Freed from My Cage

4 October 2009, Sunday (15 Syawal)

After hybernating for 6 days, without stepping out of my house, today, I was freed from my cage. It feels good to be out of the house again.  I've been floored by fever and flu and had remained practically in my bedroom the entire week.

Today, we decided to have lunch in Bangi as we wanted to visit my sister-in-law, Tini and her family, and later buy tenderloin beef at Madam Butcher, also in Bangi. My two elder boys accompanied my husband and I to Bangi. My youngest son, Khairi did not follow us as he wanted to attend his friend's Hari Raya do.

I had suggested that we try D'Tasik in Bangi for lunch as I've read favourable reviews about their seafood.  But we were disappointed to discover that the restaurant is closed for lunch. So we drove around Bangi and finally settled on Village View Restaurant, a restaurant tucked in a little corner close to several petrol stations.

We ordered Siakap Masak Tiga Rasa, Kangkong Belacan (my all-time favourite), Tomyam Campur, Telur Dadar and Ayam Masak Pedas.

The food was pretty good, in particular the Siakap Masak Tiga Rasa. The exterior was very crispy and the flesh was still juicy and tender.

The Kangkong Belacan wasn't too bad either but it was watery.  I had specifically told the waiter to make it dry, but as always, restaurants will never heed customers' request.  It came back rather watery.  Thank God the taste was quite pleasant.

 See all the gravy (water) around it which I really hate!

Nevertheless, I wasn't too excited about the other dishes, alhough my boys and husband seemed to enjoy the food.  The sambal belacan was a total disappointment as it was very watery.

The Ayam Masak Pedas was so-so for me, but my sons seemed to like it very much. Hence the reason for the saying...."One's man's Meat is Another Man's Poison".

And so was the Kerabu Mangga - it was a tad too bland for me.  There was no ooomphhhh!

And the Tomyam Campur was very mild for me, despite the tons of cili padis they have thrown in. I would have preferred for Tomyams to be spicier.

And the Telur Dadar was telur dadar.  Nothing exciting about it.

In any case, I was grateful and thankful that my husband had given us this treat given that I've been cooped up in my bedroom the last one week.  Today's outing had been a wonderful respite for me.