Oh yeah. The captivating palm-ic scene of the Golden Palm Tree Sea Villas and Spa in miniature form.
Looks good eh? If only it’s this beautiful from the ground level…
On a particular Saturday dated 14th May, I was lucky enough to be in the said Food Carnival, to feel the sand under and around my feet, to take in the beauty of the sunset and the sea, to breathe in salted air, and above all the taste the free flow of food. All these, courtesy of Tourism Selangor.
I went there with two of my friends – Zhi Yu and Rouffino.
Food is the name of the game. And I have to admit that this is my first time playing food critic and blogging about food. But hey, I’m not gonna show any mercy.
It all began like this…
The participants gathered at the Tourism Selangor office in Shah Alam before before making our way to the coast of Sepang. It took some folks some time to locate this blue building because apparently it’s quite hidden, although it’s just beside a main road.
After numbing our butts for an hour and a half, the shores of Sepang greeted us. Even better was the VIP-like welcome from Golden Palm Tree Sea Villas and Spa.
They had usherers who were clad in traditional wears with colorful umbrellas in their hands. Happy faces welcomed our presence along with suitable music blasting from some speakers nearby.
Not forgetting the flashes released by the cameras as though we were celebrities. It was quite awkward for a person like me who doesn’t fancy the limelight.
Each of us was given a goodie bag full of Selangor related goodies plus a cute yellow button with our Twitter names on it (@…) like which is kinda cool.
So if you wana add me. Go ahead. But I’m not that active a user.
Upon arrival, we were shortly briefed about the flow of events and took a group photograph. Soon, we were on our first mission – Sunset Photography Competition.
Look at how amazing the sunset can be, especially in special places like this! Quite an awesome sight, truly.
Equipped with my friend’s trusty camera which was entrusted to me for a night, I took some of these magnificent photos. One of these may well be the winning picture.
But, alas, as the merciless fate decided to take things into its hands by making me forget the camera’s USB cable. Damned it. Oh well, life goes on…
Then, came the spotlight of the night – food carnival. After strolling on the beach and playing around with the camera. Tummies were growling for none other than food.
The food stalls were set, the guests were seated, the stomachs were teased, the stage was set and the deejay got the ball rolling.
They even had an ice sculpture of a fish with wings, probably depicting a flying fish.
Accompanied with unbelievably good Techno music, we feasted our eyes and bellies with Selangor delicacies that made us drool...
Going form left to right, they are Perahu, Sepoi-Sepoi, Hai Sang Lou, Bila-Bila and Stimbot.
All together, there were 5 food stands in total, representing 5 out of the 7 restaurants in Golden Palm Tree Sea Villas and Spa.
Thus, everybody ate, in the name of Tourism Selangor.
Perahu, specializing in seafood cooked in the form of traditional Malay barbeque, was one that was always full of people patiently lining up to get a taste of local seafood.
Crab, prawn, lobster, Razor Shell Seafood and other seafood of the shelly kind were served at the Perahu booth. But I (and I think other people as well) were fooled by the long line because sadly, Perahu did a terrible job.
The lobsters and Razor Shell Seafood were tantalizing. But that was not the case for the salmon. It was quite evident that Perahu dished out their amateur cooks to do the one night job at the stand.
Hardly experienced, many expensive salmon was overcooked and burnt. What’s more surprising was how they even had the guts to serve burnt salmon.
This, I can only exchange stupefied glances with other participants. Seriously, I don’t know what to say about that. So Perahu was quite a fiasco in that sense.
The other representative, Hai Sang Lou, had literally brought the oriental food from dynasties ago to the Sepang beach. There was the tender and cute dumplings, bean curd or taufu, the traditional stir fried vegetables, fried chicken, what I thought was jellyfish and much more.
The steamed fish was quickly ravaged by people due to its freshness that attracted many to finish it off.
But, there is a but. Sad to say, the reputation of Hai Sang Lou was going down the drain when I tasted the fried chicken, which tasted more like flour than meat.
To eat two pieces of fried “flour” chicken without any dipping in any kind of sauce was a feat barely achievable, given my not-so-fussy standards. Yes, that was very true indeed.
With the steamboat array of food available at the Stimbot stand, they really did raise the mercury that night.
There’s not much to comment here, but what I can say is that with Stimbot, nothing much could go wrong. It is like a kind of Asian fast food. Just dunk, and then eat. It could get nothing better than that.
Fast, good food and amazing sauces to complement the screwed balls of food or seafood. Yummy, though not much taste buds tasted them because of the already hot weather. Perhaps the ice sculpture could be turned into Ice Kacang instead.
Sepoi-Sepoi, a specialist in Malaysian snacks and noodles, didn’t fail to put on a smiley on people’s faces. The familiar Roti Canai was crisply cooked, and people were enjoying like it was finger licking good. Good phrase to use since it’s no longer KFC’s slogan.
There were also noodles like Laksa and all. But I didn’t manage to taste the noodles.
Last but no the very least – Bila-Bila. Talking about Bila-Bila, I think it has the coolest name of all.
Imagine, the following conversation…
Ali: “Abu, bila u nak makan ni?”
Abu: “Bila-Bila jer la…”
Cool right?
Just look at how pretty bread can be, under the roof of Bila-Bila of course. There was the bunny shaped bread, and even a bread epitomizing Golden Palm Resort as well. Hmm…if only I could get my teeth on those.
Soft and original tasting Pretzels, Macarons made just nice with egg-shell like crust and soft inner texture, rubbery but satisfying French Bread, Garlic Bread etc.
You name it, they got it. It’s a bread heaven.
Let me tell you something. If I thought that Bila-Bila is all looks and no taste, boy was I wrong.
It turned out that Bila-Bila was my favorite restaurant representative that night. They were definitely the BreadWinner of the Food Carnival. That explains the many pictures of Bila-Bila food compared to the others.
My favorite was a bread with white chocolate in the insides. It simple melted in my mouth. I wasn’t even aware that it was chocolate material until I asked.
Besides multitude of bread to choose from, they also had soup and at the end of the stall/booth, ABC or Air Batu Kacang was available too. Talk about fusion.
The night was made more happening by performances that wowed the crowd.
There was some display of pyromania doubtless not done by tyros, for they skillfully “played” and danced with fire.
Not forgetting the surprisingly good Techno music that got me, at least, shaking to the beat. Woohoo. What fun!
Apart from the fiery performance that dazzled the night and fastened the melting process of the flying-fish in ice (poor fish), a philharmonic orchestra of a different kind was also present to seduce the auditory senses.
The Black Dragons they were called. Drum and Didgeridoo made up their arsenal of musical instruments as they strummed to the beat while singing African Songs.
Seen here is the lead singer of Black Dragon who surprisingly is also an Ustaz. Wow. A real cool one he surely is.
Don’t mind the natural dusty effect.
An effect I tried with the camera. I was actually trying to form my initials.
So there goes my review of the food carnival. Wonder what all these “side dishes” got to do with the food review? The experience of food doesn’t only matter when there’s something in our mouths, but it’s the overall experience that makes the food good or bad, whether it’s the company, the ambience or the journey before and after the food.
Having said that, I have also met some other bloggers that night like Amir Hafizi, Shahrul and also Eddie, who brought along his quite hyperactive friend.
Nice carnival all in all, and looking forward to experiencing others.
Gosh, this is overdue. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the post.
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