Bruts Date

It's been a while since I met Maple so after one dinner together, we made another appointment to go on a date to this new cafe called BRUTS. Tagging along was a friend of hers, CY, whom is a regular customer of BRUTS and so I thought it would be a good opportunity to go there since it's pretty far away too from where I live.

On that day, we amended the plans and went to another cafe called Tomato Cafe which is located on another side of where I lived. It's like...impossible for me to go there to have a meal with the exception of having a car. So, this time we have another friend of this new friend, Elayne. 

Tomato Cafe is best known with their pasta and chicken chop. Me, being an avid carbonara pasta fan would be more than willingly taste their pasta regardless of its cost. If possible, I would love to embark on the journey of tasting all the carbonara pasta from every restaurant that sells it :3

So with no doubt I ordered this herb carbonara pasta. You might wonder what was the powdery white thing on it, it's no sugar, nor it is flour, it is actually shredded parmesan cheese into powder form.

Look at dem cheeeeeeeeeseeeee!!!!!!! FYI, I LOVE CHEESE.

The carbonara spaghetti is not that greasy I think because of the mushroom and the smoked bacon that gives freshness to it. I think choosing parmesan as the cheese is brilliant because it also offset that greasiness.

These are the other dishes that my friend ordered. The top one would be Herb bolognaise pasta and the bottom one is herb bolognaise with chicken chop.

Next stop, we proceed our second round at BRUT.

We went there with a plan to order the most expensive dessert that is rumored to have alcohol. Interesting right? But before that, we kickstarted by ordering the "appetizer" dessert which is brownie!

It was oh-my-god soft! I mean, in the past the brownie that I knew was just dark chocolate cake and nothing more. I never knew brownie was to be so soft to the extend that it felt almost like liquid!

Finally came our "main dish"- Crème Suzette. What is Crème Suzette? It is a French traditional dessert. According to the cook, to get one of these, it would cost about 40 dollars to get it in France or Singapore. My friend asked, then why do you charge at RM20? He answered; because he knew us students wouldn’t be able to afford it. I almost asked him, so do you think you could cook it as well as the French? I supposed that would be rude.

This cook is...quite special. While we were having our conversation while waiting our desserts to be served, this guy just decided to barge in and interrupt us by putting plates and forks without a word. Taking 2 stools and put mini stove right in front of us. I was..terrified, I think terrified is the right word to describe my situation at that odd, inexplainable moment. To "weirden" things, CY and Elayne told me that they have seen this chef perform fire. 

The first thing that comes to my mind when I heard the word "performing fire" would be those people you see in movies blowing fire from their mouth, like a show. How possibly is that happening in a cafe like this?!

When we asked what was he going to do, then "reluctantly" he answered he was going to demonstrate how he is going to cook Crème Suzette. Ohhhhh...say lah earlier! xD

But I must say I was pretty freaked out. Even after he finish making the dish. Not because he was cute or anything, definitely not something like that but I just oddly can't stop myself from being excited and terrified at the same time.

The chef allowed us to take photos while he demonstrates, so here they are. My friend also recorded a short video of it. Here's the link:

Crepe Suzette at BRUT cafe

First of all, let the sugar melt in the frying pan

Put in some butter and mix them together

Then pour in the orange juice and let it blend. After that put in the pan cakes for awhile.

Then pour in the brandy.

 

You may wonder will we be drunk after tasting this since there is alcohol.

Well, truth is, once the brandy is poured, the alcohol will evaporate and thus explains the flame.

So what’s left would only be the taste of the brandy. This dish can be bitter by adding more brandy but we rejected it.

So the way to taste this dish is by tasting the orange brandy sauce. It can be bitter, so to kill that bitter taste, you could eat some vanilla ice cream. But once you feel that it’s too sweet, you could then replace that sweetness with a bit of sourness from the orange. Then the cycle goes on like that.

Personally, I tasted mandarin orange flavor instead of brandy but there is a slight numbness at the end. I suppose that would be the brandy. The others would be pancakes and vanilla ice cream left. Although we might not taste any brandy flavor, I can feel myself getting heaty all over my face and my throat. My friend’s face even turned red and there are rashes across her neck. We were given water but we weren’t sure if that does any specific purpose towards the dish. Probably just to cool us down. I mean, I was like laughing and slightly terrified ever since the cook started demonstrating the dish in front of us until the end :/

Seriously the cook is downright….you can say it weird, creepy or just artistic. But one thing for sure that he’s such a flirt. I mean he sort of gave my friend a pick up line. “Can you look over my shop for a moment because we are going out for a while.” He came over and told my friend.

I mean seriously, does any shop owner just ask a random customer to look over their shop?! Well, probably he was familiar with that friend of mine that’s why. But I call that a pick up line. My friends thought I was being overwhelmed and over excited by this edgy, flirtatious owner. Yes he looks artistic, but I’m not that flattered. Maybe I changed *shrugs*

Besides, when I went over to make my payment, he was pouring ice to this cylinder and using something that looks like a screwdriver to stir it. I asked,

“What’s this?”

“Water.”

“What’s it for?”

 (I mean…LOOK AT THAT, HOW ON EARTH WOULD WE CONSIDER IT AS A CUP FOR DRINKING?! AND THAT SCREW DRIVER…)

“Give it to your friend.”

“LOL, ok”

Was he trying to be special or mysterious? Artistic? That’s a bit weird I would say. I mean sorry I’m not yet an expert in culinary or arts.

Side note: Please do not clean the dishes when people have not finish their meal. I understand you probably need to clean up since you’re closing but I think it’s just rude.

Well, anyhow it’s been an enjoyable trip there. These friends are just crazy. Wished we could spend more time together :(

Anyhow, Brut is a pretty nice cafe and I can see how much dedication and effort is put into this shop.

Cover songs better than originals

There are a kind of music where the original version doesn't sound that amazing ans always leave you wondering how the hell are they considered as classic. But if you give a listen to the cover of the songs, then only you realize how amazing are those songs.

One of the most notable example, in my opinion would be Elton John's "Your Song". The original one sounds like some pop song that you will only sing in the karaoke. But when I gave a listen to Ellie Goulding's version onyl I realize how hauntingly beautiful this song can be.

I was inspired to blog this post by another song which is A Case of You originally by Joni Mitchell. I was first introduced to this song by The Voice contestant James Wolpert's studio version. His version made me realized that there is actually an English song out there that is so good and could touch your heart so deep that you might just cry just by the music. It is vocally and musically beautiful.

Then I went to do some further research on this song and found one cover by James Blake, the singer who sang Retrograde and you can barely imagine him singing a piano ballad like Billy Joel or Elton John does. It sparked my curiosity so I decided to give it a listen. 

Both James Wolpert and James Blake's rendition are beautiful but they give out different vibe. James Blake's voice and the piano just create a slight hauntingly beautiful atmosphere that hypnotizes and mesmorizes you into this dark beauty; Wolpert's, on the other hand is more heart-warming and target to melt hearts. Something like "More than words", suitable for, maybe a confession ;) Nevertheless, both James nailed this song as compared to Joni's version.

I believe this is the reason why songs from people like Elton John or Joni Mitchell are worshiped and covered multiple times because these cover artists have discovered the essence of their songs which we listeners didn't realize. They have managed to compose songs whereby the musicians today able to discover the beauty of them and present them in a more sophisticated state to us.

19 going on 20

15/12

Tonight will be the last night of 19.

In less than 2 hours I'll be stepping into the 2nd decade of my life.

19 years old and there wasn't much drastic changes that took place in my life...but for the past 2 months there has been slight changes that shows I have taken initiative to choose the path that I want to. Making new friends, experiencing new, fun things that I never thought I would have. Never have I felt so powerful, so contented with my own choices.

There are ups and downs, but I never really regret making those choices. Some of them might be mistakes but ultimately they make up good memories.

20 years old,I don't expect myself raising my status to a socialite whatsoever or any shocking changes. I mean...I had 2 deaths in my life this year, can't expect anything worse. I'm still an accounting student in utar, having a healthy family, parents and siblings...but I can probably see myself remaining in accounting degree, knowing more new friends xP...probably getting someone in my life xDD

Good luck to the coming year and coming 10 years. Be yourself, love yourself :3 
Happy Birthday Zoey.

Memories

So tomorrow I'll be going back home. Although it is not really a goodbye yet, I have this really odd feeling to leave here.

This happened to me back in my first semester. I remember being in the car and I told myself I can't believe in only 2 months I already started to miss that place. The only difference was, that time I knew I would come back and I would be going through the same thing again and meeting the same people.

This time was different. I haven't been home since the day I came back early from my semester break for PMP. To finally get to go home since 1/10 leaves me this nostalgic feeling that I will officially leave all these beautiful memories behind. They are officially a past and they are now left with memories.

I always thought I would go back for a second round. It might not be the same group of people, but the whole experience, the flow is still there. I would still get a teeny weeny bit of it. The fun of working overnight and yumcha every night is there. 

As much as my heart is heavy to leave, as much as I miss it, I guess I need to tell my heart to move on. I cannot imagine what T would go through but at least he's there for the coming semester. But still, I cannot imagine all those nostalgic feelings that he will feel since he's leaving us in a few more months. He was quite upset about it few days ago and told all of us about it. I told him this, you never know what the future will bring you, just like when you first joined us. You never know you would have so much fun and create so many amazing memories. Who knows when you go to somewhere else, you cannot make the best out of it like this time? 

And I suppose this advice can be used on me now. I just have to have some faith and believe that the future will be as good as now. I can make it if I want to. Fate might be destined, but memories are created. The most, I will just tell myself next semester won't be as good as my semester :P (so bad)

A lot of things happened this semester, a lot of new friends made, a lot of new, fun, crazy experiences, a lot of money spend, and most importantly a lot of good memories made. To the extend that study seems to be my co-curricular activity. It might sound bad but the good things is. it tells me there are a lot more important things in life than just exams.

I would just like to say a massive thank you to everyone. Thank you for everything. Thank you for creating the great memories with me, thank you for being there when I'm down and listening to me whining xD 

I am sorry if I have ever offended you guys in any way, please forgive me if I do. Thank you because I have discovered so many things about myself, no matter good or bad it makes me know myself better.

Sorry, thank you and I love you guys.