Tom Yum | wordspics.com

It was my last day in Kota Kinabalu. As I had a few hours to spare (before heading to the airport), I walked my way towards this particular shop located a couple streets away from where I stayed in. It was recommended by the lady owner (of my accommodation).

Iced Coffee

What I noticed about coffee shops in Kota Kinabalu is the fact that there were only hand full (one or two) stalls in it. And these stalls were selling more than one type of delicacy, I would say. Run by a Chinese lady (or at least what I saw on that day), the workers were pretty efficient. Within minutes I sat down, one waitress came to take my order.

Kedai Kopi Seng Hing

I was told that they were famous for Tom Yum Mee or maybe it was the lady owner (of the accommodation) who said the it was delicious. I’m not sure which one it is, but I took her words and ordered my share.

Tom Yum Noodles

When it first arrived, my first impression was that they brought the wrong stuff to me. As you may see, due to its broth, it looked like Curry Mee instead of the Tom Yum Mee. But as I smell it, my impression was wrong as I sensed the aromatic smell of Tom Yum; the piercing spicy sourish smell.

The first sip of the broth was sufficient to convince me that the lady owner was right. I loved the fact that they used coconut milk in that it made the broth richer. With correct amount of herbs and spices, the broth was spicy, sourish and managed to deliver the taste. It was spicy enough to provides the kick every Tom Yum lover is asking for. Heck, I drank till the very last drop of the broth. It was that good.

Tom Yum Noodles

There were ample amount of toppings and not forgetting noodles (kuey teow in my case) too. The prawns were fresh and succulent and there were few bits of minced meat (chicken, I think) in it which you might not able to notice it till the very end of your meal. I was tempted to order another one but since my taxi was about to reach soon, I regretfully walked away without the second empty bowl on the table.

Outside Of Airport

On fine day, you might able to see the Mt. Kinabalu from the entrance of the airport. However, as I reached the airport at about 9am, the weather didn’t look good at all as it was gloomy and about to pour heavily.

Air Ticket

The check-in process over the counter was a breeze as there weren’t many people. Still early, I lurked in McDonald’s for free WiFi. The whole process of getting bored reached to peak (again) as I was in the plane. I looked to the left and I saw this…

Above The Sky

And when I looked up, I spotted the aircraft is kinda dirty as I saw this…

Dirty Buttons

Meals were served approximately 45 minutes after we were up in the sky. As usual, there were two choices and I picked Fried Kuey Teow instead of Omelette (I think).

Brunch

Fried Kuey Teow

Let’s just say the food was edible but I didn’t finish them all. And that’s the last photo I took during my solo trip to Kota Kinabalu…

All in all, it was pretty tiring yet relaxing trip. The places I saw, the strangers I met and the experience I’ve gained were priceless. I was blessed with fine weather. Although I wished I could stay longer, but then again, with that, I wouldn’t have reasons to go back to Sabah another time.

Chronicles of Sabah Trip 2009 :-

2 weeks back, me and my friends went to this Thai restaurant called Celadon in Pavilion, Kuala Lumpur for dinner. It is situated at the highest floor, same level as Angus Steakhouse and TGiF.

Celadon

And the casts were :

Jeremy

Julian

Aileen

Ryan

While waiting for the food to arrive, I took these :

Cup

Bowl

Champagne

Wine Cellar

Chair

Upon entering the restaurant, I did not have this Thai-feel due to the arrangement and settings of the restaurant. As shown above, the restaurant adopted simple yet modern design rather than what you normally see or get in other Thai restaurants. With all the sofas and pillows lying around, it somehow projected the ‘make-yourself-at-home’ feeling instead. And yes, the chair freaked me out due the printed face. Hehe.

The food did not take long to arrive…

Tom Yum Soup

Extra Spicy Tom Yum Soup

No Thai meal is complete without having their Tom Yum soup. Celadon offers two type; clear or milky (coconut milk based). Upon ordering the soup, I cheekily told them to bring their spiciest soup they have from the kitchen. Oh boy, they did not fail me at all. Ladened with chili padi (tons of it) with its seeds in it, the soup, filled with prawns, mushrooms and lemon grass, was indeed an extra spicy one. I told my friends to try it which they did but they did not bother to take a second sip. It did numb my throat for a while which was a good thing because I was having sorethroat at that time. I can barely feel the pain after downing the soup. Hehe.

Pineapple Fried Rice

I guess it is a norm to order Pineapple Fried Rice too whenever one visits a Thai restaurant. The portion was alright as it could possible share among 4 adults with two or three spoonful each. Prawns, cashew nuts, mixed vegetables and pineapple, the rice was cooked to perfection. Sadly, the dish was not warm enough as though they were pre-cooked even before customers order it.

Green Curry Chicken

Bread

Green Curry Chicken and Pita Bread

Yet again, another famous dish by Thai restaurants. Celadon offers either beef, chicken or homemade fishball filled with eggyoke. Yes, you read that correct. Fishball with eggyoke in the center!! Unwillingly to take the risk, we opted for the safest choice; that was Green Chicken Curry. Chicken chunks, eggplant, onions and other vegetables in it, I’m not sure whether it is normal or not but I found it rather sweet to my liking. Some of my friends said that green curry chicken was supposed to be sweet. Oh well, I just went with the flow.

Crabstick

Crabsticks

Mango Salad

I did not have the opportunity to taste the Mango Salad as the portion was rather small. But, from what I saw, the salad must be good as it was gone in quite a short while. As for the crabstick, it was normal with nothing to shout about. The good thing was that it was not entirely made of fish paste, which could typically found in other places. Suffice to say, at least 80% of it were crabmeat while the rest were fish paste.

Sizzling Black Pepper Beef Steak

Since we are carnivores, we needed more meat. Hence, we tried their Sizzling Black Pepper Beef Steak. This has got to be one of the best black pepper steak I’ve ever eaten. The meat was tender but not overcooked/chewy. Not too sweet nor not too overpowered with black pepper, the sauce was prefect to go along with the meat. There were around 6 to 7 small pieces of beef, I don’t think it was enough especially when there were 5 adults there.

There were 2 more dishes like Phat Thai and Kangkung vegetables but the (photo) shots were horrible. Most of the photos turned out blur so I didn’t bother to put up in here. I struggled alot while getting the shots above because the lightings were very low. I was forced to use ISO 1600 most of the time to get decent shutter speed. Thank god, I managed to capture a few or else, I’ll be stabbing myself.

Evian

Another thing to note is that you are forced to order bottle of mineral water instead of they providing free flow of chilled water. I’m not sure how much the bottle above costs, but I’m sure it would be 200% more than what you can get in supermarket. It would definitely be not enough especially when you are about to experience spicy Thai food.

Overall, the food and service were good. The attention to the detail was alright but I guess they could improve further on the soup. No, I’m not talking about the spicy-ness. I’m talking about the taste wise as it has this vague Tom Yum taste. Besides, they should serve their food warm rather than luke-warmish.

Tag: Tom Yum

In Sabah – Day 6 (The Final Day)

Celadon In Pavilion, Kuala Lumpur