/fall back/ Ugh, just what we need....less daylight to remind us that the summer is behind us and that winter is ahead. Don't get me wrong, I like Christmas and all that good stuff but I'm just not digging the dark gray skies as much as when I was a kid. It makes me feel lethargic, tired, hopeless. And don't tell me there isn't such a thing as Seasonal Depression.

As a kid, it was the other way around....I hated summer. Aside from the fact that school was out and I burnt myself to the color of a happy coconut, the intense heat of a Los Angeles summer always made me miserable. I think it was because my parents were so frugal about turning on the air conditioning and my dad had this wacky concept that if you keep the doors and windows opened, the house would be cooler. Perhaps that's true if I were in 75 degree San Diego or something but at 104 degrees and smog at its worse, it really didn't make any sense to me. And I can tell you that you can't teach an old dog new tricks.

I was always more excited when the colder skies came because it meant I was getting closer to my birthday. Now everything is all switched around, I seem to feel less happy in the colder months and can't seem to get enough of the warm sunny summer nights languishing into a peachy haze at 8pm.

Yeah, so much for that. Gotta wait another 6 months before something resembling summer pops around again.

Yes folks, even in Southern California, there is a winter.

:::

Happy Birthday To My Brother!
\(^o^)/

:::

/yazmin/ You know you're getting old when trying out new restaurants is the highlight of the week. :P Decided to try out this Malaysian place called Yazmin today. It's located in Alhambra on the corner of Main and Garfield. I saw some commercials for it on the Jade Channel and decided it can't hurt to try it once right? I used to go to another Malaysian place called Little Malaysia but I haven't been there in ages and besides, that restaurant is tiny tiny and they only take cash. :P

Yazmin Malaysian Restaurant
27 E. Main Street
Alhambra, CA 91801
626.308.2036

Yazmin is actually located next to that plot of land they're building for The Alhambra Renaissance Cineplex and there's ample parking in the back, behind the Rite-Aid (for those who are familiar with the area). So you want to know about the food? Well they have a good selection of rice dishes, noodle dishes, appetizers, curries, seafood, meats and vegetarian dishes. Plus they have a decent lunch menu too. I have to say that I really do need another visit to give it a fair write up since it was hard to be objective today. Their service was friendly, the interior was roomy and airy and their place was clean. Definitely all pluses in those departments. The food was good but I think I need to go back and try a few more things.

Yeah, I know you're all waiting for the photos. So here they are :P

ice barley...my fave drink from malaysian restaurants and nothing puts out that fire in the mouth like ice barley. <yoga flame>

(left) belacan kangkong - exactly like the chinese toong/hoong choi w/ shrimp paste sauce. this was excellent!!
(right) chicken kurmah - a non-spicy curry chicken dish w/ potatoes and tomatoes that i wasn't too crazy about. perhaps i wasn't in a chickeny mood today.

(left) ying yang noodles - 2 types of noodles: flat rice noodles and thin rice noodles with seafood and meat, it was kind of greasy and left me feeling kinda heavy. definitely not something i usually order <glaring at K>
(right) roti canai - indian style thin pancakes with curry dipping sauce. one of my faves in Malaysian foods!! the curry was fantastic, with a strong coconut milk taste to it without being spicy or too sweet.

I think next time, I'll order some actual dishes to serve more with rice. Btw, they have a coconut rice and hainanese rice aside from plain white rice for you to try. For next time, I think I would like to try out their satay, garlicky tamarind fish, shrimp and pineapple curry, claypot dishes and maybe some Malaysian dessert.

Have a pleasant week all.

I'm out.