided into the names of the animals or food classes you wish to eat. Chicken, beef, fish, prawn, rice and vegetables headings sectioned the menu. The style of cooking is listed below it. Ready with a pen and paper to jot down the menu in Thai, the waitress were anxious. Impatient. A new group of diners had just arrived. There are 2 other tables, arriving at the same time as us, still waiting to be attended to.
We ordered enough food to feed 4, although there were only 2. It took 30 minutes for the food to arrive from order. That is already considered as snail paced, but forgivable given the nearly full house occupacy of the restaurant.
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| Thai Tom Yum |
The Tom Yam still deserved a pass. Compared to other tom yum's that I have tasted, this one was abit slightly diluted in taste. While not being a self proclaiming tom yom connoisseur, this faintness in flavour may not be detectable for those tongues that taste tom yum once in a while. The spiciness is not overpowering, but it may not be appealing to you if spiciness is not to your liking. The tangy bits of chicken meat, fresh prawn, mushroom were adequate.
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| Ikan siakap in Phad Phet Style |
This one is tasty. The sauce plays an important role to bring up the taste of the deep fried siakap fish. The yellow sauce or roux has rich taste to it with slight tumeric essence. It was slightly spicy, sweet and sour at the same time. It may sound like tom yam, but it is not.
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| Kerabu Manggo |
We decided to pick the Kerabu Manggo above after much thought pitting it against something leafy and stir fried. This Kerabu manggo was nice, and it suites as an appetizer. As sugar is a distinctive feature in Kelantanese delight, almost taken in a staple proportion, this kerabu did not make the sweet escape However, odd enough, the sugar added was slight and not in spoonful metric.
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| Chinese Tea |
There are more choices of drinks available in myriads of colours. But, we were contented with the one above especially after consuming high caloric food.
We wanted to try bittergourd omelette but it was not available. It would help if the menus display pictures of the food. The odd and foreign names of some of the food with poor description by the waitress does not help at all. Kung Pau chicken, Pat Porn Chicken and Mongolia chicken may sound the same despite the differences in their name. We may expect some similarities to the familiar taste and match it with the ones stored in the labyrinth of our memory bank if the menu were like green curry chicken. Not at our adventurous wit, as seen above, we have settled for familiarities.
To visit, locate Dynasty Inn at Jalan Sutanah Zainab. Map as follows.
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