National Zoo

I have planned this trip for quite some time. Have always wanted to bring Clarisse to look at animals in the zoo. Hence, last week, coinciding with the Malaysia Day national holidays, I took the opportunity to bring my family to Zoo Negara (Malaysia’s National Zoo). From my house, it’s less than 30 kilometres away to the Zoo Negara. The driving journey, including some traffic jam, takes around 30 minutes to the zoo. Personally, I have not been to the zoo since my schooling days. So, the last time I have stepped foot into Zoo Negara was more than 20 years.

Ticket price for Zoo Negara is RM25 for Malaysian and RM35 for Non-Malaysian. Kids are charged RM9 with Malaysian ID and RM18 for non-Malaysian. I would not think the price is hefty considering the amount of food which is needed to feed the animals daily and zoo does not get visitors by the hundreds or thousands daily. 

 Entrance to Zoo Negara

The entrance to the zoo is well managed from what I see, perhaps because it’s not school holidays season and visitors’ number is still manageable. The facade looks well maintained as well with the coat of paints on the walls still look new.

Our first visit was to the primate areas where different varieties of monkeys and apes. Clarisse was amazed by the gibbons with different colours all in 1 cage. Now, come to think of it, I don’t recall seeing chimpanzees. Do they have chimpanzees in Zoo Negara? Have anyone seen them in our zoo?

 3 gibbons playing together

 Neighbouring the primates are the our national bird, the hornbill. There are also a few varieties of hornbills showcased by Zoo Negara. Besides the usual ones that we see in Sarawak, there is also a white-crowned hornbill which I find kinda interesting and majestic.

 

 

 Hornbill – Malaysia’s national bird & the White-Crowned Hornbill

Moving on from the hornbill, we went to see the domestic animals. The miniature horse caught our attention with its nice brown and white fur. To add on it, we’re used to see tall, muscular horses, not miniature ones. This miniature horse certainly attracted lots of attention as we can see scores of people petting its head. It’s definitely basking on all the attention it’s getting.

The miniature horse

The rabbits with its different fur colours also attracted lots of attention but unfortunately, these are rabbits which you can usually find in local shops and not those long-ear rabbits which are much bigger in size.

 Rabbits, lots of them but mostly are camera shy

The aquarium section is also a main draw for the zoo as it has penguins on display. I am amazed by the speed a penguin can swim. Looking through the glass aquarium, you can see for yourself how fast and agile a penguin is underwater. It’s almost like the penguin is gliding underwater as to how a bird glides in the sky.

Penguin on the lookout for Batman

When it comes to fishes, it’s really a challenge for me. I hardly know the names of fishes and I do not find fishes any interesting at all except for how big they can grow up to in the water. The sizes that some fishes can grow up to are certainly many, many more times bigger than what you are being served in a restaurant.

 Name of Fish 1 : Dunno, Fish 2 : Also dunno

With so many fishes around, surely I wouldn’t want to miss the opportunity for photo taking with Clarisse and the fishes even though I won’t be able to name them :-)

 

 Once a United, always a United and PEACE !!

 After visiting the aquarium area, we took a quick lunch break and then proceeded to the dry land where we came across the giant tortoise and hippopotamus. I am fascinated to see such huge tortoises carrying such a big load on their back. Am sure the shell must weigh a lot more than its body. The hippos are true to their nature than they hardly move, like the alligators. All staying still in the water like statues.

 Help, I’m having backache !!

 Of all the beasts in the animal kingdom, I like tigers the most. Perhaps it’s due to its combination of black and orange which I find making the beast very outstanding. Hence whenever I’m at a zoo, I would definitely look for tigers. When I reached the tigers’ area in Zoo Negara, I was lucky to see some active tigers. None of them were napping. In fact, 2 tigers were playing with each other while we were there. It’s nice to see them enjoying each other’s company.

         Yipee, have reached the tiger’s section in the zoo…..

 

 The 2 tigers playing with each other

After the tigers, we saw some many storks at a nearby lake. All of them enjoying the cloudy afternoon. We took the opportunity to walk close by the storks and took some close shots of them. I am not sure though whether these storks are permanent birds of the zoo or they are migrating birds who are currently in Malaysia. Hmm.. should have asked them for their passports for verification..

 2 “stalkers” by the side of the lake

 

 More “stalkers” on the trees

After saying goodbyes to the “stalkers” storks, we reached to the homes of my daughter’s favourite animal – the elephants! There’s someone who sells sugarcane by the side for RM3. A few visitors bought the sugar cane and feed these giant mammals. One of the elephants is so smart that after taking 1 sugar cane, it leaves the sugar cane by the side and asked for more. Only when there’s no more handouts from the visitors that the elephant went back to eat the sugar canes which it has gathered earlier. The elephant was the only animal which Clarisse mentioned over and over again after we have left the zoo. She also took a picture with the elephant.

 

This is the smart elephant which asked and gathered sugar canes

The giraffes are the neighbours for the elephants. I like giraffes too for their spots on their bodies, similar to those of a leopard. We also took some photographs with this tall animal. Wonder if I would have the chance to go to the Savannah are one day to see theses animals in the wild and in their natural habitat.

    The tallest residents of Zoo Negara

After spending close to 3 hours in the zoo, it’s time to say “bye bye”. I must say that we all enjoyed our zoo outing as the weather has been kind to us. It only started to rain after we left the zoo. It has been raining the last few days and I wouldn’t want the rain to spoil this trip, planned specially for Clarisse to see the animals in real life rather than in “reel life.

 

Saying goodbye to Zoo Negara

I wouldn’t be able to say when will be the next time I will visit Zoo Negara. Probably the next time I step foot into Zoo Negara, Clarisse will be bringing her kids with her, who knows?? The following day, we all went to the National Science Centre but that will be told in another blog.

Malaysian International Franchise Fair

Last week, a Malaysian International Franchise Fair was held at Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC). At the same day and same venue, there were also a PC Expo and 2 other exhibitions. So, there was quite a fair bit of crowd at PWTC over the weekend.

I played tag along with an ex-colleague who is keen to venture into her own business after being tired of working for others. Basically, it was a visit to the fair with an intention to source for something interesting and worthwhile exploring further. Franchising a business can be said to be a safer bet to start off a business since the brand and the business has already being established. There is already a market for the business and potentially ready clients.

Upon arriving at PWTC, we followed the directional sign and headed to third floor where the fair is supposed to be. When we wanted to enter the fair, we were stopped by the security personnel for not having a visitor's pass (doh!). We were intucted to head to ground floor and register ourselves in order to get a entry pass. While filling up the form, I realised that I ran out of my own business card. Luckily I have 2 of my suppliers' cards. I passed on my supplier's card as mine and gained myself an entry pass (hehe!!). "Hello Mr Hong!", my partner to the fair teased me.

Once we have stepped into the fair, we were quickly disappointed. We were expecting a big show but the number of participants for the fair were really pathetic. There were so few exhibitors to be really calling this an international franchise fair! What happened to a few notable franchisors? I did not see Old Town Cafe, 1901 Hotdog or even Nelson Corn-in-a-Cup! All I see were some lesser known or second tier franchisors' booths.

Consumer Tribunal staff ready to advise those who wants to know more

Anyway, since we have arrived at the fair, we took a tour round the exhibition hall and visited the booths there. We stopped at a frozen yogurt franchisor's booth since healthy food stuff like yogurt is an "in-thing" now. A few frozen yogurt operators have been operating in town lately. Tutti Frutti is one of the bigger frozen yogurt chain in town. I was surprised to know that the Malaysian franchise for this American yogurt brand was secured by NAZA Group. I have tried a few yogurt outlets in Klang Valley, namely Froyo, Snogurt & Tutti Frutti. I must say that I simply love this healthy dessert but the price in rather on the high side in Malaysia.

Marry Brown's booth

 Daily Fresh's van is doing brisk business while looking for potential franchisee

Daily Fresh set up a van selling its food & beverages while inviting potential visitors to enquire about their franchise scheme.

Moving around the hall was not an issue since it was not drawing huge crowd. I bet the PC Expo a floor below attracted more visitors that this fair. Overall, I estimated that there were less than 100 exhibitors in the fair, probably closer to 70. What also surprised me was that except for 1 banker, no other banks took part in this fair. I would have thought that banks would be interested in extending loans and financial services to those who are keen to take up a franchise. Also missing were agencies who could provide foreign workers' services to the franchisee. Would it not make sense to have an agency who can provide manpower solution to the franchisee to be at this fair? I am STUMPED! Were the exhibitor or the relevant ministry not putting enough effort in getting quality exhibitors?

Anyway, visiting the fair was a good experience for me since I managed to get some information pertaining to franchise as well as brochures on information for intellectual property. Will definitely take some time out to read those leaflets before they start to collect dust ;-)

Dinner at Home’s Kitchen

My GPS was misdirecting me when I was in Puchong. It took me quite a while to get to the exact location of Home’s Kitchen….

After an afternoon of house-keeping workout in my wife’s apartment at Villa Pavillion, we decided to give it a try of the food in Home’s Kitchen which I bought a few weeks ago from Groupon. The deal was

3-Course Chinese Meal for 2 at Home’s Kitchen for RM20 instead of RM46

The food looks great and since I hardly dine at Puchong area, this deal is a reason for me to explore the nice food that Puchong area offers. There was a pang of sceptical though on the price of the deal. Surely, by looking at the 3 dishes being served, I don’t think the meal going to cost RM46 if you ordered them ala carte. For a plate of stir-fry vege, a tofu and a fish curry, I would think RM35-40 would be a decent price to pay (including rice and tax).

Putting my doubts aside, I bought 3 coupons for this meal. But, for this round, I wanna try out the food here first before getting the rest of my family members to Home’s Kitchen and try out their food.

Again, this forgetful chap has left his camera at home and not able to take personal photos of this restaurant. I resolved to taking the pictures from Groupon to blog about the food here…

We arrived at Home’s Kitchen around 6:10pm, rather early for dinner but this place was already serving 4 tables of hungry diners. I didn’t count exactly how many tables the restaurant sits but I roughly estimated around 10 tables (round and rectangle included) inside the restaurant while those who prefer to dine alfresco, one can opt to sit outside the restaurant (3 tables available). As I was sitting down and showing my coupon to the waitress, my eyes were scouting around the place and looking at the deco. Home’s Kitchen has simple deco, not lavishly furnished. The wall behind the cashier counters hanged 2 photos of the owner, taken with some hosts of local food programme. The furniture are very oriental feel with marble top tables matched with Chinese wooden chair. The place does evoke some Oriental feel with these furnishings.

Service was fast though! In less than 10 minutes, the food, drinks and rice arrived. First to come were the tofu and stir-fry vege.

Tofu with minced meat, shallots, dried prawns

The tofu looked very appetising. It was deep-fried on the outside and very soft on the inside. The tofu was specially made with egg to give it an even smoother texture and you will find some small bits of century egg in it too. The tofu came with a gravy of light soya sauce and oil as a base. It was topped with spring onions. and garnished with lettuce.

Stir-fry vege

The stir fry vege (kangkung) was a said to be cooked in home made sauce (tasted more like oyster sauce to me though). The vege was a bit overcooked. I like my kangkung with some ‘springy’ feel. It would have tasted better if there was cooked with less gravy and with some belacan to give it more ‘kick’.

Last dish to arrive was the fish curry. The fish head curry came in a a claypot which is how normally fish curry is being served in restaurants. The fish came in small, bite size pieces. Besides the fish slices, there were also bean curds (tau fu pok), lady’s fingers and tomato. The fish curry was a disappointment though as it lacked spiciness. The curry also looked watery. The colour of the curry certainly was far away from the photo here.

Here’s my overall rating of Home’s Kitchen :-

Location	3/5 (If you’re not familiar with Puchong area, a GPS would come in handy since Home’s Kitchen is not facing main road)
Ambient	4/5 (Despite the minimal decoration, the tables and chairs certainly give you an Oriental, homely feel)
Food Price	N/A (Since all my dishes were from the discounted coupon, I didn’t order anything from the menu except drinks)
Food Quality	3/5

While waiting for my wife to finish her food, I realised that the pictures on the glass entrance door were actually decorated with photos of the food which were featured in the discount coupon which I bought. The only other dish featured which was not in my coupon is the spare ribs. The next time I come over, I will certainly order this dish to try out. It certainly looks very tasty from the photo. Yummy!

X Marks the Spot

Last week was a week of movies in cinemas for me. Thursday was X-Men : First Class and Friday : Kungfu Panda 2.

Though I’m not much of a comic fan, I do enjoy watching movies of comic heroes in the big screen. Bryan Singer is back as Producer with Matthew Vaughn directing this franchise. This time the movie turns back the clock in time and tells the story from the main characters, namely Professor X and Magneto’s younger days. The focus of this movie mainly explored on the relationship between Charles Xavier and Erik Lansherr – how they become friends and later enemies, each working on their own cause and belief.

X-Men started off by introducing Erik Lansherr (later known as “Magneto”) being taken away by the German soldiers during WW2.Young Erik’s anger being separated from his mother saw him bending the wire mesh and the steel gate by staring at the gate itself despite being pulled back by a few soldiers. This has caught the attention of a scientist (Kevin Bacon playing the role) who strongly supports Hitler. Young Erik is then being “persuaded” by the scientist to train and enhance his telekinetic power. Later on, we see Erik (Michael Fassbender – man, this guy really looks cool and has a great physique!) grown up into a young adult who hated Nazi and hunt down those who played a part in his tormenting upbringing. Meanwhile, his main tormentor, the scientist has reinvented himself and took on an identity of Sebastian Shaw who runs a Hellfire Club with hidden agenda (aka causing nuclear conflict between the Yankies and the Moscowites).

On the other hand, our beloved Charles Xavier (played by James McAvoy) is potrayed as a smooth talking Brit who is making a name for himself in his studies and works on genetic mutation. Charles’ vast knowledge in genetic mutation caught the attention of CIA and is being asked to help the CIA to prevent Shaw and his goons of baddies from instigating another World War off the coast of Cuba. While hunting down Shaw, Erik chanced upon Charles and soon these 2 became ally. Erik found out that Charles also possessed telekinetic power. Erik somehow reluctantly helped Charles in working with the CIA but remained deeply cynical about trusting the “normal” human beings.

X-Men First Class introduced to us a few new young mutants namely Mystique, Raven, Beast, Banshee and Havoc. Though Beast and Mystique have already been introduced in the previous edition of X-Men, the rest are making their maiden appearance in X-Men. Of course, the eye-candy in this X-Men is Emma Frost (Jennifer Jones) who possesses telekinetic power too and with a penchant for tiny clothing ala retro-look. The highlight of the movie I would say is when Charles Xavier uses his telekinetic power to reach out to the other mutants and try to bring them together under his umbrella. In one of the scene, you will see a cameo appearance by Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) whose foul-mouthed Charles escaped the Malaysian censorship board.

In all good vs evil stories, you already know who will win the battle. It’s interesting that this time around the plot plays more towards the human mutant’s emotions whereby they each have to decide which faction they want to follow : Professor X or Magneto. It also explained how Charles Xavier became wheelchair bound and we have some light-hearted moments when Charles tried teaching the young mutants how to put their mutants’ abilities to good use and enhancing their powers.

Picture credit to IMDB.com

Minimal Impact? You Must Be Kidding Sir!

The Government has done it again!

Effective 1^st June 2011, the electricity tariff has been increased by 7% from 31.31sen/kWh to 33.54/kWh. According to the Ministry involved, the increased will not result in a massive inflation. FYI, current inflation rate for Malaysia is officially reported at 3.5%. The Minister also added that the increase will not impact 85% of the consumers whose monthly average usage of electricity is below the threshold line. This tariff increase will mainly impact the commercial sector. So, excuse me Sir?! What do you mean consumers will not be impacted. Do u mean that the business sector will quietly absorb the cost of the tariff increase? You think every businessman out there will sit down quietly and absorb their increased operating cost? Surely they will pass down the cost to the consumers. I am sure that restaurant operators will dish out a smaller servings for the same price or increase the selling price to cover the cost.

Already, the Malaysian Retailer-Chains Association has indicated retailers may have to pass on to consumers part of the additional costs incurred following the tariff hike. In computing the price increase, I am sure that businesses like hawker or mamak will increase food price by a fixed amount. Who says a 7% increase in electricity has minimal impact. Can you imagine everything you buy, somewhere or another is produced by something which uses electricity before the final product is served/sold to you? Everyone knows how to “justify” him/herself when a raise is needed. You will just be wasting your energy arguing that the product that you buy does not use energy from raw material to semi-finished goods to finished goods.

A few days ago, a colleague of mine related to me an incident he had at a mamak stall. Many moons ago, the local Ministry announced the price increase of sugar. This was in line with global price increase and to encourage Malaysians to consume less sugar. My colleague went to a Mamak stall and ordered a less sugar tea. When the bill came, he was being charged for the same price as a regular cup of tea. When my colleague asked shouldn’t he be charged a cheaper cup of tea since he ordered a less sugar? The waiter just smiled and said other operating cost has increased like gas etc. “So, sorry Sir, your tea cost as much as the rest”.

So, when someone open his/her mouth, especially someone who holds a Govermental position tells us there is “Minimal Impact”, I think you must be kidding Sir!

Nutrients for A Good Night's Rest

An article recently featured in a local daily The Sun caught my attention :

“The risk of obesity was 700% higher in adults who had less sleep compared to those with average sleep duration.”

According to a survey on centenarians indicates that people sleep between 6-8 hours daily, with those who sleep 7 hours enjoying the lowest mortality rate. In another survey, those who sleep longer than 10 hours daily can suffer a 200% higher risk of dying from all causes. Sleep should be natural and sound.

The article also recommends that some nutrients can be taken to give us better sleep and leading to a healthier life. The nutrients recommended are generally free from adverse side effects if consumed in dosages as recommended by nutritional therapist. Since this is an article with some good informative knowledge, I have decided to share this info with whoever would like to know more about the nutrients.

1. SLEEP INDUCER

The neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) has a calming and stabilising effect on our brain. It promotes sound sleep patterns and helps us handle stress. Deficiency can result in anxiety, irritability and nervousness. The protein glutamine is the precursor to GABA. Food rich in glutamine include almonds, banana, whole grains, lentils, citrus fruits, spinach, potato and rice bran. Our dream state takes place during the rapid eye movement (REM) phase of sleep promoted partly by GABA.

2. PROTEIN-HORMONE CONNECTION

Studies have confirmed that L-tryptophan can overcome difficulty in falling asleep, superficial sleep and poor dreaming. This amino acid increases slow wave (deep) and REM sleep. It is a precursor to the hormone serotonin, which relieves mental tension and anxiety.

Serotonin is converted by vitamin B6 to 5-HTP and then to sleep hormone relatonin. Food rich in L-tryptophan include peanuts, soy isolate, almonds, wheat germ, wheat bran, egg white, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, Swiss cheeses and seaweeds.

3. VITAMINS

For good sleep, pyridoxine (vitamin B6) is needed. It helps us to produce as well as recall vivid dreams. Protein metabolism depends on adequate amounts of this nutrient. Sources of vitamin B6 include seafood, potato, banana and nuts.

Vitamin B3 also induces deep-sleep by raising levels of our growth hormone secreted at night. Our body uses L-tryptophan to produce vitamin B3, which is widely supplemented to treat heart disease due to its positive effect on cholesterol levels without adversely affecting productions of Co-Q10 enzyme.

Research suggests that those who consume multivitamins daily need less sleep to get by, and an optimum intake of vitamins reduces the need for longer hours of sleep. Wild bee pollen is considered the richest source of organic natural multivitamin / minerals, phytonutrients and enzymes.

4. MINERALS

Muscle cramps and movements disrupt sound sleep and these problems may be overcome by consuming magnesium-rich foods such as nuts, seeds, beans, soy, bran, barley, wheat germ, spinach, seaweed, brown rice, prawn, clams and beverages such as cocoa.

Every night coughing linked to allergies may be relieved by drinking a cup of warm, thick cocoa (not chocolate) before bedtime. According to the US National Institute of Health, a daily dose of 400mg and 600mg of elemental magnesium is needed to enjoy its various beneficial health effects, which include a significant improvement in achieving deep sleep.

Magnesium citrate is more bioavailable and well-researched compared to magnesium oxide. Excess calcium, coffee or acidic food intake cause urinary excretion of magnesium. Even a small amount of potassium intake can shorten your time taken to fall asleep.

Food rich in potassium include sengkuang, tapioca leaves and tomato. Both magnesium and potassium help lower one’s blood pressure too. If a person is anaemic, intake of sufficient iron-rich food can reduce the number of times he or she wakes up at night. However, iron supplements should only be taken if serum ferritin level is normal. An elevated level may indicate blood marrow disorders and this should be investigated. Iron from food sources are safer to consume and these include cashew nuts, Chinese parsley, egg yolk and organ or red meat.

A very small amount of copper in our diet can help us feel more fresh when we wake up in the morning. Food rich in copper include mushrooms, cocoa, nuts, lentils, soy bean, poultry, oysters, whole grains and prunes. Copper deficiency can be caused by an intake of excessive zinc. Such a deficiency is rare since copper is present in numerous food sources.

5. ENZYMES

Co-enzyme Q10 reduces night awakenings and shortens the amount of sleep one requires. If you are on cholesterol-lowering drug (statins), your body’s production of Co-Q10 may be significantly reduced. Several nutrients are needed by the liver to produce this precious coenzyme which protects the heart, gum and other vital organs in our body. Numerous enzymes are critical to our sleep process and our understanding of them is still at a preliminary level.

6. FATTY ACIDS

Omega-3 fatty acids such as those from flax seeds, blue green sea algae and fish oil can help induce deeper night sleep. These fats and a small amount of omega-6 polyunsaturates are referred to as essential fatty acids since our body is unable to produce them and they have to come from our food source or supplements.

Wishing everyone a good night sleep! ;-)

Aroma Thai Restaurant

 

Thanks to online discount vouchers, I am going to many new places for dining as well as food adventure. Recently, I went for dinner at a fabulous Thai restaurant for dinner with my family and I would like to share this place with anyone who likes Thai food.

I bought my my discount voucher from WeBuy.
The deal is that RM10 for a RM25 Cash Voucher at Aroma Thai Restaurant. What a catch! I simply adore Thai food especially tomyam and mango with sticky rice. When I saw that you only need to pay RM10 for a RM25 voucher and you can use as many voucher as you like per bill, I quickly purchase 5 vouchers which sets me for RM50 but I am holding RM125 worth of dining voucher. It works out to be 60% off the voucher's face value.

It's not hard to locate the place if you google it up before hand using Google Map before heading to the venue. I also tried to google this restaurant to see if anyone has blogged about this place and the quality of the food but I was not successful. I didn't managed to find any entry about this place. I can't trust my GPS as it comes free with the MPV that I purchase. Can't name the brand of the GPS here or else I will have some legal suit coming my way. Aroma Thai is located at Damansara Perdana. It's near the MK Land sales office, about 300 metres from Damansara Perdana's Citibank branch. It's very easy to locate as the restaurant is facing the main road.

I made a reservation for 7 pax a week before I went there to dine. I bought these vouchers with the intention to bring my family over for dinner since it's my wife's birthday on 28th April. Half an hour before my reserved time, the restaurant even called me to remind me about my reservation and to confirm my arrival. Though there are many parking lots around the area, this area is packed with people even after office hour as there are a few dining and drinking joints around the area. Since my sis had arrived earlier, I managed to double park beside her car and not obstructing traffics.

As I got down from my car, I realised that I forgot to bring my digital camera along to take photos of the place and the dishes that I am going to order and blog about it later. Shucks!! Hence,I got no choice to share the photos available from WeBuy to give eveyone some visuals of Aroma Thai. The deco are simple but to good effects. You know you're right in a Thai restaurant from the deco of this place. Pictures of Buddhas and Thai carvings welcome diners to this place. As soon as I stepped into the restaurant, I was greeted by a Mr. Daniel whom I later found out to be one of the partner of Aroma Thai.

Pictures you will expect to see in a Thai restaurant are found in Aroma Thai

Carvings of statues welcoming the guests to Aroma Thai

Most of the tables seat at least 4 person

Daniel offered us some suggestions of dishes which we readily agreed. We chose tomyam, fried kailan with salted fish, squid with salted egg, Thai style curry chicken, claypot tofu and an omelette with prawns as our main dishes while I ordered my favourite mango with sticky rice for dessert.

Squid with salted egg

Thai Bubble Juice

While waiting, I noted that there about 4 tables of diners on the inside of the restaurant while 1 table was occupied on the outside for those who smokes. Serving was pretty quick as our dishes started to come in less than 10 minutes of waiting. The servings were of pretty normal size, can't say that the servings are of very generous portion but just right for the 6 adults who are all small eaters. I like the fried kailan with salted fish though my Mum commented that she felt that it was a bit salty. The claypot tofu was something different though. it's thick and gooey, something like a shark fin soup served with some mixed vegetables. Mum is not a fan of basil leaves, so the Thai curry chicken was a no-no for her but the rest of us do enjoyed it.
The thing that my young daughter enjoyed the most would be the Thai bubble juice which comes with small bubbles which has some juice in it. She giggled while biting the bubbles and the juice burst into her mouth.

Halfway through our meal, Daniel came around and enquire about the food. I commented that everyone was happy with the dishes served. I particularly like the tomyam as you can taste both the spiciness as well as saltiness in the soup. Some Thai restaurants or in fact Malay restaurants that serve tomyam only make the soup spicy. it's like drinking  a bowl of hot chilli soup only. You don't get any other taste in the soup. Daniel informed me that the restaurant was opened for business only about 3 months ago. Their discounts on WeBuy received an overwhelming response. I told Daniel that I would definitely come back again as the food is served to my liking and taste. I do observed that the proprietors of the restaurant do go around the tables  and engage in small talks with the diners and get their feedbacks of the food. Good PR guys!

Last came the mango with sticky rice which I find the serving a bit small tbough. The mango slices are fresh and comes with a handful of sticky rice heated in microwave before being served. It is topped with some sweet, fresh coconut milk.

By the way, as I was waiting for my bill, I noted a bunting of Aroma Thai which promotes their set lunch for only RM8.90 which include rice, a main dish, a vege dish, tomyam soup and refillable drink. This set lunch is available from Monday to Sunday. My total bill for 6 adults with 5 dishes, 6 drinks and a plate of dessert comes up close to RM155 (which is about USD50). That's a very decent price for a nice Thai meal.

Here's my ratings of the place:
Ambience: 7/10
Food quality: 7/10
Service: 8/10
Price: 7/10
I do recommend this place if you have not been there before. Here's the address as well as the contact number of the place:

Aroma Thai
No.11-1, Jalan PJU 8/5i, Bandar Damansara Perdana,
478200 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
Tel: 03-7731 2089
Contact person: Mr. Julius Khoo ( H/P: 016-72 3093)
                             Daniel ( H/P:019-668 9011)