Strawberry Cheesecake Cupcake; Bisou

Why do good things come to an end? Why?!

Eating during the day: good thing, coming to an (albeit temporary) end with the coming of Ramadan (which will merit a wholeeee other post, because if you think I can ramble with no point or meaning in sight when I ramble about food, I assure you, I can ramble more when there is a severe lack of food. And brunch! No more brunch! I don't always wake up in time to have breakfast... or brunch, really, but the OPTION to have it: THAT is priceless. And come Monday: no more!).

Grey's Anatomy: good thing, rumoured to be coming to an end with its upcoming eighth season. If I'm going to be honest, I'd have to admit that Grey's jumped the shark around the time that Katherine Heigl was boinking the ghost of her dead but still very yummy ex-husband, but I'd rather be dramatic and mourn its tragic end. No more Cristina Yang! No more Lexie Grey! No more McSteamy!

Amy Winehouse: good singer, now passed. I have been secretly fascinated with Amy Winehouse since I first saw her: that eyeliner! Those tattoos! Those ballet slippers! And that really sexy voice. Such a sad ending.

And (I feel a little awkward segueing from a celebrity passing to a topic that's just a tiny bit more frivolous but it has to be done) Bisou's Cupcake of the Month for July: strawberry cheesecake cupcakes, my new favourite cupcakes in the world ever, coming to an end in August (duh). Why do you have to discontinue your Cupcake of the Month of July 2011, Bisou, why?! And since I'm asking rhetorical questions, why is it called strawberry cheesecake, when it's not really cheesecake?

I love everything in it. The generous dollops of strawberry, the generous swirls of cream cheese (one mustn't be stingy with strawberry dollops and cream cheese swirls, this is like the golden rule of desserts); the Digestive biscuit sprinkles, the fact that it's sweet in the middle (because of the strawberry) but rich on top (because of the cream cheese) but still light overall (because of the vanilla batter), why, why Bisou must you tease me with such perfection and then take it away just because it's no longer July? What is a month anyway, but an arbitrary collection of dates? (Wait, what? Lunar phase what? I'm ignoring you.)


So bring it on, August. A month that will lack coffee, brunches, and the inexplicably-named but magical strawberry cheesecake cupcake. I am inconsolable. In fact possibly the only thing that can console me is the onslaught of pasar ramadhans. And batik cake, if I can find it at said pasar ramadhans. And buka puasa buffets? Also the chocolate cake at the Taman Tun pasar ramadhan. I'm still inconsolable though. Really.

Mid Year Review

Sometimes I feel like Time and I are in one of those estranged divorced-couple-living-together-for-the-children-think-of-the-children-won't-you relationships where we co-exist peacefully, each knowing the other is off doing their own thing, and where one only realizes the full extent of what the other has been doing when one allows oneself to pause and consider it. For example, I exist, usually blissfully unaware of exactly what mischief Time is up to, and Time exists and tick tocks along with no regard whatsoever to my feelings (he is a bit of an a-hole evidently, which should explain why we are estranged) and then when I pause, I suddenly realize, in no particular order and with varying degrees of panic: I'm 26?! When did that happen? I have friends who are MARRIED? But we're ki- oh wait I'm 26. My little sister is MARRIED?! (Actually this one isn't so shocking, because she has been quite the Mrs Monogamy for most of her dating life.) It's already July?! It's already 2011?! WHEN DID I BECOME A GROWN-UP AND HOW DO I MAKE IT STOP?!

The day I find wrinkles on my neck I am totally breaking up with Time, except I can't really because in this very awkward and not really fitting at all analogy, Time and I are in a Catholic relationship that does not recognize divorce. Or domestic abuse in the form of wrinkles.


As it is now July (excuse me again while I freak out about HOW IS IT ALREADY JULY?!) I shall attempt to take stock of 2011, this 26th year of my life, look deep into and ruminate gravely upon my adult soul, and undertake the all-important task of reviewing all the steaks I have eaten this year. Or at least all the steaks of which I have taken photos.


1. Dish
Goosey's birthday steak Part One. Dish has the best steak ever. Period. The reasons I don't go there exclusively for my steak fixes are: a) eating there burns an ugly, RM500 shaped hole in my wallet; and b) if Goosey and I ate there all the time, we'd have nowhere else to go on Special Occasions. As you might imagine, reason (a) takes precedence over reason (b), because if we really wanted to, we could be totally ironic and go to mamak stalls for birthdays and anniversaries. Theoretically.


2. Jake's
Goosey's birthday steak Part Two. (Yes, I am totally unimaginative and just ply my significant other with steak and various pieces of meat on his birthdays.) Burns a less ugly hole in my wallet, still very tasty, and best of all, their placemats have trivia questions on them! Clearly I am such a savvy foodie that I only deign to eat at establishments that have entertaining placemats.


3. Las Vacas
Formerly cute little hole-in-the-wall butcher's shop in Kelana Jaya; now overpriced and overhyped brand with its own twitter account and a restaurant in Mont Kiara. I DO NOT LIKE GOING HERE. Anymore. Like a true hipster steakster, I liked Las Vacas BEFORE it became mainstream, thank you very much. I mean, Mont Kiara? Really? You sold out, man.


4. Angus Steakhouse
Goosey liked this, and I don't really. I like my steak charred and charcoal-y, and Japanese-style steak just feels too healthy. Which is really the exact opposite of the feeling I am trying to achieve when I eat steak, because I could have just eaten sushi or sucked on a salad instead of ingesting hunks of meat.


5. The Fullerton Bay Hotel
Wagyu steak. I wasn't impressed. I thought wagyu steak was supposed to blow my tastebuds, but after this meal, they still remained very much unblown. Of course, this could be because I am secretly an un-epicurean, because the wagyu that I DID like is below, and decidedly unfancy compared to the FBH's.


6. Kissaten
Wagyu teriyaki burger, aka my true love. I know, I know, it speaks volumes (of the bad kind) that I prefer food court wagyu meat to the 5-star hotel kind. OR does it speak volumes of the kind that indicate this wagyu teriyaki burger is the shiznit? Let's go with the latter.


7. Alexis
If you, like me (before I did, I mean) have never ordered the steak at Alexis, I urge you to do so immediately. Do not let the fact that it is not a steak place bias you. It was lovely and tender and delicious, and if it had one middle finger, I would point it in Las Vacas' direction, because that there below, my friends, is how you do steak.


Right. So now I have gotten all that off my chest, I will continue to freak out about HOLY SHIT IT'S ALREADY JULY. It can't be just me who constantly thinks it's still 1992 and that I'm still 16 years old, can it? (The math does not correspond, I was not 16 in 1992. Subconscious Me, like Conscious Me, is not great at mental arithmetic.)