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Tourism Malaysia

Yashiki Yakitori Bar @ Viva Home Shopping Mall

March 8, 2013 at 2:00 pm

After a surprisingly ‘refreshing’ Yee Sang with the gang, we started on our second dish for the day – the Soft Shell Crab Salad. Served with a Japanese dressing made from mayonnaise and sesame seed, it is this condiment that brings out the best of the salad and the soft shell crab. In fact, it was so delicious that this was the first time I’ve seen a plate of salad totally cleaned out! Parents may want to consider investing in a bottle to make vegetables more appealing to their children. I know for sure that Emily Tang enjoyed every single bite of her vegetables that day.

Soft Shell Crab Salad – healthy AND delicious!

Next dish up for tasting was the Tuna Tataki. Each delectable piece of tuna is covered in tangy citrus sauce and is garnished with a row of chilli spiced radish, spring onions and raw garlic. Though it may appear to be quite strong in taste, everything comes together perfectly at the end. We also tried the chef’s selection of 8 different types of Nigiri Sushi, which included raw items like salmon, tuna, sea urchin, fish roe and octopus sashimi.

Tuna Tataki

Sushi Deluxe comprises of the Chef’s selection of 8 different kinds of sushi, including squid, salmon and fish roe

Any trip to a Japanese restaurant is never complete without giving its Sashimi dishes a try. And so we sampled Yashiki’s Sashimi set. This set comes with four kinds of chef’s selection of raw fish together with a bowl of rice, 3 pieces of fried gyoza, a bowl of miso soup, slices of fruits and pickled Japanese radish. Its fresh sashimi pieces coupled with hot bowl of miso soup and rice is guaranteed to fill any growling stomach to the brim. Another must try when you are dining at Yashiki Yakitori Bar is the Shake Atama, which is salmon head that has been grilled to perfection. Its sweet tasting meat and the other succulent parts of the fish head is sure to bring fish head lovers to paradise. I know Evelyn Ang enjoyed every piece of her fish head.

The sashimi is fresh and comes with a bowl of rice, miso soup, fruits, Japanese pickles and 3 pieces of fried gyoza

Fish head lovers should definitely try out Yashiki Yakitori Bar’s Shake Atama

But my most favourite dish of all (other than the Yee Sang) was the Salmon Cheese Oshizushi. The lightly charred and melted cheese spread atop the fresh salmon gives each individual portion a smoky taste. Absolutely mouth-watering! We also tried the restaurant’s yakitori offerings (kind of impossible to give it a miss, since the outlet is quite well-known for their yakitori dishes) and chose about 8 different types. In my humble opinion, the yakitori sticks tasted quite normal. There were some sticks where the meat tasted a little bit dry.

Salmon Cheese Oshizushi

The assorted yakitori sticks (L – R) – Bacon with White Prawn, Negima, Beef with Enoki, Bacon with Asparagus, Pork Belly, Lamb with Asparagus, Bacon Enoki and Salmon Belly

The drinks bar of Yashiki Yakitori Bar

All in all, it was a truly enjoyable meal, made even more so with the company that was there. It is easy to just lose track of time when dining at Yashiki Yakitori Bar. The outlet has a cosy environment that makes it a wonderful venue for a long lunch or an intimate dinner session for two. Great place to head to the next time you want to enjoy great Japanese food with your friends or your loved ones.

This Dining With Moola experience is courtesy of Moola, the first-ever Cash-Back Lifestyle Programme specially designed for shoppers to enjoy free shopping, great savings and best deals in town. Moola is a mobile application that utilises QR code technology for all interactions; from member registration, Moola accumulation and redemption, to the actual shopping.

Moola Frenz who dine at Yashiki Yakitori Bar are entitled to a 10% cash back everytime! What’s more, you can also grab FreeMakan vouchers for even MORE savings here!

Moola is completely hassle-free; no administrative effort; no joining fee; no cards; and comes with even greater flexibility for shoppers to enjoy the variety of rewards for redemption. Visit www.moola.my for more information and download the Moola app today! Apple, Android and Blackberry phones supported.

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Wonderful Malaysia

Chinese New Year in Malaysia

What is there to do during Chinese New Year in Malaysia?

Chinese New Year is perhaps the biggest and most important annual festival for Chinese and the Chinese communities world wide. The event is celebrated on the first day of the Chinese Lunar Calendar. Each year is named after one of the 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac. Prior to celebrations, homes are cleaned and decorated by members of the family. Debts are also settled while offerings and prayers are made. Also, plenty of food is prepared and new clothes are purchased. Like any other event, family members from out of town and far away will come home for the gathering.

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Also known by the name of Lunar New Year or the Spring Festival, the event is observed by the Chinese communities throughout the world, regardless of where they are. It is a cultural event and can a religious one too for the Buddhists, Confucians and Taoists who offer prayers. As the festival approaches, friends and relatives still exchange New Year greeting cards with each other despite the technology era. A family reunion dinner will be held on the eve of the New Year. During this time, bad language and any unpleasant or sensitive topic is strictly discouraged. It’s always best to be in one’s good behavior and only say good and auspicious things.

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On Chinese New Year day, everyone is abuzz with various activities, including decorating with duilian (a pair of scrolls with poetry written), giving red packets or angpau or ang pow containing money, visiting friends and families, having family meals and gatherings, playing cards with small bets of money and watching dragon or lion dances. While each country may celebrate the New Year in an almost similar way, the concept of open house is normally practiced in Malaysia where the homes are open for friends and family to visit, regardless of race and religion. The country’s leaders organize open houses too on a larger scale, often held at a community hall to accommodate the crowds of locals and foreign visitors who come to greet their leaders and tuck into festive goodies. Just like any other festival in Malaysia, Chinese New Year is basically the time of the year to get together with family and friends.

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Chap Goh Mei

Chinese New Year is celebrated for fifteen days with the main focus on the first three days. Chap Goh Mei, or the fifteenth day of Chinese New Year, is once again celebrated with much enthusiasm. Homes are again decked in brightly decorated lights and legend has it that young and unmarried women could throw tangerines into the sea if they wish to get a good husband. This tradition has undergone a modern twist where the females still toss Mandarin oranges into the sea but now they have written their telephone numbers on them. Men in boats will then row over and fish out the oranges! The singles carry out this practice good-naturedly and have fun with their friends on that final night of the New Year celebrations. Once Chap Goh Mei has passed, daily life resumes with each hoping to have a prosperous year ahead.

Fireworks

In Malaysia many people light fireworks during Chinese New Year. At Chinese New Years Eve, you can enjoy fireworks until the deepest hours of the night. Also at other days, people will light fireworks. The best chance to witness this is in the more Chinese areas in Kuala Lumpur (like Chinatown, Old Klang Road/Kuchai Lama and many areas in Petaling Jaya) and also in cities like Georgetown (at Penang Island), Ipoh and Malacca. Hokkien Chinese in Malaysia also light a lot a fireworks at the ninth day of Chinese New Year, in celebration of the birthday of the Jade Emperor.

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Chinese New Year in Kuala Lumpur

When you are staying in Kuala Lumpur during Chinese New Year you should definitely visit the Petaling Street area in Chinatown. Here the Chinese temples are crowded with locals that come there to pray. You can witness lion dances and people lighting fireworks. All shopping malls in the city showcase their Chinese New Years theme. They are all decorated and during the first few days you will be able to witness lion dances within the stores. This is done to make sure the store is blessed and that business will be great that year. The first days of Chinese New Year are the only days of the year that you will witness many stores closed, as most of the Chinese business owners are visiting their relatives in their home towns or home countries.

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Chinese New Year on Penang Island

Especially Penang is a great place to visit during Chinese New Year. There are many beautiful temples in Georgetown, and all are crowded with Chinese Malaysians that come there to pray (mostly for health and prosperity during the new year). One of the most important temples at Penang Island, Kek Lok Si Temple, is especially interesting to visit. At night millions of colorful lamps transform the whole area in a beautiful scene. Locals come every night to witness the lights being turned on, it is a wonderful sight.

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Calendar with dates Chinese New Year

  • Year of the Tiger – February 14, 2010
  • Year of the Rabbit – February 3, 2011
  • Year of the Dragon – January 23, 2012
  • Year of the Snake – February 10, 2013
  • Year of the Horse – January 31, 2014
  • Year of the Goat – February 19, 2015
  • Year of the Monkey – February 8, 2016
  • Year of the Rooster – January 28, 2017
  • Year of the Dog – February 16, 2018
  • Year of the Pig – February 5, 2019
  • Year of the Rat – January 25, 2020

Traveling in Malaysia during Chinese New Year

We find traveling through Malaysia during Chinese New Year very rewarding. We visited KL, Cameron Highlands, Penang, Kuching and Malacca once within the 15 days of CNY and we loved it. The atmosphere is very pleasant during these days. We loved all the fireworks and the amazing vibe at all the temples.

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Tourists that visit Malaysia during CNY should not pass up a chance to experience it up and close. Penang was by far the best place to be, especially the Chulia Street area was very nice.

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It is especially nice if you get invited to have dinner at a local Chinese Malaysian family. Families usually invite friends (or even strangers) over for dinner on the 2nd or 3rd day of Chinese New Year as the first day is always reserved for close family.

Extremely fun to witness and eat is Yee Sang; a special dish that is only served during Chinese New Year. Yee Sang contains many different vegetables together with other ingredients. Once ready people will toss the shredded bits into the air by only using their chop sticks. It is very important that it is all tossed really high into the air as it reflects the amount of good luck, health and prosperity they will receive.

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Traveling during CNY can be quite exhausting, especially in the few days before the actual celebrations. Many people are traveling at the same time, often heading back to their home villages. Some use the public holiday to do some traveling their selves. Busses to Penang, Malacca or Ipoh will be packed, the same goes for flights to Penang. Traffic jams are common the days before CNY, but once it is CNY streets and highways are empty. Shops are closed during these days and people are celebrating at home or visiting temples.

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Suggestions?

Got any good tips to share with us? Do you know of any great things to do during Chinese New Year in Malaysia? Let us know by leaving a reply below!

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Tourism Malaysia

Yashiki Yakitori Bar @ Viva Home Shopping Mall

January 29, 2013 at 3:18 pm

There are many times in my life where I wished I was a braver person. I wish I was brave enough to sit through a horror movie without having to use my hands as a shield at certain parts of the movie. I also wish that I am not easily daunted by the appearance of a restaurant. You know how the situation goes – you walk past an interesting looking restaurant, you take a peek inside and suddenly a hundred and one thoughts flood your mind. Is the food nice? Is it another overcharged restaurant where portions are way too small and bland? Will I regret this decision? These are but some of the many thoughts that comes to my mind.

Yashiki Yakitori Bar at Viva Home Shopping Mall, Cheras

Yashiki Yakitori Bar’s Salmon Yee Shang is priced at RM55++ and is good for 3-4 people

A squeeze of lime juice gives this traditional dish an interesting twist of flavour and taste

If left to my own devices, there would be a high chance that I may not have visited Yashiki Yakitori Bar. But I am glad that I stepped into the outlet, for I would have definitely missed out the many great dishes that it has to offer if I had not gone in. It was part of the dining experience by Moola, the first ever homegrown Cash-Back Lifestyle programme by ICT Utopia. During my visit, I tried the Yee Sang promotion. With the Chinese New Year just around the corner, Yashiki Yakitori Bar is currently offering 5 different types of Yee Sang for its customers. From vegetarians to sashimi lovers, there is definitely a winner for everyone. My friends and I opted for the Salmon Sashimi Yee Sang with generous slices of fresh salmon. I must say, this yee sang is very much more different than the ones that I have tasted before. The lime oil together with the lime leaves and plum sauce used to toss with the raw vegetables gives it a tangy and refreshing taste that complements the salmon very well. Absolutely a must try for those who are dining at the restaurant.

Emily Tang, Eric Thong, Evelyn Ang spouse enjoying a good toss

The higher you toss, the more prosperous it is for you! So go on and toss it as high as you can!

Yashiki Yakitori Bar also serves a selection of Japanese sake and local beer to its customers. And what goes well with a mug of beer than a serving of baby pork ribs? Although the outlet incorporated baby pork ribs as part of its menu earlier, it is now a promotional item for limited time only. I strongly recommend the Baby Ribs Teriyaki to anyone who loves their pork ribs. The meat is tender and soft and falls off from the bones with just a nudge from a butter knife. It is the perfect meal to go with that mug of Tiger beer or that cup of sake in your hands.

Yashiki Yakitori Bar is also promoting their Baby Ribs Teriyaki to their customers, apart from the Yee Shang fare

Baby Ribs Teriyaki. A dish normally consists of either half rack (3 ribs) or full rack (6 ribs)

Of course, in a place such as Yashiki Yakitori Bar, one just does not only try the promotions and forget all the other delicious staple dishes of theirs. Read all about it in the second post coming soon…

This Dining With Moola experience is courtesy of Moola, the first-ever Cash-Back Lifestyle Programme specially designed for shoppers to enjoy free shopping, great savings and best deals in town. Moola is a mobile application that utilises QR code technology for all interactions; from member registration, Moola accumulation and redemption, to the actual shopping.

Moola Frenz who dine at Yashiki Yakitori Bar are entitled to a 10% cash back everytime! What’s more, you can also grab FreeMakan vouchers for even MORE savings here!

Moola is completely hassle-free; no administrative effort; no joining fee; no cards; and comes with even greater flexibility for shoppers to enjoy the variety of rewards for redemption. Visit www.moola.my for more information and download the Moola app today! Apple, Android and Blackberry phones supported.

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