Pilgrimage to Fatima Church, Banting

Local pilgrimages to Catholic churches is gaining popularity among churchgoers. Usually it's a day trip and made affordable to parishioners of all churches for all walks of life by George Yeow, a dear friend and a tourist guide by profession.

For the recent pilgrimage to Church of Our Lady of Fatima in Banting on October 11th, a total of 150 pilgrims, mainly from Petaling Jaya, Brickfields, Cheras and Kajang, traveled together in 3 buses and 2 vans. It was not surprising to see such a large crowd, after all the charge was only RM45 per pax and that included transport to Fatima Church and other interesting places at Tanjung Sepat, buns and a bottle of mineral water for light breakfast and seafood lunch.

The actual Feast Day for the Church of Our Lady of Fatima, Banting was to be celebrated on Tuesday, October 13th, commemorating the anniversary of Our Lady's last apparition on October 13 1917. We attended the Novena and Sunday Eucharistic Celebration instead, 2 days earlier for the convenience of the working pilgrims.


The Parish Priest, Rev. Fr. VA. Michael celebrated the Mass, with the feast theme, "Seeing goodness and charisms in every person". He spoke enthusiastically and gave a profound homily on the theme, assuring one and all, that each person is unique and special in God's eyes, and endowed with fruits (Galatians 5:22-23) and gifts of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:7-11).

He encouraged us to never think less of anyone and to be good stewards of our gifts/talents for the good of the church and for humanity as a whole.

A well-attended Mass, overflowing with probably about 800 parishioners, pilgrims and other visiting members.

A healing session followed immediately after the Mass by the charismatic Parish Priest, who moved amongst the crowd and blessed the faithful with the Blessed Sacrament by tracing the sign of the cross with the monstrance held steadily upright before him. As Jesus passed by me, tears streamed down my cheeks as I became choked with my sinfulness and unworthiness.

We were all then invited to partake lunch. Though a simple meal, it speaks volume of the Church's generosity. A big thank you to Fr. Michael and his church team for their kindness and hospitality, catering to our spiritual and material needs.

I can see that the Church is poor, building looks a little run-down and in dire need of painting. Even, Fr. Michael mentioned that the Church's weekly collection is about RM400, but unbelievably that day's collection for aid to flood victims in Philippines and Vietnam totaled RM3,000. Father, sure was proud of the faithful.

The Church's front has a nice view, facing the Klang River, which was swollen that morning. In the compound, there stood one of the most beautiful grotto I've even seen, a lovely masterpiece indeed! Fabulous bougainvillea bushes in vibrant red and pink decorated the grotto, which has a lovely man-made water feature with luxuriant Bird's Nest Ferns and other plants, and neighbouring palm trees.

Gereja Katolik Fatima (Church of Our Lady of Fatima) (1976)
140 Jalan Kekwa, Taman Seri
Telok Datok
42700 Banting,
Kuala Langat, Selangor
(Tel: 603-3181 5980)

Here's sharing

lyrics of the song, Dear Lady Of Fatima

(that was sung during the bus journey to Fatima Church
and also at the end of the Mass, befitting that special occasion.
A favourite of mine too, usually sung at our BEC weekly rosary prayer meeting)

Dear Lady of Fatima
We come on bended knees
To beg your intercession
For peace and unity
Dear Mary, won't you show us
The right and shining way
We pledge our love and offer you
A rosary each day.

You promised at Fatima
Each time when you appeared
To help us if we pray to you
To banish war and fear
Dear Lady on first Saturdays
We ask your guiding hand
For grace and guidance here on earth
And protection for our land.

Having completed our pilgrimage mission around 1.15 pm and spiritually uplifted, we then traveled to Tanjung Sepat to visit places of interest in the itinerary. (To be continued...)

P/S: Almost forgot to add this testament by Mdm. Serena Foong, one of the pilgrims from Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Jalan Peel. She shared this enroute on a recent pilgrimage to Church of St. Jude in Gopeng on Oct. 24. A new convert with a windy-stomach disorder, she said that during the healing session at Fatima Church, when Fr. Michael neared her with the monstrance, she felt a warm sensation flowing from top to toe as a figure in dazzling white garment laid hands on her head. What a blessed healing experience!
Definitely, that was Jesus Christ, all-merciful and all-compassionate, who promised in Matthew 18:20: "For where 2 or 3 come together in my name, I am there with them." And, He says in Luke 11:9: "Ask, and you will receive; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you."

Praise and thanks be to God!

Lunch at Canton-i, The Gardens Mid Valley

David, our darling son, introduced us to dine at Canton-i, the branch at The Gardens Mid Valley about 3 weeks ago. A food restaurant serving Hong Kong cuisine, situated in one of Malaysia's most impressive and popularly visited mega mall. It has an open kitchen concept, where you can observe the chefs preparing/cooking the food ordered.

We reached there before noon to avoid queuing as it can be pretty crowded it seems, even during week-days. No wonder, I noticed rows of chairs conveniently placed outside its entrance for queuing customers, as seen in the left photo below. The right image on the other hand shows the restaurant's interior, a little too cramped and tight, screaming for want of dining space, don't you think so?
Frankly, as the crowd gradually increased, the din inside can be disturbing and you can even hear what the other diners close-by are chattering!

Canton-i's menu is chiefly Hong Kong culinary delights, an extensive list that includes authentic hand-made dim sum, noodles, well-known roast goose/duck and the like, seafood, savoury and custardy buns and many others.

We ordered 3 plates of dry-version plain wonton noodles (RM4 per plate) and a combination platter of roasted pork (siew yok), barbecued pork (char siu) and roasted duck (RM29.80). Servings were reasonable, befitting the charges. I find the mee good, it was thin, springy and finely moistened. Unfortunately, it was not piping hot, just lukewarm by the time the combo meat platter to accompany it was served. The roasted meat were quite delicious too. I especially like the roasted pork belly that came with the right proportion of crunchy/succulent meat and fat, with a thin layer of well-roasted crispy skin. Sweetened sauce on the barbecued pork was ladled a little too much and too sweetish though, for my taste.

Another side dish that we ordered is the duck-meat spring rolls as seen to the right of image below. Just 2 small rolls costing RM9 is a little too expensive, I'd say! What's more shocking is the next dish serve!

This one is atrocious! We ordered fried dumplings but this was presented instead. It was not as photo displayed on the menu at all. One of the waiters told us that the person who took our order should have explained clearly as you can choose between 2 versions. How distressing. Can you imagine eating only these fried, tasteless and over-sized wonton skins, without its filling? And, charged RM10 too? To make matters worst, the dipping sauce with 5 tiny-winy miserable-looking beaf balls as seen on the right is awful, and separately billed RM8 as well! Definitely ripped off here!

Total bill was RM99.80 which included charges for 3 wet towels (RM3), Chinese tea for 3 pax (RM15) and taxes! Impossible to believe that we paid that abominable price for a mediocre dining...that averages to about RM33 per person! Very often, when a place becomes too popular, quality is compromised!

Moreover, we think too much MSG was used in their food preparation as our throat felt parched about an hour after lunch, while still walking around the shopping mall. This will definitely be our first and last dining experience there!

Website: http://www.canton-i.com/

Canton-i
at The Gardens Mid Valley City
LG-202 & 203A (Lower Ground Floor)
Lingkaran Syed Putra
59200 Kuala Lumpur.
(Tel: 603-2284 6888)

Recipe for Nonya Yam Cake

Yum..yum! So delicous, tasty and finger-linking! I just love it!

A favourite savoury snack, the steamed Nonya Yam Cake has been a must-have for every festive season or birthday celebrations in our home in previous years. But, gone are the days where much cooking was done in preparation of those happy occasions. Nowadays, as we age gracefully, my darling John and I would rather dine out with our family at various restaurants or eateries, trying other chefs' wonderful favourites than our own. One is really spoilt for choices, where sky is the limit for culinary delights in Malaysia.

I love cooking, though interest to try new cooking/baking recipes has waned drastically over the years since our children left the nest to start their own families. No more fun cooking for just the two of us, more so, when certain essential ingredients have to be omitted or quantity reduced due to health reasons.

Nonetheless, every now and then, I would still cook this popular Nonya Yam Cake whenever I'm in the mood or when there's a special request or just to treat some friends.

That opportunity came just a week ago when Catholic families in the neighbourhood gathered in our home for a prayer meeting.

They just love it and helped to polish up almost every morsel! And, I love to watch them gorging it too...haha, so rewarding to know that my labour of love was appreciated! :-D

Steamed Yam Cake is such a favourite food for Malaysians! Locals eat it at anytime, can be for breakfast, lunch, tea, dinner or supper, and sold almost everywhere, at the market places, eating stalls and restaurants, even at megamalls and hotels.

Here's sharing :

Recipe for Nonya Yam Cake

Ingredients:

• 500 gm rice flour
• 6 1/2 glasses of filtered water (approx. 2 litre)
  
• 600 gm yam, preferably the imported variety from China (wash, skinned and cubed)
  
• 100 gm shallots (sliced thinly)
• 100 gm dried shrimps (wash, drained and pounded)
• 100 gm of preserved vegetable or 'choy poh', optional (wash and diced)
• 2 cubes of chicken stock
• 2 teaspoon fine salt
• 2 teaspoon 5-spice powder
• 4-6 tablespoon cooking oil for frying
• 2 sprigs of spring onions and red chillies for garnishing (sliced)

Method:

1. Combine the rice flour with water, salt and 5-spice powder thoroughly in a saucepan and set aside.
2. Heat up the oil in a kuali and stir-fry shallots till golden brown. Dish out on a strainer and set aside for garnishing.
3. Next, fry the pounded dried shrimps (add more oil if necessary) till slightly brown, then add in the preserved vegetable and continue frying till golden brown. Dish out on a strainer and set aside for garnishing, retaining about a tablespoon of this mixture in the kuali.
4. In the remaining heated oil with the tablespoon of the dried shrimps mixture, add in the cubed yam and chicken stock to stir-fry altogether for about 5 mins.
5. Pour in the well-mixed rice flour mixture (refer to step 1) to the yam mixture and keep stirring continuously over high heat. Then, reduce to low heat as the mixture starts to thicken like custard. Turn off heat.
6. Transfer the yam mixture into a 29-cm round cake tin and steam for 45 mins.
   
   
   
   
7. Leave to cool and set (takes about 7-8 hrs. to set firmly).
8. Then garnish with the fried dried shrimps mixture, fried shallots, spring onions and red chillies (hehe..you can see that missing from my pictures...forgot to buy!). Serve with chilli sauce and a brownish-sweetened sauce known locally as 'timzheong'.

Brown sauce ('timzheong') :

1. Pound or blend together 4 shallots, 4 pips of garlic, half a thumb-size of ginger and 2 tablespoon of 'tow-cheong' (fermented soya beans).
2. Saute the pounded ingredients in 1-2 tablespoon of cooking oil until fragrant.
3. Add a large bowl of filtered water and bring to boil.
4. Sprinkle some thick soya sauce for colouring. Drizzle some light soya sauce, and add 1 tablespoon of sugar, half a teaspoon of fine salt and 2 tablespoon of tomato sauce (the latter is optional, but I like it for a sourish tinge) for taste. Continue to simmer for a while.
   
5. Thicken the mixture with 1 tablespoon of cornstarch, premixed with 2 tablespoons of water. Stir well and off heat. Ready to serve.
   

Birthday celebration @ Shogun Jap Buffet Restaurant

Our family never tire of going to Shogun Japanese Buffet Restaurant, the branch at Bandar Utama, for its buffet lunch. With such an extensive spread of Japanese cuisine, plus other Asian delights that include local, Thai, Korean and Chinese, you'll never be short of choices to indulge to your heart's content!

So, that was our destination about three weeks ago to celebrate Darren's belated birthday.

My family of 9 members, plus Kellie's cousin lunched from 12.30 to almost closing time at 5.30 pm, spending precious and delightful moments together, besides enjoying the glorious food, presented that day. Of course we weren't eating non-stop as if in a food marathon, but partook the delicious meal at our own pace and leisure.

That's what I like about the long hours of buffet lunch/dinner or high-tea. There's no need to rush through one's meal. Moreover, the best food is not what you eat but the company you eat with....the company and fellowship of family members and friends that makes what you consume pale in comparison. Time and togetherness well-spent that money can't buy!

Sharing below are some of the fabulous food we 'gorged' ourselves with. Though the pictures taken do not do justice to the impressive array of Shogun's food galore, the smiles on our faces speak volume of our satisfaction, contentment and enjoyment.

John, my beloved spouse and I love treating our family with delightful dining. It's pure joy seeing the siblings and their family enjoying each other's company as they chatter and ate with zestful pleasure.

Shogun Japanese Buffet Restaurant
1 Utama Shopping Centre
Petaling Jaya.
(Tel: 603-7726 3770, 77265770, 7726 0770)
Business Hours: 12.00-3.00 pm; 6.00-10.30 pm
B/Lunch Price for Sat./Sun./Public Hols.: RM48++ (A), RM30 (Child 8-11yrs), RM15 (Child 4-7yrs).

You may find these articles interesting:

• Gluttony at Shogun Japanese Buffet Restaurant
  
• Easter Celebration at Shogun, Bandar Utama

Lunch at Boston, Solaris Mont Kiara

Almost a month had passed by since we lunched at Boston Chillout, Solaris Mont Kiara in Kuala Lumpur! An interesting cafe, serving a fusion of Hong Kong and local cuisine with many other culinary delights from various regions.


As usual, we left the choice of lunch destination to David, our elder son.

Fully aware that his dad and I haven't ventured to this area before, he drove us to Solaris Mont Kiara.

A beautifully landscaped hilly region with many tall high-rise condominiums and modern architectural shopping malls and commercial buildings.

Seen mushrooming in the area are numerous eateries or F&B outlets offering exciting cosmopolitan lifestyle dining and others, after-dinner entertainment. A popular hub of interesting happenings!


We scouted around and ended up parking at SohoKL and was most surprised that parking cost only RM1.

To our delight, there weren't much of a crowd at noon time, probably being a weekday.

It was fun strolling leisurely along the impressively designed open-space corridor bordering the 1st floor of Block J and enjoying the scenic view in the vicinity.

Opportunities abound too for David and I to capture photos unrestrained. Free from being ogled by passers-by, anyway too few to bother us!



SohoKL seemed relatively new and many units were still untenanted. Hence, choice of eating places were limited.

Anyway, we decided to lunch at Boston Chillout and it turned out to be a lovely dining experience.

Lovely ambience, very inviting and spacious, with a classy and arty decor and well-placed LCD TVs for pleasant viewing, comfy dining sofas/chairs and tables, and cabinets well-stocked with alcohol.

We went for their value-for-money special lunch set for weekdays. Hehe...must eat smart.

For just RM10.95+/set, each diner gets a hot/cold beverage, one main course of rice or noodles and a single-scoop ice-cream as dessert.

For the main course, David chose Ramen with sliced beef, John had sweet and sour fish with corn rice while I selected sliced beef tenderloin with corn rice.

In addition to that, we ordered a plate of Hancock's Supernatural which looks too tempting to resist. Costs RM15.95+ for quite a large dish of baked crispy slices (textured like cornflakes) that is topped with cherry tomatoes and cheesy stuff, to be eaten by dipping a piece into the lovely chili sauce. Light, yet filling.





On the whole, food was simply fabulous, service good and prompt. We left totally satisfied and contented, with stomach filled to capacity!

If interested, try Boston Chillout @
Unit J-01-13, First Floor, Block J @ SohoKL
Solaris Mont Kiara
No. 2, Jalan Solaris, Kuala Lumpur
(Tel: 603 6203 0830)