Asian Curry Chicken

Curry is one of the easiest dish to prepare but first you need to get the ingredients right. Asian Curry should not be sweet, normally no sugar is added to the dish, it should have a distinct curry flavor with a touch of little sourness. Another item should not add is carrot, it will make the curry sweet and flavor the curry with carrot taste, carrot is good for stew.

In South East Asia there are many version of curries, Chinese, Nonya, Malay, Indian or Thai. To me Japanese Curry is not curry, it is just a stew cook in curry powder. An authentic curry should have a layer of oil which is the curry powder oil. Here is my version I have integrated from my mother's Nonya Curry and my ex-wife's Malay Curry, but the basic cooking style remains the same.

Oilless Fried Rice

This is a simple fried rice anyone can do it. At campsite, you can use a Dutch Oven to prepare this dish. It will take about 20mins to prepare and there is no need to use any oil. Instead this fried rice we use the fats from the chicken thigh skin. If you notice most stalls who sells fried rice, they are very oily however when this dish was made the amount of chicken fats produce was just perfect for this dish. 

Hainanese Pork Chop

All-in-one meals for the British Officers
This dish was also known as Tiffin Pork Chop. During the colonial era in Singapore, British Officers would order this dish pack in Tiffin. When the British started to reside in Singapore, they hired Hainanese Cooks to prepare this dish, hence it is called Hainanese Pork Chop.

電飯煲海南雞飯 Rice Cooker Hainanese Chicken Rice

I grew up with Hainanese Chicken Rice. My Hainanese grandfather used to make this dish every year during Chinese New Year. Live chickens were bought from the market 2 weeks before and fed till it come to size, then he slaughtered it and make this dish. 

In 2008 I flew to Sabah to meet up with my Aunt just to learn this dish the Hainanese way. Hoping that I can start a small business selling our authentic dish. Well it didn't happen yet as I have still not perfected it. Anyway I will share with you a simple way and it can be as close to our ancestor dish. 

Hainanese Chicken Rice Chilli Sauce

Ingredients to Blend:

• 3 Chillies, chopped 
• 1 slice Ginger
• 4 cloves Garlic, skin removed
• Juice of 3 limes
• 5 Tbsp of chicken broth oil 

The Chicken broth comes from the chicken I boiled, you can use chicken bone so long the broth has an oily layer.

新加坡小館咖啡 Singapore Kopitiam

Recently located near to our area. Waited till end of July for renovation to be completed. First time we went there for dinner, we were served with dinner menu. We only wanted to taste two dishes if the taste was as original as back in Singapore but they do not have it so we left. 

Came back few days later and we managed to order Hainanese Chicken Rice and Bak Kut Teh (Pork Rib Soup). These two dishes are the most popular dishes in Singapore. 

Both dishes was served, my first impression of Hainanese Chicken Rice was miserable. For NT120 you get only few slices of Chicken Meat and the rice was hard. Partner's Bak Kut Teh, she commented it was blend, more like soy sauce added to water. 

Before their grand opening, they did mentioned the Chef is a Singaporean but with this standard. Being a Hainanese, I have seen how my grandfather cook Chicken Rice, I even travelled to Sabah to perfect this dish from my Aunt. It is not a difficult dish but to master you have to know the right combination of ingredient. 

I have yet to try their dinner menu, maybe one day we will gather some friends and try it out. As for now they get a low rating.

三民區聯興路48號
80707 392 8795
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鳥松鄉 NiaoSong MTB

This is basically a short trail around 8.5Km but mostly technical, from hill climb, riding down the steps and even carry the bike up the hill.

Last time I rode in this track was about a year ago. It felt good coming back to the place again and see those bridge crossing we made was still intact. Today's weather was hitting hard on me, my whole body was burning hot. Wish there was a waterfall.

Riders: AhXing, AhTang, Ak, JinSan, A-Ui and me

Photo Slide

大八大飯店潮坊港式飲茶 DaBa Tea Restaurant

The dinner was with our friends Yvonne and Jack. Yvonne now lives in Germany and she was only back to visit her family. While Jack a very busy man working in China Airlines and treated us to this dinner. Thank you Jack.

Yum Cha is my speciality and this is our third Yum Cha Restaurant we tried in Kaohsiung. So far there is not a single Yum Cha Restaurant that can charm my taste bud. This is the first restaurant I came across in Kaohsiung  they have push trolley with steam dishes going round the tables just like in Hong Kong. 

Most of the dishes are good except dishes that comes with corn starch. They had made it so starchy that you almost can hang the dishes on the wall without falling. All of us were laughing our ass off. This restaurant might get a 4 star rating, because of their corn starch dishes failure. They would only get 3/5 stars. 

813高雄市左營區裕誠路486號
07-556-9791

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瑪哈印度餐廳 Maharaja Indian Resturant

Had the craving for Biryani so we went out looking for an Indian Restaurant. Along Mingcheng Road there are two Indian restaurants and we decided to try out Maharaja. All the chefs were Indian, no Taiwanese chef except the pretty waitress. 

Ordered Mutton Biryani and Papadom. In SE Asian Indian restaurant, normally Papadom is free flow but here we have to pay for it. Papadom is eaten by crushing and mix with rice, it gives a unique texture to the rice. Used my fingers crushed the Papadom, topped with yoghurt over Biryani. Using the fingers put a handful rice in my mouth and bite off a piece of green chilli. That's how it is eaten my way thought to me by an Indian friend.      

The Mutton Biryani was good, they had used Indian Basmati grain but there were still some flavour missing. Biryani is the most complex rice to cook and requires many different kind of spices. The best we had was in India. 

The restaurant do serve other Indian dishes, Nan, Roti and different types of Curries. We did not order any of these because I know how to make them and I have the best curry powder imported to Taiwan but Biryani is out of my league. Worth trying out 4/5 stars

明誠分店: 高雄市明誠二路392號   
07-5581123
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Sumei's Birthday Gathering

7 May 2012
Our friend Sumei decided to gather all her friends to celebrate her birthday. Here we were in this restaurant eating drinking and ended up 3 scooters got towed away... Haha
It was good fun to see all our friends again.

26Km Bike Ride

Sun 8 Jul 2012

Me and my dog, Siboy decided to take a bike ride down to the southern part of Kaohsiung, it has been a while Siboy have not done any endurance walk since his broken leg in a car accident. We followed the bike path from Love River all the way down to Splendour Hotel and even tried a short cut back till I lost the way. 

We passed by Hakka Museum, Flea Market and when we arrived at 星光水岸公園  XingGuang Water Park, thinking to let Siboy to cool off from the Summer heat but it was filled with people...Guess a wrong day to take a weekend ride. 

全海岸活蝦之家 Quan HaiAn Live Prawn House

The first time I tried a live prawn house was near our place but since then it has closed down. I am not a prawn lover but the way they cooked in a pot full of pepper simply made one hell of an exciting dish. We found this joint when one our prawn loving friend invited us. Since then we been back couple of times. 

The prawn used are all Thai Prawn and most of them come with the yummy roe. Tried a few cooking style but still prefer the pepper prawn. Another one of our favourite dish is Chicken Bitter Gourd Soup, their bitter gourd is so small and bitter that we can''t even eat it however prolong boiling will make the soup even better. 

高雄市左營區博愛三路170號
07-350-0727
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茹絲葵牛排餐廳 Ruth Chris Steak House

It's my partner's birthday and since she like beef steak, I decided to give her the most premium treat in town.

This was one of the most expensive steak we ate in this town. We ordered a 8oz Ribeye Steak and it costed NT2300. We decided to share the steak as the waitress told us the other portions of salad and dessert that comes with it was enough for 2 to share. Ordered additional lobster soup and it was the best lobster soup I have ever tasted. 

We will be coming back to this restaurant again and this time I had better bring my camera and not using a cell phone camera. 

801高雄市前金區中正四路211號
07-241-8888
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鄔珍那斯特庭園餐廳 Oogenlust Restaurant

This Western restaurant we tried, not sure if it is Italia because the served Pasta too or Dutch since the name sounds like it. However they do have a lovely garden and the building is almost filled with creeper crawler plants. Atmosphere was rather comfortable. 

We ordered Chef's selection of Roast Chicken and NZ Beef Tenderloin. They come with buffet style salad and dessert bar. I must said both our selection was very tasty and cook to perfection. We too like the mushroom soup that came with it and bread tasted freshly baked. 

812高雄市左營區辛亥路105號
07-556-5281
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山姐姐海鮮燒烤 Shan JieJie Seafood BBQ Restaurant

Pass by this aboriginal restaurant many times, did not patronised as it was not ideal for 2 person meal. Finally on 27 Jul 2012 my partner gathered few of our friends and we decided to try out this restaurant.  

They served varieties of seafood dishes, they even have urn roast chicken but we did not order that. What I like best is their deep fried port belly which was grilled on a hot stone before deep frying. Not fattening taste but rather crunchy and goes well with raw garlic. The fish roe was good so is the sweet sour fish. Think we order around 15 dishes!!!

高雄市鼓山區明誠三路682號（近中華路）

Tel：（07）553-7330

營業時間：下午04：00～凌晨01：00

每個月第二ˋ四星期日公休 

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汾陽餛飩店 Fenyang Wonton Shop

 If you love Wonton, this is the place to try it. It only serves wonton soup, no noodle or rice however you can add an poached egg. Unlike Taiwanese wonton, their wonton skin is almost similar to Hong Kong style which dances is the soup with seasoned pork meat filling. Worth Trying

Located in one of the oldest market since 1936 during Japanese era.

813高雄市左營區左營大路86號
07-585-1858
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古早味燒餅 Authentic Baked Sesame Seed Bun

I have to admit I am not a fan of any dishes with sesame seeds on it. However this road side stall simply blew my taste bud away especially when you eat it fresh from the oven. The sesame seed after bake, give out a fragrance taste and the filling inside the bun is simply the right combination. This is my partner's paradise and everytime we pass-by this location we would definitely stop over. Best go with their cold soy mild drink

高雄市鳥松區本館路文明巷17號
07-370-5150
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港園牛肉麵 GangYuan Beef Noodle

First time I was introduced to Taiwan's Beef Noodle is from this restaurant and ever since then, I have not tasted one that can be as good as GangYuan Beef Noodle in Taiwan. Unlike other Taiwanese beef noodle, the dry version is super delicious, suspect they had use pork lard in the sauce. 

Recently we felt in love with the braised pig's trotter, cook till tender with beautiful texture. Now we will only order pig;s trotter noodle plus additional pig's trotter and my partner's favourite cucumber. Forgot to mention the dry version comes with a bowl of amazing tasty clear broth.     

803高雄市鹽埕區大成街55號
07-561-3842
Opening Hour 1130am ~ 830pm
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小西門燉肉飯 Xiao Ximen Stewed Pork Rice

Found this joint through a TV recommendation, their speciality are the stewed pork belly rice and cuttlefish soup. First time when we were there the cuttlefish soup was sold out so we settled for beef soup and stewed pork rice. The stewed pork was not what I expected as I find it abit blend, maybe not enough soy sauce. 

A month later, we came back and finally got our cuttlefish soup. Same as before, stewed pork belly rice.

Overall the taste and texture was not as how they have described on the TV show. I would rate this only 3/5

高雄市鹽埕區鹽埕街43號

07-561-2651

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蒸鮮腸粉 Zheng Xian ChangFen

This is a Cantonese Restaurant, the Yum Cha type where you order small dishes to go with Chinese Tea. 

I grew up on Yum Cha, our grandpa would take us fortnightly to such restaurant. So when come to authentic taste, this will probably be our last time visiting this restaurant. 

We found most of the dishes too sweet to our taste especially my partner's favourite braised chicken feet. In any Yum Cha Restaurant must always order Charsiew ChangFen, no beef, no prawn but Charsiew ChangFen only.

高雄市左營區裕誠路322號
07-558-8002

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左營仙樹三山宮牛雜湯 Zuoying XianShu SanShan Gong Mix Beef Soup

Located in Zouying District inside a wet market just across the road from Confucius Temple. We found this beef soup stall by chance. Unlike other beef soup dishes, this beef broth is clear. You could see the beef fats on the surface of the soup which makes the soup very tasty. They do not serve with any noodle but plain rice which goes very well.

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高雄婆婆冰 Kaohsiung PoPo Ice

One of the old ice shop in Kaohsiung, along the same street apparently there are 3 shops with the same name. We have tried all three shop and found the original shop (photo above) is better. 

There are 2 kinds of ice to choose from, crushed ice and snow ice (milk ice). So far we prefer the crush ice mixed fruit as it topped with their in-house secret recipe. Snow ice would be better with strawberries or mango depending on season. 

Main Shop: 七賢三路135號  
Second Shop七賢三路98-12號
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Mix Fruits

Mango 

鳥松爛坡 Niaosong LP Discovery

Saturday 30 May 2009

Koahsiung backyard (LP or Broken Hill)

Together me, ak and Meng Hwee a fellow Malaysian undergrad from the local Uni here met in the afternoon for a short discovery ride in LP. ak's idea was to find more tracks around the area so we can loop-up with the existing known track. So together with my GPS we set off to explore the unknown.

興達港 Xing Da Port Seafood Mart

Located in Kaohsiung, it takes about an hour to get here from Kaohsiung City. Opens only in the evening, it host a varieties of seafood. The fresh seafood here are very reasonably priced and value for money. There are also rows of finger food stalls to try out.

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三牛牛肉麵 San Niu Beef Noodle

This beef noodle shop is located in Zouying District. They served varieties of side dishes and they have many versions of beef noodles. Normally we ordered 1 big bowl with extra noodles for both of us accompanied with side dishes. The soy sauce beef tendon noodle is worth trying.

813高雄市左營區勝利路85號
07-588-7264
Opens from 11am to 830pm
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Lao SiChuan Bashu Mala Soup 老四川巴蜀麻辣燙

804高雄市鼓山區南屏路589號
07-522-5256

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http://www.oldsichuan.com.tw/

Last Visited: Oct 2009

Lao SiChuan which just relocated a month ago in Kaohsiung City has been receiving a rather good response from the diners. If you have not made any prior appointment, you would have to wait for atleast 45min to an hour. I decided to check out what is so special about this restaurant.

Huaxing Roast Duck Shop 華興烤鴨庄

高雄市小港區飛機路427號

Tel: 07 8015746
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Operation hours: 10.30am to 6.30pm

You can find almost everywhere this version of Taiwan's Peking Roast Duck. But at this shop, you will get one of the best roast duck. The skin is roasted till crispy and the dipping sauce is not too sweet. The dough is smooth and not too tick. This dish is best eaten when it is hot from the oven. Pre-booking is necessary.

燒肉屋 BBQ House

12 May 2010
This is the third time we patronized this BBQ restaurant but this time is different. A very special friend to us and our family, Breden Chua and his college, Lim were here on work assignment by Manitowoc, American Crane Company.

I got to know both of them through work when I was their client. Over the years Breden and me got to know each other better because we shared the same passion, beers and bikes. Those years we would set off on our BMW bikes to Thailand and enjoy the sun, sand and sea.  

This BBQ House has great food and you can eat till you drop. They have both BBQ and hotpot which I find is a great combination if you need something light after the BBQ. The services in this restaurant is fantastic, the workers and especially the boss will come over to your table and teach you a trick or two how to BBQ. 

Huimei Japanese Food 惠美壽亭

高雄市中興街135號
135 Zhongxing Street, Kaohsiung City
Tel: 07-3311961
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Last Visited: 19 Aug 2009

We were searching for a Japanese meal and happen to chance this shop. We decided to pop in for a meal until we were met with a different kind of atmosphere. For a while I felt I was back in Japan. Most of the diners here were Japanese and even the menu was in Japanese. Of course I can't read Jap so I got the owner to introduce us their speciality. There are many Japanese restaurant in Taiwan but this is one of the best traditional Japanese meal I  have tasted.