Two weeks ago I walked pass a poké place and I stopped to try after all the poké craze that I’ve been seeing on Instagram. I couldn’t understand the hype but then, after I tried it, oh my gosh, it changed my life. I’m serious! It was that good. Kinda like the type of food Fiona would eat because when I saw poké bowl in front of me for the first time, I said to myself that is so Fiona. Then me and a friend of mine has been commenting on my Instagram photo on which poké place to try next. And I told her Kurin just opened at NU Sentral and that she should try it out. She went to Kurin first as she worked nearby and I went last Sunday.

I brought my friend Bowie along as we had an event in the morning and we usually car pool. It was my turn to drive so she followed me. Bowie have never tried poké before and she has been wondering about it. We were at NU Sentral a few hours prior. We shopped around, had coffee and then we went to 5th floor where Kurin is at. I have a habit of googling before going to anywhere but this time I want to be surprised. First surprise was that I did not expect an outlet, second surprise was the outlet has a funky and cool yellow tiles all around it and the interior has the modern monochrome white and black. I love it already! According to Kurin, the splashes of yellow reflects the brands honesty, enthusiasm and positive nature.

As soon as I walked in, I notice a ready to eat section with pre-packed food. There are sandwiches, soba noodles, chia seeds pudding, sushi donuts, cold pressed juices and more. For a limited time only, you can enjoy 20% discount on all pre-packed food when you purchase either a poké bowl, pokeritto or salad at Kurin NU Sentral.

Now, every poké place has their own ordering method. Kurin offer healthy grab ‘n’ go food for busy consumers so the concept is similar to Subway whereas you order over the counter, make payment, and then move to the customization counter to build your preferred poké.

Each poké comes with two sizes – Regular, with 3 types of fruits and veggies choices and Large, with 4 types of fruits and veggies choices. If you’re a poké fanatic and you always wish your poké comes in a larger size, your wish now came true! The Large size surely can satisfied your poké cravings. I of course went with Regular as my tummy space wouldn’t fit the Large size LOL.

At Kurin, you will notice that its interior design features a transparent counter. This goes hand-in-hand with their grab ‘n’ go concept and that customers is able to see what they want in their poké as well as to witness with their own eyes on the food preparation. Everything is done in a clean and proper manner.

You will also get to see the freshness of their ingredients. Its being replenished at all times as it ran out pretty fast especially during crazy lunch hour. Kurin enforced a strict food and services standard as well as quality control. The day’s unsold food will be contributed to charity and NOT keeping it for the next day.

I was told that their proteins and vegetables are seasonal so nothing are permanent. Customers will be expecting to see frequent changes on the protein and vegetables selections.

Poké Don (Regular, with Torched Salmon – RM19 / RM24 for Large)

First try is the regular poké don or better known to everyone else as poké bowl. I have heard so much about Kurin’s torched fish. And so when I chose my protein for my don, I opted for Torched Salmon. This is a perfect choice for those who don’t take raw fish. There are a few types of proteins to choose from – Tuna, Salmon and Chicken. For vegetarian or health conscious individuals, there is even Tofu. The interesting part about torched fish is that I am able to see how they do it. It’s not cook at the stove but a quick torch. The salmon turns out to be perfect this way.

I had a regular poké don with Torched Salmon and Ponzu Fresh sauce as the flavour. My base is brown rice, seaweed, cherry tomatoes and corn. If you need extra crunch for your poké, you may add almonds, crispy lotus or crispy garlics.

The sauce is not over saturating the entire bowl covering the flavour of other ingredients. I can still taste every single ingredients especially the Torched Salmon. I was surprised that the cube size of the salmons are in generous portion. Absolutely satisfying. Perhaps I should add Avocado in my bowl the next round.

Pokeritto (Large, with Salmon – RM24 / RM19 for Regular)

I was excited to try something different and Kurin, I heard have exactly what I was looking for. Pokeritto is a hybrid between a poké and a burrito. It is a star dish here at Kurin. Other places offer a wrap version but not Kurin. Theirs looked like a Japanese style burrito.

For Pokeritto, Bowie and I agree to try the regular Salmon instead with Japanese short grain rice. Yeah we are going back to basic . And for this we opted for Spicy Mayo sauce. There are a variety of homemade sauces and they are pretty interesting and unique, such as Wasabi Mayo (creamy Japanese sauce), Spicy Mayo (creamy sriracha), Ponzu Fresh (citrus infused soy), Teriyaki (with no mirin), and Classic (shouyu-sesame oil).

The Pokerrito in large became my dinner and breakfast for the next day (in a way) because I had it for dinner and I was full till the next day’s lunch. I am not kidding! . Between poké don and Pokerrito, after trying the Pokerrito I think that is the favourite of mine. The combination of all the ingredients goes so well with each other and I was really surprised. In my Pokerrito I have got to add Mango because for some reason Mango flavour sits very well in a poké. I’ve tried this combination once and I prayed that Kurin has mango and they did lol. I’m glad it wasn’t a sour Mango so the sweetness lifted my taste bud up. I’m a happy girl.

The next time you are around NU Sentral and wondering what to have to lunch, dinner or even tea time, wonder no more. I have been talking about poké so much recently like a broken tape recorder that I would not suggest anything other than poké. It’s a healthier choice that is absolutely delicious . Have a nice poké Sunday everyone!

Kurin
Lot 5-10, NU Sentral Mall, 201, Jalan Tun Sambanthan. 50470 Kuala Lumpur
Opening Hours: Daily, from 10am to 10pm
For more information, please visit Kurin Website, Instagram and Facebook Page.

The post Lifestyle Sunday: Fiona Goes for Poké Hunt at Kurin NU Sentral appeared first on Street Love. by Fiona

The fun part about what I do is to go behind-the-scenes of many things. The most recent one sounds unrelated to me, according to my friends. Behind-the-scenes walk into IPC Shopping Centre Phase 2 and 3 redevelopment, but I disagree. You see, I do have sentimental feelings towards IPC Shopping Centre. Why did I agree on this? (1) Many of you may not know that I used to look after Samsung Malaysia’s key outlet in IPC Shopping Centre, which was previously known as Ikano Power Centre, (2) It sounds hella fun putting on safety boots, hard hat and reflective safety vest like project managers do, (3) It’s not everyday an opportunity to go behind the scene of a shopping centre come by, so why not!

I personally frequent IPC Shopping Centre a lot and that includes Ikea which is just next door. Ask me about all the food at LG floor and I could name which is good and what not. However IPC Shopping Centre has been under going massive renovation since March 2017 as a next step mesure to strengthen its presence in the market. Phase One was done and recently launched and that is the LG1 and LG2 floors. The one I went for a peep is Phase Two and Three.

LG1 is now known as Foodland. When I was there, I couldn’t recognize where I was as everything was so different from the IPC Shopping Centre I know. Suddenly it felt foreign to me and I was literally speechless and looking around in awe. I felt a little bit sad because the once familiar place to me is so much different. Foodland is now fully refreshed and complete with new design as well as new concept. Its key tenants such as Uncle Lim’s, De Irrfan’s Café, Noodle Shack remains. Yay! There are also new tenants as well such as AEON Wellness, Penang Road Famous Teochew Chendul, Ben’s Independent Grocer, which will be opening in October 2017 and many more. As for LG2, i-Alter and Thule remains. IPC Shopping Centre also invested in a leading sustainable dishwashing and cleaning system to align to its initiative into a greener future. This system is safe, efficient and ecological.

We of course got to try ALL the food. Should have went with an empty stomach instead LOL.

The top 10 must-tries food in IPC Shopping Centre are:

Penang Curry Mee (Penang Road Famous Teochew Chendul), Lobak (Ah Cheng Laksa), Nasi Beriani (De Irrfan’s Café), Porridge (I Love Yoo), Crispy Popiah Prawn (Sister’s Crispy Popiah), Nasi Ayam Goreng Berempah (Laksaamana), Roasted Chicken Rice (Simply Chicken), Nasi Lemak (Uncle Lim’s), Traditional Dry Pan Mee (Noodle Shack), and Thai Basil Chicken Rice (Eat Drink Thai Express).

We are also THE FIRST to try a new menu from MyeongDong Topokki, called Nasi Lemak Ayam Topokki. It is available for a limited time only from 20th August t0 16th September 2017. This new dish is in conjunction with Malaysia’s 60th Independence Day celebration. Only available at Sunway Pyramid, Sunway Putra, One Utama, IPC Shopping Centre, Paradigm Mall, Pearl Shopping Gallery, The Mines, Setia City Mall for RM9.90. What a combination! Traditional Malaysia food with traditional Korean food. Who would have thought that’s possible?

While we were looking for parking, we drove pass this interesting looking recycling centre. It was the Recycling and Buy-Back Centre (RBBC) which was upgraded and relocated to a more convenient and strategic location on LG1 parking floor. IPC offers a humble buy-back on selected items such as cardboard, magazines, newspapers, plastic, tin/metals, and aluminium with a minimum deliver of 1kg. It will also be a place to safely dispose used batteries and fluorescent light tubes and light bulbs as well. Just a little fun fact. IPC Shopping Centre is the FIRST shopping centre in the entire Malaysia to house an RBBC. That my friend has set a benchmark for other malls in paving a way for a better, greener future.

We then adjourned to the project manager’s office to change our shoes to safety boots, put on a hard hat and reflective safety vest before we were brought to Phase Two and Three construction area. These phases are still underway but looking at the progress with my own eyes, it will not be that long before these phases complete in the second half of the year. Level 2 will be more of a family-friendly space with its redevelopment and will be creating an all-new kids’ play area called Funland. This level will also be home to the second Young Chefs Academy in Malaysia, offering fun and creative cooking classes for kids.

Get ready for the new Scandinavian-themed shopping centre fully operated by the second half of the year and reimagine the next future of shopping experience. At the mean time, you are more than welcome to explore the renewed LG floors to get a taste of what the new IPC Shopping Centre has got in store.

For more information and latest updates, please visit IPC Shopping Centre Facebook Page and Instagram.

The post Lifestyle Sunday: Behind-The-Scenes Walk into IPC Shopping Centre Phase 2 & 3 Redevelopment and Reopening of Foodland at LG1 appeared first on Street Love. by Fiona

You will agree with me, you cannot go wrong with the food in Penang. Malaysia is definitely the paradise for foodies all around the world and one place stood at the very top will be Penang! If you are looking for a slice of heaven, then let me assure you, you will want to take the stairway to Penang Island. This is the every foodie’s heaven. Penang has been voted more than once as the haven for street food. Sounds good? Just hop on the next bus to Penang already!

If you are still going to the regular eateries like Gurney Drive, you are not doing it right. Here are the top 8 eateries for you to eat like a local.

1. Penang Road Teochew Chendol

Just like many other delicacies, there are many places in Penang where you can get a mean bowl of chendol but if you are planning to experience on local eating ways then you will need to go Penang Road. Some says that this is the birthplace of this delicious dessert. The original taste simply cannot be compared with those from the franchised air conditioning stores. Come to think of it, having a bowl of cold chendol while standing under the scorching sun is simply delightful. The thirst-quenching bowl of chendol will help you defeat the heat!

2. Wai Kee Char Siew Rice

To be candid, i have never thought Penang could be famous for char siew rice. Here, you will get the perfect combination of roasted pork, char siew, roasted duck, roasted chicken and Chinese sausage. The char siew is barbequed at a very delicate level where the fat will melt in your tongue and don’t even get me started with one of the crispiest roasted pork in Penang.

3. Hong Kong Tea Garden

Hong Kong Tea Garden is a good example of a private hawker market where stalls arise around an already existing restaurant. The coffee shop is located along Macalister Road, directly opposite Court’s Mammoth. The food is ranges from all time favorite fried oyster, clay pot noodles, roasted ducks, dim sum and fried koay teow.

4. Tua Pui Curry Mee

Kimberley Street is one of the many streets in Penang that offers the best of the culinary Penang has to offer. But one that stands out will be Tua Pui Curry Mee. The curry mee is fames for its array of toppings that you can add on to your bowl of warming curry mee. You can easily find the curry mee in a mountain with curry chicken, curry squid, fish balls and cockles.

5. Balik Pulau Asam Laksa @ Nan Guang Coffee Shop

Asam Laksa is indeed a famous local delicacy in Penang and it is even coined as Penang Laksa for being an indigenous food of Penang. You can find asam laksa in every nook and corner of Penang but one specifically stands out will be Nan Guang Coffee Shop’s Asam Laksa.

Beyond the buzzing city with bumper-to-bumper traffic and premium complexes and high rises, lies a quiet town named Balik Pulau. Although it sounds like a place far away from the city, it is actually still consider a stone throw away with 15 to 30 minutes drive away from Georgetown. This is the very place for you to get a taste full of the famous asam laksa.

6. Peng Hwa Lok Lok @ Pulau Tikus Market

Lok Lok means Dip Dip in Cantonese where you dip skewered food in hot boiling water until when it ends up cooked. After that, you dip the food with the sauces whichever you prefer. There is a number of skewers for you to choose from that is seafood to vegetables.

This is no ordinary Lok Lok stall when you get to sit in a round table and have all the ingredients you have chosen to cook in the communal pot in the middle of the table. Besides the impressive selection of food items, the most important aspect of the entire process with be their dipping sauce. They provide up to 6 types of dipping sauce that basically cater to everyone’s taste.

7. Goodall Café

Goodall café has been well established for many years and is familiar to almost every local Penangites. You can basically find all the local delights here but top the list of many will be their curry fish head, chicken satay, wan tan mee and popiah.

8. Tandoori Naan Set at Kaasim Mustafa Nasi Kandar

Tandoori chicken which is the Flamingo esque, Indian grilled staple hen was first adopted by the locals hen the Indians first arrived in Penang just after Penang had being colonized by the British in the 1800. If you take a walk across most of the shops, you will come to notice that there are tandoori chickens hanging on long spikes. However, these are not the same as the tandoori at Kassim Mustafa Nasi Kandar.

The Tandoori here is special and above all, open 24/7 to serve people from all walks of life. This is normally served together with any naan you prefer. The Chicken is also served with a sweetened tomato and mint chutneys, a yellow daal and a collection of lime carrot and onions to use at your own preference. The serving will also include mango or pineapple lassi. The Tandoori chicken can be taken as an early morning snack or a late dinner serving depending on your preference.

There you have it, regardless where you travel to, you should absolutely eat like a local as only then you will get the true taste of the destination.

The post Eat like a local in Penang appeared first on Street Love. by Fiona

Did you know that every year from May onwards, Zespri SunGold Kiwifruit will be made available in all supermarkets and fruit stores nationwide? I did not either! I am used to the green kiwifruit from Zespri and if I remember correctly, I have only tried SunGold Kiwifruit once. This time around I was down with nasty flu and cough so I need all the Vitamin C I need to recover faster. Zespri SunGold Kiwifruit contain over 3X the Vitamin C content found in an Orange for every 100g of edible flesh 

Kiwi is probably the easiest fruit to eat. A pack of these furry fruit comes with a ‘spife’, a half know half spoon Zespri utensil. Just use the knife part to cut the fruit in half and use the spoon end to scoop out the golden yellow flesh. What I notice this time around is the larger than usual fruit size. It is not as zesty as the green kiwi but instead it is rather sweet on the palate. If you are intolerance to glucose especially diabetic patient, you will be delighted to know that Zespri SunGold Kiwifruit has a low glycaemic index of 38. This is the indication of the amount of glucose released during digestion from carbohydrates into the blood system, which also means that you will feel less hungry in between your meals.

Last Sunday was also the first-ever Zespri SunGold Kiwifest held at Desa Parkcity from 8.30am t0 11.30am. Together with a few friends, I went to join in the fun!

Kickstarting from Malaysia before moving on to Singapore and Australia, Zespri SunGold Kiwifest is a regional initiative carrying the message of Wake Up With Zespri incorporating fun elements of family breakfast time.

The main highlight of the Kiwifest is the appearance of Cassey Ho, flown all the way from Los Angeles by Zespri for a Pop Pilates class. Cassey is the founder of Blogilates, a world-renowned celebrity fitness instructor, and the most watched female fitness channel on YouTube. Currently she has over 3 million subscribers on her belt. Fans arrived early in the morning, setup their yoga mat on the field while waiting for Cassey.

Now this one I am interested but scared to try at the same time. Zorb Ball! I am claustrophobic so I will leave the balls to others to try lol.

Smoothie Bike was probably the most brilliant of all. You sweat it out to blend your own kiwifruit smoothies. The queue line for this was so long! It is a fairly easy biking activity. Who say smoothing comes easy, eh?

I like how family event like this focuses on the kids as well. A huge two-tent specially for the kids. There are arts and crafts as well as finger painting activities just for the kids. The first 500 mini Zespri fans to join the games received a limited edition Zespri Kiwifruit World tee by renowned London illustrator and artist, Harry Malt.

My first game at the Kiwifest was Kiwi Dartboard. I called it sticky ball on sticky wall

Each participant were given three sticky balls. I watched a number of people before playing the game and none of them got the ball stick to the wall. The game assistant told me to throw from the bottom up with light hand. And I managed to get the last ball on the wall! With each game completed, one will be rewarded with a Zespri badge. All together there are six badges to collect.

My aim for the morning was also to get more SunGold Kiwifruit. I finished mine at home and I needed more. True enough, Zespri provide a sale area for the public to get their kiwifruit there and then.

Being a “no entry fee” event, you would expect to spend on food and drinks. But nope. Everything was free. Even our kiwifruit-inspired breakfast are free.

As I am into juicing and smoothie, I would not mind queuing for this! LifeJuice was at the event to hand out complimentary kiwi-licious juice to everyone. It is limited but I managed to redeem mine despite the super long queue.

This is so cute. Kiwi tent in the middle of the park, available all over the field area for those who needed to chill and relax.

I nearly went for this game but I was scared to twist and turn my arms and ankle so I skipped. It is not as extreme as I thought it would be. This is a family oriented event so the game was scaled down and simplified.

Jojo Struys went on stage to take over the fitness part of the event with yoga.

By then, the crowd has grown from huge to massive. Everyone was eager and energetic for the yoga. Amazing.

Then the screaming starts. When the crowd starts screaming, that is when I knew Cassey Ho is taking over the stage with pop pilates . I was this close to Cassey. This close.

I have a video up in my Instagram. Somehow the video does not shows up here so click here to watch Cassey conducting pop pilates and how excited her fans are.

Larger in size, juicier, and sweeter than green kiwifruit with just a hint of tanginess. Zespri SunGold Kiwifruit is already available in all supermarkets and fruit stores from May 2016 onwards.

For more information, please visit Zespri Official Website, Facebook Page, Instagram or Twitter.

The post Wake Up With Zespri SunGold Kiwifruit + A Fun-Filled Morning at Zespri SunGold Kiwifest appeared first on Street Love. by Fiona