Dine like Genghis

Gengis Khan Mongolian BBQ Buffet Restaruant in Epsom is located at 380 Manukau Road with a big sign displayed at the front of the restaurant. It is quite impossible to miss that place when drive pass.







We'd been to a couple of other Gengis restaurant. But once we walked into this one, we were blown away. The setup is very nice and tidy. Pictures below say it all.


There is a bar behind me where friendly staffs serve drinks, including Coke, red wine, you name it.


This is where people sit closer to the food and pig out.

Once the waitress guided us to our sit, it's all serve service after that. There were different areas for different food.


Meat including chicken, beef, lamb. Some marinated and some don't. There are seafood as well. Vegies are at the far end.

First we went for the meat.. I mean who doesn't? We filled our bowl with raw meat, yes, I said raw meat. We picked some vegies up as well. See we are eating healthy. The best thing about buffet meal is whatever you want to eat, it's all your choice!

Then we headed to the most exciting part of the pick and mix, mixing the sauces! There were heaps of sauces to choose from: teriyaki, oyster sauce, sweet chilli, hot chill, Gengis own special sauce, and wine as well for those people who like a bit of extra kick in their dishes. We got to choose the oil we like our dish to be cooked as well: chilli oil, ginger oil, garlic oil, etc..


See the amount of sauce you can choose to mix your dishes with!

There are some suggestions on the board above the sauce department that for example if people like teriyaki, which sauces are recommended to use. But really, I think own mixture is the best mix! It might taste like crap but hey, it's my own mix and don't give me shit.

After some tough decisions with the sauces, we gave our great composure of meat, vegies and sauces to the chef. Food were poured onto a huge heated iron steel plate to cook. Do you think that it's bizzare? Legend has it that this wonderful form of cooking evolved after Mongolian warriors, around the time of Genghis Khan, used the underside of their shields as a cooking plate over an open fire. That is where the restaurant got th name from. But the reality is that the use of a large, flat and circular cooking plate actually originated in China. Anyway end of the day, no matter where it originated from, we enjoyed this method of cooking tonight.







Cooked meals were put on a bigger plate for us to help ourselves to more food. Yes I know what you think. The amount of food there is jaw droppingly huge for a small person like me. There are noodles, rice, pasta, spring rolls, and more salads!


Chips, noodle, rice, and so on and so on...

Phew! What a mission. These were the outcomes over two servings after spending a long five minutes or more each time deciding how the dishes were to be mix and match.. Yes I know.. there goes my diet..


Crab meat, prawns, onion, broccoli, mushrooms, noodle and a bit of spring onions with various sauces.


Chicken, lamb, mussels, onion, brocolli, spring roll, money bag and egg salad.

And guess what! They do have desert too!



We walked up to the other side of the restaurant after we had our mains and the skilled chef came over, asked whether if we like a fresh pancake, made exactly the same way as he cooked our dishes. Why not I said. So there he goes again. Show off his pancake kung fu.
Just a note that somehow I don't think Mr. Genghis Khan would have made pancake with his soldiers' shield thou.. but one can never tell.





Ice - cream comes after pancake.


Biscuits, Chocolate buttons, crushed peanuts, chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, strawberry sauce toppings are all available. Ice - cream at far end.


Happy hubby with his ice - cream and chocolate sauce topping.

Wah lah! This is my greatest preperation of ice - cream and pancake desert! Don't laugh. This is not bad considering I don't have any qualification in food science apart from just eat.



We had a good time dining at the restaurant. Overall it was a fantastic experience. The cost? About NZD26.00 per head for all you can eat. For the amount of joy we got out of this, it was pretty awesome.

I noticed there was this teeny weeny Asian girl walked pass us with a huge, and I mean huge bowl of food in her hand. Eventhough I used to have skinny female friends who could eat ten times more than me but it still fascinates me to see a small person can eat so much.


The amount of food in the bowl is almost as big as her head!!

There is no way that I will be able to eat this much. And if I do, I will probably look like this..



No I'm not jealous of that Asian girl, at all!

Eeeek!!

It's the time of the month, full moon. People said when it's full moon, monsters and weird creatures will come out...



I didn't believe until I saw these...





Mama! Help Me!!

Mooncake Festival

The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival, falls on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month of the Chinese calendar (usually around mid or late September in the Gregorian calendar). This year it fell on the 14th September.

It is a popular Chinese celebration dating back over 3,000 years to China's Zhou Dynasty. It is also called The Lantern Festival in some other countries (Malaysia, Singapore...)



The traditional food of this festival is the mooncake, of which there are many different varieties:







I remember when I was still a wee fella, my family used to gathered on this day for a reunion dinner. Then we would setup some tables and chairs outside, ate yummy mooncakes and drank green tea (for us we had soft drink coz tea is for old people) while enjoyed clear night sky with huge round moon. It was one of the happiest time when I was young... I missed those days...

To all my family and friends who celebrate, Happy Mooncake Festival.

中秋節快樂!!!

Blue September

Ever wonder why is the Sky Tower been lighted blue this month?





It is the way of Skycity raising awareness and showing support of Prostate Cancer for this month - Blue September.



Well after I read an article about the cancer, I decided to post it onto the blog so that we all get to know more about this potentially deadly cancer..



Article below is from http://www.everybody.co.nz/page-11098a59-912f-4d9d-b167-230ce44dca73.aspx

What is the prostate?
The prostate is a small gland about the size of a walnut, found only in men. It sits just below the bladder and surrounds the top part of the urethra, the tube that takes urine from the bladder to the penis.

The prostate produces some of the fluid that makes up semen. The growth and development of the prostate depends on the male sex hormone, testosterone, which is produced by the testes.

It is common for the prostate gland to get larger as men grow older. This enlargement is called benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). This is not cancer, even though the symptoms of BPH may be similar to those of prostate cancer.

What is prostate cancer?
Prostate cancer is a malignant tumour of the prostate gland. Very early prostate cancers are contained within the prostate gland and are called localised cancers. These early cancers do not usually produce symptoms and may not develop into a serious cancer. Such cancers may not require treatment.

However, some prostate cancers grow within the prostate gland and spread to the surrounding tissues. This is called invasive prostate cancer. There is a collection of small lymph glands near the prostate that are part of the lymphatic system, one of your body's natural defences against infection.

Lymph glands filter out bacteria and other harmful agents. A network of very thin lymph vessels connects the major lymph glands in your abdomen, pelvis, groin, neck and armpits.

Cancer that develops in the prostate may spread (or metastasise) via the lymphatic system or bloodstream to other parts of the body, such as the bones.

It is important to note that some men with prostate cancer do not experience symptoms or are not aware of the significance of some of the symptoms they may have experienced.

How common is prostate cancer?
Prostate cancer occurs mainly in men aged over 65 years and is the most common cancer among New Zealand men. Around 2000 to 3000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer in New Zealand each year.

Causes of prostate cancer
The causes of prostate cancer are not yet fully understood but the risk of developing prostate cancer increases with age. The risks are also higher if other family members have developed this cancer.

There is some evidence to support the idea that a diet high in animal fat increases the chance of developing prostate cancer.

While it is not possible to make clear recommendations about a particular diet, a lower fat, high fruit and vegetable diet is linked with a reduced risk of a number of chronic diseases and is an overall recommendation towards improving health.

Symptoms
Localised prostate cancer usually causes no symptoms at all. The following urinary symptoms are common in men over 50 and are due to pressure from the prostate on the urethra:

- passing urine more frequently
- difficulty starting and stopping when passing urine
- poor flow of urine
- getting up at night more frequently to urinate.

Although these symptoms are usually due to benign (not cancerous) prostate enlargement, it is important to have them checked by a doctor.

Sometimes prostate cancer can spread without these symptoms occurring. If this happens, the first symptoms may be pain in the groin, lower back, hip or upper thighs.

How is prostate cancer diagnosed?
Prostate cancer is diagnosed using a combined approach of considering symptoms, carrying out a physical examination, biopsies and scans.

Diagnostic tests
A number of tests can be performed to confirm the diagnosis if your doctor suspects that you have prostate cancer. These tests will also check the size of the cancer and determine whether or not it has spread.

There are alot more informations about Prostate Cancer. Please click here to find out more.

Photos with Olympians

At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell won gold medals in the women's double sculls, beating the German pair by 1/100 of a second, 7:07.32 versus 7:07.33. The first time in history that this title was successfully been defended.





Heard on the radio today that the double gold medalists will be in Newmarket this afternoon at the Samsung Plaza from 1 - 3pm. Keen to meet the twin sister, I went over eventhough I felt lazy as.

There were not as many people as I expected. It is probably lack of advertising. But on the other hand, that means I can get to meet the twins quicker!




Not a long queue.. GREAT!







What a nice sisters they are. Very down to earth and friendly. After I had their signature, I asked if I can have their photo and they offered to have the photo taken with me! Of course I accepted this grand offer! It's not everyday we have a photo taken with Olympic Gold Medalists!





Oh just in case you haven't notice, I was holding the Gold Medal in my hand! Ha! Beat that!

Just...

Today, I feel older...

Oooh Fattening!

Shame that most of the yummy food in this world is fattening. If my life ends at 70, that means I have 40 more years to enjoy my life including eating all the good food. Shit! Decision decision decision.. Shall I let loose and try all the food that I can? Or shall I control myself and be on diet for the miserable 40 years that remain? Stuff it! Let's go Mission Bay with a mission on mind: ICE CREAM! Nothing beats eating ice cream on a cold night.


How's that! Nice leh~

Farrolls Ice Cream at 55 Tamaki Drive, Mission Bay was the place we went. The shop is easily recognisable when you are in Mission Bay. This is a Korean owned ice cream shop. Don't worry, their ice creams are ang moh ice cream. How do I know they are Korean? Because I used to look after this place's drink order and dealt with the owner alot.. wink wink~




So many choices... what should we have...


Waitress said: 'Aiyo! What do u want lah! Cepat order~ '.. Why you so like that~


Wahlau! Even cute prints on their napkins!



Check out the menu! They have quite a good varieties of ice cream selection. The price are averaged at about NZD8.00. Some people might think it is a bit too expensive for a bowl of ice cream but to be honest, the amount they gave is more than expected! At least it is more than what people get than that other shop across the road..


Hot beverage is also available with reasonable price for those who prefer hot drink in a cold night

After a long hard decision, not being too greedy, we decided to get one each.


Chewy Chocolate Sundae NZD8.00




Lemington Sundae NZD8.00



Man they are nice! For your information the ice creams for the Lemington Sundae are Green Tea (I heard Craig said Eeewie!), Peppermint with Chocolate sauce and Marsmallow Coconut Ice. Different eh! But different is good.


They were gone within 5 minutes.. nah just joking. We had much trouble finishing it. Just think about all the calories... yeah right~

After our melting moment with those ice cream, we were choca-block.

~sign~ consequence of eating ice cream: one hour of walking around the block. But that's for next week. I'm going to sleep like a log tonight.

We are Family!

Family Bar is,



Situated at 270 Karangahape Road, Auckland City, it is at the prime location for party goers.



As the above photo, there are always activities happening in this bar seven nights of the week. So whether if you want to catchup with friends, to sing your heart out, or to dance till your pants drop, you can always come to this place.

I always wanted to take my camera into the bar for a few party shots but on a second thought, it might not be a good idea.. So we went in during the day when human traffic is less heavier. And these are a few photos I took.




Large bar area


They have a good selection of alcoholic beverages. Enough to drink till you can't remember what your mother's name is


Dance floor at the right green area


Stage for drag shows, karaoke, full monty, and all sorts

It is a very colourful bar. Well... hello~ it is a gay bar... but some nights to our surprise, we found more straight people in the bar than people like us, gay. So it is a really open-minded venue, everyone is welcome here. And we've seen all sorts of people in there too to be frank.


Look at the size of the balls!

The lighting effects are absolutely amazing on party nights when DJs spin their discs playing well-mixed hardhouse music as fog machine oozes out tonnes of theaterical smoke. The dance floor gets filled out pretty quickly.

Bar staff are extremely friendly. Eventhough most nights they are so busy they wish they have more than three hands to serve, they never frown a bit. A big complimentary smile always come with their excellent service.

Yes! Not to mention drag queens are one of the main attractions of this bar. Drag shows are often held on Friday and Saturday after midnight where drag queens miming and dancing to pop songs. Honestly I don't know why people call them 'drag' queens... somebody please enlightened me...


Celebrity drag queen Miss Ribena is a local at Family Bar


A few drag queens and moi on my 'Hen's night' (not in Family Bar)

And it is so nice to see that the bar actually encourage everyone to practice safe sex..





By the way, Mr. Gay Auckland 2008 competition is on! Any hot guys out there?!