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Sunday, 20 September 2015

Sri Sawadee

The former Sri Sawadee was one of the oldest Thai eateries in Penang. Just recently, this restaurant was given a new lease of life with a complete makeover. The new restaurant is now called Sri Sawadee Thai Fusion Café (ศรีสวัสดีร้านอาหารไทยฟิวชั่น). The brand new store facade is a stark contrast to the faded one just several months ago.
The dining hall of the restaurant has evolved beyond recognition. Decades-old furniture has been replaced with new ones with a modern touch. The ceiling has been heightened to give an airy café-like ambience.
While there are standard-size dining tables for typical groups of customers, there is also a large communal table for single diners who wish to mingle around with other like-minded individuals. A heated bowl of pandan water provides soothing aroma which permeates throughout the entire hall.
The menu of this new restaurant has been completely revamped. Although several classic favorites such as Pad Thai (ผัดไทย) are still available, the menu places more emphasis on Thai fusion cuisine. Assimilating well-known Thai delicacies with contemporary cooking styles, Sri Sawadee is among the pioneers in this unexplored niche in Penang.

We started the meal with an order of appetizers, Thai Spring-Rolls (RM9.90). This Chinese-style spring rolls is made from chopped jicama and carrots, with a crispy layer of deep-fried wrapper skin.
In addition, the spring rolls are served with deep-fried water spinach (ยำผักบุ้งกรอบ). Mixed with flour batter, the leafy vegetable has delicate yet addictive crisp which does not wane even when cooled.
For the Pandan Chicken Wrap & Roll (RM17.90), one half of this dish is the traditional Thai delicacy called Gaw Haw Bai Toey (ไก่ห่อใบเตย). Chicken cutlets are marinated various herbs and oils, wrapped in pandan leaves, then cooked in a steamer.
As if the bursting flavor of well-seasoned chicken is not gratifying enough, check out what's in store at the other half of this dish: tortilla wrap with chicken, onions, lettuce and salad dressing! The cool-sweet sensation of dressing complements well with the marinated chicken, making these rolls delectable beyond measure.
For the Thai Crispy Fishcakes (RM13.90), Thai-style fishcake (ทอดมันปลา) and garlic chives are wrapped in bean curd skin, then deep-fried in hot oil. This finger food snack is reportedly very popular among Thai restaurants in Taiwan.
Somtum Mamuang (ส้มตำมะม่วง, RM8.90) is a popular Thai salad made from julienned green mango, onions, carrots, roasted peanuts and bird's eye chili (พริกขี้หนู, cili padi). Unripe mangoes yield the desired tanginess, while roasted peanuts provide added crunchiness to the salad. The amount of bird's eye chili is less than expected, but the preferred amount is rather subjective and varies by individual.
On the side are several sheets of dough skin wrapper, similar to the ones used to make deep-fried wonton (云吞). To enjoy this salad dish, simply place a spoonful of vegetables on top a wrapper and hold the sheet à la tapas style.
An order of Buffalo Wings (ปีกไก่ทอด, RM12.90) comes in 3 pairs of wings and drumettes. The chicken has been marinated with Thai spices, then deep-fried to golden perfection. A small saucer of Sriracha (ศรีราชา) is provided as spicy dipping sauce.
This dish is best consumed while hot, otherwise the chicken loses its crisp and becomes greasy. In terms of taste, I think Patsa Thai Thai Shop has a slight edge when it comes to this dish.
Since its opening, the most popular dish in this restaurant is Sawadee Crab-Cake Burger With Het Tod (RM18.90). This burger features a patty which is crafted from Thai-style crab cake (ทอดมันปู). Along with onion rings, sliced tomatoes and dressing, the grilled patty is sandwiched between two halves of a buttered bun. The burger bun features a dense layer of grated coconut kernel on top.
On the side are mixed vegetable salad and two pieces of deep-fried shiitake mushrooms (เห็ดหอม). The tastiness of this burger is heavenly beyond mortal words. I have not encountered such lovely burgers for a very long time.
Next, the Dry Green Curry Chicken Capellini (RM18.90) is a fusion between Thai green curry and Italian pasta. This dish is served with chicken cutlets, long beans and eggplant (aubergine or brinjal).
Capelli d'angelo, also known as angel hair, is looser and has finer strands compared to spaghetti. Originally plain in color, the angel hair has been inadvertently dyed green by a sauce based on Thai green curry (แกงเขียวหวาน). Overall, this pasta dish has creamy consistency similar to carbonara. Its mild spiciness makes it recommended for diners who are new to Thai curries.
For adventurous diners who like to spice things up, the Tom Yum Stir-Fry Seafood Spaghetti (RM20.90) is a decent choice. Similar to the previous dish, the pasta is given a twist of Thai-style sour-spiciness of tom yum (ต้มยำ). However, it is better to tone down the level of saltiness to allow spicy and savory flavors to manifest more prominently.
Served with the spaghetti are large shrimps, mussels, squid, several slices of toasted garlic bread and a lime wedge. A shower of parmesan cheese and parsley are included for enhanced appeal.
As for rice dishes, curry lovers may want to try the Tom Yum Goong With Turmeric Rice (RM18.90). This red Thai curry with shrimps (ต้มยำกุ้ง) includes a generous serving of squid, fish, and various Thai spices.
The curry has moderate spiciness, but is a far cry from truly authentic, tongue-numbing tom yum. The pungent aroma is certain to booth appetite of diners who thrive on fiery flavors of this popular Thai curry.
A heap of rice is provided on the side, dyed yellow due to turmeric (ขมิ้น). Unfortunately the perception of turmeric is not as prominent as it should be. I feel that white rice would not have made any noticeable difference.
Dining couples may want to consider another signature dish at Sri Sawadee: Glasspot Jumbo Prawns Goong Woonsen (RM28.90). This dish is served in a large glass pot, and is kept warm by a candle below.
Meant for two persons, translucent glass noodles (วุ้นเส้น) are served with rich, milky gravy. Although the glass noodles appear plain, the gravy does a great job in saturating them with savory flavor. Quite surprisingly, the texture of noodles is still fine even after the gravy has dried out.

As if this is not impressive enough, four exquisite pieces of jumbo shrimps are provided for our indulgence. I cannot commend this dish highly enough. If you are still single, I suggest that you use this dish as an excuse to get a date! Remember the large communal table that I mentioned earlier? It is high time to use those pick-up lines that you learned from TV!

As for drinks, Sawadee-Cup Drip Hazelnut Coffee (RM10.90) and Sawadee-Cup Drip Salted Caramel Coffee (RM10.90) are prepared using Vietnamese-style metal drip filters (cà phê phin). The coffee is brewed from Doi Chaang Arabica beans, cultivated from the highlands of Thailand.
Each cup of coffee includes a piece of nut brittle. This candy is made from assorted nuts and seeds, held together by caramelized sugar. This confectionary is similar to the local candy called Kong Th'ng (贡糖).
Cold beverages include Honey Ginger Tea (RM6.90) and Salted Ice-Coffee (RM10.90). The former has a respectable dose of ginger extract. Fortunately, the sharp taste of ginger is balanced by mild sweetness of honey. As for the latter, its salted nature is not prominent since most food dishes have strong flavors already.
Overall, Sri Sawadee provides a unique blend of Thai fusion dishes unlike any seen before. The use of classical Thai ingredients with infusion of modern elements makes the food here rather distinctive. In the near future, the menu of Sri Sawadee will be expanded to include the café facet of this eatery.

Name: Sri Sawadee Thai Fusion Café (ศรีสวัสดีร้านอาหารไทยฟิวชั่น)
Address: 17, Jalan Sri Bahari, 10050 George Town, Pulau Pinang
Contact: 04-263-1492
Business hours: 11:30am-3:00pm, 6:00pm-10:00pm, closed on Wednesdays
Website: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sri-Sawadee-Thai-Fusion-Cafe/571175969686932
Coordinates: 5.42088 N, 100.33223 E
Directions: From either direction of Transfer Road (Jalan Transfer) turn to Jalan Sri Bahari. Sri Sawadee is approximately 150 meters ahead on the right. It is located several doors after Foong Wei Heong. Street parking is available on both sides of Jalan Sri Bahari.
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Google’s New Phones Will be Called Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P

The new phones from Google that will more than likely be announced at the end of this month, will be called the Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P, according to a reliable source. The name Nexus 5X has been in rotation around the internet for the past couple of weeks when referring to the name of the LG-made Nexus, but we now know that the Huawei model will be called the Nexus 6P. 
Of course, there is always a chance that things can change between now and each phone’s announcement – which we are told should be by the end of this month – but we’d be surprised if these aren’t the final names.
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Saturday, 19 September 2015

Lollipop Ropitiam

Tucked in one of the many old shophouses of Campbell Street (Lebuh Campbell) is Lollipop Ropitiam. This eatery is the first expansion of Sungai Petani's Kafe Lollipop (糖糖饮茶中心), a popular kopitiam (traditional coffeehouse) in the neighboring state.
The name "Ropitiam" is an amalgam of the Malay words "roti" (bread) and "kopi" (coffee), which crudely describes the signature dishes here. Although Lollipop Ropitiam provides near-café ambience, the pricing is surprisingly affordable - similar to other nearly kopitiams.
The proprietor behind Lollipop Ropitiam is Mr. Gihong Wai (韦其宏), a nutritionist by profession who has mastered the science and art of producing naturally leavened bread. Unlike commercially-available baker's yeast, naturally leavened bread requires as long as 8 hours for the dough to ferment. This is because fermentation needs to start from scratch: from yeast spores, as opposed to cultivated yeast culture.
Naturally leavened bread requires the symbiotic action between two microorganisms: lactobacillus and wild yeast. The former is a bacteria which breaks down carbohydrates to lactic acid, creating an acidic environment in which wild yeast thrives. In the production of cheese, yogurt and sourdough bread, different strains of lactobacillus are also used.

The first dish is one that all Malaysians know and love: Roti Bakar Kaya & Butter (加央牛油烘面包, RM2.40). The bread is toasted to golden perfection, then kaya (coconut-egg cream) and butter are spread between two slices. Lollipop Ropitiam's kaya is made in-house and uses coconut milk, duck eggs and sugar as ingredients.
The thing that I like about the naturally leavened bread is the rough texture which gives excellent mouthfeel when chewed. Although soft and fluffy, normal white bread uses refined grains that do not produce this type of coarse texture. In addition, white bread has significantly less dietary fiber and minerals compared to naturally leavened bread.
Another way to enjoy naturally leavened bread is with eggs, such as a serving of Gong Ji Xia Dan (公鸡下蛋, RM4.40). Comically meaning "rooster lays eggs", a slice of thick slice of Benggali-style bread is topped with kaya spread and two half-boiled eggs. This is the perfect way to enjoy breakfast à la Malaysian style!
Next on the line is Polo Butter (牛油菠萝包, RM2.30), which consists of a sweet bun sandwich with butter in between halves. Commonly served as breakfast in Hong Kong and Macau, this bun has sugary crust on top which makes it particularly crispy and scrumptious.
Polo means "pineapple bun" in Cantonese. In reality, this bun has nothing to do with pineapples. Instead, the name refers to the crisscross pattern on the top which resembles the skin of pineapples.
As for drinks, Lollipop Ropitiam offers a full range of coffee ranging from traditional Kopi O (black coffee) to premium Hazelnut Latte. The choice today is Tik Tik Kopi (滴滴咖啡, RM3.30), which is served in a Vietnamese-style drip filter (cà phê phin). This drink carries a formidable dose of caffeine to knock anyone out of an afternoon slumber.
In additional to Asian coffee types, the eatery also has an espresso machine to prepare Western-style coffee. For example, one can enjoy a cup of single-shot Espresso (RM3.90) while enjoying bread. Nevertheless, I still prefer the traditional Asian-style coffee here.
If you enjoy the taste of naturally leavened bread at Lollipop Ropitiam and is interested to learn more, Mr. Wai has authored a recipe book (RM24.00) for this purpose. This bilingual book is a fine addition to your own cookbook library, or as a gift to a home-baking enthusiast.
Name: Lollipop Ropitiam
Address: 118, Lebuh Campbell, 10100 George Town, Pulau Pinang
Contact: 019-578-1093
Business hours: 8:00am-5:00pm, closed on Mondays
Website: https://www.facebook.com/LollipopBakery
Coordinates: 5.41832 N, 100.33334 E
Directions: From the Chinatown arch at the beginning of Campbell Street (Lebuh Campbell), walk or drive along this narrow one-way street for approximately 200 meters. Lollipop Ropitiam is located on the left before the intersection with Cintra Street (Lebuh Cintra). Street parking is available along Campbell Street and Cintra Street, but it may be difficult to find a parking spot during busy hours.
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AMD’s newest processor reduces carbon footprint by 46%

Advanced Micro Devices said today that its latest family of processors is 46 percent more energy-efficient in terms of its carbon footprint than the previous generation of chips.

In 2014, AMD set its 25X20 energy efficiency goal to deliver at least 25 times more energy efficiency from its mobile accelerated processing units (APUs, or chips which combine a microprocessor and graphics on the same piece of silicon) by 2020.

This year, AMD launched its new AMD A-series APU (code-named Carrizo). The energy efficiency of the Carrizo processor puts AMD ahead of the trend line needed to achieve the 25×20 goal.

Compared to the previous Kaveri generation of APUs, the Carrizo chips have a much smaller carbon footprint because the chip is more power-efficient and computers that use it burn less energy compared to previous generations, based on a study released today by AMD.

Sam Naffziger, AMD corporate fellow, said in a paper that the emphasis in past years has been on increasing the performance of chips by taking advantage of Moore’s Law, or the doubling of the number of transistors every two years, or so. But as performance increases, so does power consumption. In recent years, both Intel and AMD have put more emphasis on energy efficiency, rather than just raw speed. An observation known as Koomey’s Law holds that the amount of computation that can be done per unit of energy has doubled every 18 months.

The miniaturization of transistors helps reduce power consumption in some respects, but the ability to do that is now bumping into limits imposed by the laws of physics. AMD is trying to come up with design tricks that help get around this problem, and Carrizo is one result.

The 3 billion personal computers now account for more than 1 percent of all the energy consumed worldwide, while the 30 million servers in use represent another 1.5 percent of energy consumed. The servers cost $14 billion to $18 billion a year in electricity usage. That’s only going to get worse.

To meet its 25X20 goal, AMD said it has to step up the pace of energy-efficiency gains through the use of new technologies and methods. Carrizo offers improvements such as the ability to optimize voltage by adapting it to the task at hand and scaling the frequency as needed.
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PSN Flash Sale: Select PS4, PS3 or PS Vita Games (Digital Download) From $0.90

store.playstation.com is having a Flash Sale for Select PS4, PS3 or PS Vita Games (Digital Download). Thanks momomchine

Note: This sale ends 9/21/15 at 11am PST.

PS4 Games:
PS3 Games:
PS Vita Games:
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PSN Flash Sale: Select PS4, PS3 or PS Vita Games (Digital Download) From $0.90

store.playstation.com is having a Flash Sale for Select PS4, PS3 or PS Vita Games (Digital Download). Thanks momomchine

Note: This sale ends 9/21/15 at 11am PST.

PS4 Games:
PS3 Games:
PS Vita Games:
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