Had coffee and dessert with XQ and HS yesterday at Baker's Inn (Plaza Indonesia EX, Jakarta, Indonesia). The range of cakes the serve are exactly the same as that you get in Singapore but the outlet at Plaza Indonesia EX is substantially smaller in space than any here in Singapore. Environment is too smoky for my liking. Service is also slow. I had almost finished my cake when my espresso arrived.

Had lunch with XQ and HS this afternoon at Shabu Shabu House (Plaza Indonesia EX, Jakarta, Indonesia). In addition to shabu-shabu, Shabu Shabu House also serves sukiyaki and a variety of Japanese food such as teriyaki meat dishes and tempura. The dishes are localized. I had a double order of US beef for shabu-shabu and XQ had seafood shabu-shabu which came with salmon, oysters, and prawns. The secret of shabu-shabu is all in the sauce. Shabu Shabu House has an interesting ponzu sauce, but their sesame sauce is not as good as that of Goku.

The damage for the three of us came up to about Rp450,000.

Had dinner with XQ together BZ and wife at Anatolia (Jl. Kemang Raya No. 110A, Jakarta 12730, Indonesia) last night. This is an authentic Turkish restaurant in Jakarta, Indonesia. We had the personal attention of Sezai Lorlu, the head chef, courtesy of BZ, who knows Sezai well. The first impression upon entering the restaurant is that of a well-decorated living room of a Turkish mansion -- luxurious but not imposing.

I was there with XQ an hour earlier than our reservation, so we settled down for a drink while waiting for BZ to arrive. I took an apple tea while XQ had an ayran (a turkish yoghurt drink). I liked the apple tea, which is both sweet and sour, but did not like the ayran, which I had a sip of.

For dinner, I liked the hummus with turkish bread as appetizer. For main course, we each had a grilled king prawn, grilled rack of lamb, and lamb shank. The grilled rack of lamb is excellent! For dessert, the stuffed apricot (with walnuts) and baklava are very good as well.

Overall, an enjoyable evening with fine food and great company!

Had business lunch with DW, EW, AC, and CH at the Shanghai Restaurant, JW Marriott Hotel (183 Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur 55100, Malaysia) last week while in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We had dim sum for lunch. I don't recall much of the other items, but there was one that impressed me: the xiao long bao (小笼包), which was very juicy. In fact it was the most juicy xiao long bao I have tasted so far, even compared to the best I've tried in Suzhou (苏州) and Shanghai! This restaurant is definitely worth a visit just for the xiao long bao.

Just reached Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia after a 40-minute flight from Singapore this morning. Currently blogging from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) while waiting for my engineer. I'm pleasantly surprised with the availability of free wireless broadband here in KLIA!

Stayed at the Crowne Plaza Hotel (Jalan Gatot Subroto Kav. 2-3, Jakarta 12930, Indonesia) in Jakarta, Indonesia two days ago. This is a 5-star hotel located near most financial institutions in Jakarta. I had a bedroom with a king-size bed, which is comfortable and nicely appointed. The bathroom is also big. Breakfast at the Beranda Cafe is also very nice and quiet. I like it!

Room rate of Rp750,000 per night includes breakfast.

Had dinner with SS at Keyaki Japanese Restaurant (Sari Pan Pacific Hotel, Jalan M. H. Thamrin, Jakarta, Indonesia) on Tuesday night. We had salmon, tuna and tako (octopus) sashimi, grilled hamachi (yellowtail fish) head, some robatayaki (Japanese grill) dishes -- beef-wrapped enoki mushrooms, beef-wrapped asparagus, and corn. We finished the dinner with red bean ice-cream. The robatayaki dishes were exquisite and nice. I especially like the beef-wrapped enoki mushrooms. They were sweet and frangrant.

Service in this restaurant is friendly, but the food can take some time to appear on your table. I also did not like the oily atmosphere of the dinning rooms. The place was not well ventilated and resulted in the oily smoke from the teppanyaki (Japanese hot plate) section affecting the other dinning rooms.

Had lunch at Java Bay (Suite G14, Ground Floor, Wisma 46 Kota BNI, Jl. Sudirman, Jakarta, Indonesia) a week ago while in Jakarta, Indonesia. This is a small cafe situated just outside the lobby of Wisma BNI. This cafe has been my office away from office ever since I stepped foot into Jakarta some two years back. I usually hold casual meetings here, or just to consolidate my thoughts before my meetings. Its central location also means that I could get to my clients rather quickly.

The coffee that Java Bay serves is descent, and at half the price (or less), compared to the Starbucks cafe next door. I also find its banana royale (a banana cream pie) and apple crumble rather nice, especially when served warm (you have to ask them to heat the pies up). The apple crumble is generously stuffed with apples. At Rp7,500 for a slice, the banana royale and apple crumble are a steal!

I also like the fried seafood kuey tiao (flat noodles).

Had lunch today with MY and LS at Pow Sing Restaurant (65 Serangoon Garden Way, Singapore 555961). This is a Hainanese chicken rice restaurant that also serves Nonya food. We had steamed chicken, crispy tofu, ngoh hiang (a formed of spring roll), and Nonya mixed vegetables. The food is average -- plain and simple.