Authentic Indian Vegetarian Cuisine.....at....Annalakshmi...Penang...!

The entrance to the Temple of Fine Arts...........

The clean and spacious restaurant overlooking the garden..........

Buffet style ........serving warm delicious food.............

Crispy papardom....................

Ice-cold thick and smooth mango lassi..............

My plate of chappati with rice, salads, and vegetables..............


I had my lunch today, for the first time in Annalakshmi at The Temple of Fine Arts, Penang. It is a very special restaurant whereby it is run by volunteers....(that means the workers including the waiters are not paid for running the restaurant ).They do not bill you for the food you eat but instead you pay as you wish. All the proceeds will go to charity.

I am surprise to find that the vegetarian dishes are really good and freshly cook. It is not too spicy and there are many varieties to choose from. They do not cook the dishes in large batches so you could get fresh and warm food, when they keep adding food as they cook. You pick your own food and drinks. I really love the mango lassi they served. It is rich and thick with blended mango. The place is really clean ( you have to take off your shoes before you enter the restaurant) and the ambience is cool and nicely decorated ,overlooking the garden at one side. Before you step into the restaurant you can smell the authentic smell of Indian cooking!

Actually I love Indian vegetarian food more than any other vegetarian dishes because they are more healthy. They do not use msg in their food instead they use a lot of spices to make their food more tasty. The chappati is a healthy bread too. It is made from atta flour and is not oily like the roti canai. The chappati at Annalakshmi is light and soft and taste really nice with dhal curries.(few varieties). I really like to go back for more!

For those who have not been there .....should give it a try. It is situated in no.1 Barbington Avenue, Penang(near YMCA, Georgetown ).I am not too sure whether they are open everyday. Their tel. no. is 04-2288575.

Spaghetti Bolognaise........the easy way........!

Some grated cheese...............

Freshly boiled spaghetti.......................

Ready made pasta sauce with mushroom..........

A Plate of Spaghetti Bolognaise.......................

If you do not have much time to cook or too lazy to go out to eat, you can always cook up some nutritious meal at home. Recently , I cook a dish of Spaghetti Bolognaise by using some readymade pasta sauce which I stock up in my larder. Normally, if I have the time I would make my own bolognaise sauce but this is too time consuming. With the many variety of pasta sauces you can get from the supermarket nowadays cooking up a meal is so much easier.

For making the bolognaise sauce ,I chopped up some onions and saute it in a tablespoon of oil in a heated pan. I add in some grated carrots to saute with the onions.(any vegetables like brocolli or long beans can be added). Then I add in the minced beef (use chicken meat if you do not like beef) to cook until brown. Then I add in 2 nos ripe chopped tomatoes(skinned it after putting it in a pot of hot boiling water to soften the skin).( You do not have to use tomatoes if the pasta sauce serving is enough).I add tomatoes because I have to cook for more than 2 serving. Pour in a bottle of the ready made pasta sauce together with some sliced mushroom.(I used canned button musrhoom). Add a bayleaf and some dried mix herbs and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes under slow heat. (this is also optional if your pasta sauce has all the herbs ).Add some sugar to counter the sourness of the tomato sauce.

When the sauce is ready, serve it with freshly boiled pasta and grated parmesan cheese.

Oouch !.....why ....are my two legs.....hanging up ??

(The Star on 26/07/07)


The cute and chubby little baby boy is my grandnephew( my sister's grandson). Poor boy have to suffer so much pain at such a tender age. His right leg was fractured and swollen. The mother came home to find him crying non-stop with a swell on his forehead after leaving him alone with the maid to do some shopping! (This is a lesson never to leave very young children under the care of maids without any supervision). Only when he was admitted to a hospital and after some thorough scanning did the doctor find out about the fracture. His right leg will be wrap up in plaster of paris tomorrow. He will have to stay in hospital for quite sometime. Hope he will recover soon.

Poor Baby Kyean..........

Poor Baby Kyean suffering..... in pain........... (the Star)


Sleeping peacefully......in hospital bed...........








(the Star)26/07/07)http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/7/27/nation/18419096&sec=nation

Crispy Toasted Tuna Sandwich......for Breakfast.......

The cute half baguette.....................


Tuna sandwich ready to be toasted...............

The heavenly smell of toasted sandwich ! ..................

Yesterday when I drop by the supermarket to buy a loaf of bread, I saw this litte cute half baguette. They usually sell the longer type, but this one is short and only cost 50 cents per loaf. So I bought 2 nos. to make this nice and crispy sandwich for breakfast. To make the sandwhich, all you need is a can of tuna in olive oil or water, some sliced onions, butter or margerine and baguette. Cut the bread into short sections , then cut each section into half lengthwise. Then make a cut in each section just enough to put in your tuna...be careful not to break it. Buttered the bread inside and outside before you add in the sliced onions and tuna. Then toast it in an oven toaster if you have one .....if not you can bake it in the normal oven at 200 degree C for 10 minutes or til golden brown. Eat it while it is still warm. This sandwich can be eaten as finger food in parties or gatherings.....

Pizza Mania......................

Online Ordering: Easy.. Convenient..Quick..But...No...Pizzas...For...Sale....When...Raining!


It was raining for hours this evening and I could not go out for dinner. My son # l had a craving for pizza and he wanted to try out the new cheesy bites with cheese dip that is on promotion. Since it was still drizzling quite heavily I decided to call Pizza Hut for delivery. After pressing a few buttons and some robotic voicemail. ..on the answering machine.....I finally get to hear a person speaking and asking for my name....address and so on. When I told her I wanted to order some pizza by delivery, she told me that they could not do any delivery til the rain stops.....so I ask her if the rain does not stop ,we will not get any pizza?? Yes is the answer...When I ask why cannot deliver when it rains? She said"the pizza will get wet" or I expected him to say that"the deliveryman will get wet instead. I thought they have a special bag to keep pizzas warm for delivery. tMust be the bags are not water-proof!! Some more she ask me to order first and will only deliver when rain stops......what if the rains does not stop?.....So the option is to drive to Pizza Hut to get it rain or no rain..... So off we went,my son and I in the rain.....when we reached Pizza Hut in Gurney.....the large pizzas we wanted was out of stock.!......... bad luck again! ...... not wanting to give up .........off we went to the other outlet in Prangin............I was driving ,so my son went in........I have to wait fes for the pizzas. in the car.........it was near closing time 10.45 pm.....not many customer and yet the service was so slow........and they even do not bother to offer any drinks for my waiting son ! Bad customer service!! .......we do not even get to have the filling of our choice.......out of stock too.....See what we get in comparison to the advertisement shown.......??

This is barbecue cheese dipping shown............

And this is the small teeny weeny bowl of dipping we got.!!.......

The round and fat cheesy bites !!...as shown..

And does this look anything like the above picture??

Anyway looks does not matter to me as long as it taste good!! ..... and driving round Penang Island looking for the wanted food is worth the effort.....LOL.