Session - Bohnanza, Dixit & For Sale

6th & 7th of November 2011 (Sunday – Monday)

Game(s) Played:
Bohnanza
















Dixit
















For Sale











Player(s):
Cae Me
Eastlyn
Jimmy
Joanne
Joyce
Justin
Kenny
Louanna
Meng Chern
Michael
Pearly
Wai Yin
Xiu Mei

My cell group had planned to take advantage of the Hari Raya Haji public holiday (which fell on a Monday) to head down south to Malacca and spend one night at the villas in A’ Famosa just to relax and get to know one another better. The villas could accommodate 16 people per villa so we combined together with another two cell groups from the Young Adults of FGT.

Before we left, I looked through my shelf of games to pick some games that would not be quite so scary to new-gamers and came up with the following list:
1. Alien Frontiers
2. Bohnanza
3. Citadels
4. Dixit (borrowed copy)
5. For Sale
6. Hansa Teutonica

I had high hopes for Dixit and Bohnanza but brought along the others as back-ups. Looks like I didn’t need to worry after all.

Session #17 – Bohnanza, Dixit & For Sale

Check-in time is at the strange hour of 4pm because most of the time the villas are empty and need to be thoroughly cleaned before the guest can check-in. We had already decided to head down to Batu Berendam to have dinner as a group at 7pm so we had some time to kill in between. JR, who is a big fan of Bohnanza (She calls it the “Beans Game”) pulled it out and introduced it to the girls with a little bit of rules explanation help from me. Wanting to give Dixit some mileage, I pulled it out and introduced it to Wai Yin, Michael and Louanna.

Bohnanza was a big hit but unfortunately ran overly long and they accidentally ended the game thinking that the game end condition was running through the deck once instead of three times. I suppose all things considered that was okay since we had to go out for dinner already anyways. Unfortunately there are no pics of this event on my camera as I was busy trying to teach two games at a go.

Dixit became very popular at our retreat this time. Most of them loved the art and particularly relished the challenge when there were many pictures that could match the Storyteller’s story or when no one could guess it and challenged the Storyteller to reveal the relevance of his story instead.

Coming back from dinner, I pulled out For Sale only to realize during the first play through that I am now missing a property card! Number 17 to be precise. I’ll have to spend some time trying to figure out when and where it could have gone to ground. Nevertheless, For Sale got continuous plays all the way until it was time for us to leave the next day! Which is somewhat surprising seeing as my own siblings didn’t think too much about the game. Nevertheless I’m glad it worked out as the game is short (we managed ten minute games towards the end) and highly replayable, if only I could find that durned Property No. 17, think it was the yatch property.

Here we find that women are big property tycoons, I forget who won but the big smile on JR’s face could probably means it was her

Xiu Mei was a pretty good dealer and here you can see Joanne upping the ante, she seemed game for almost anything most of the time

We substituted the missing No. 17 with a Money Card, that’s a terrible draw though, someone must not have shuffled properly :P

As I mentioned, Dixit was extremely popular and I think became a firm favourite of Wai Yin’s. So much so that when we were wondering why one particular breakfast table had gone back to the villa so early after breakfast, we found them playing Dixit at the Villa instead. Looks like I’ll have to think about investing in my own copy of it as well.

This is the guilty breakfast table that ran off to breakfast early and rushed back once they were done haha

I noticed Kenny spent a lot of time standing up, you know you got a winner when the Players don’t mind standing up to win the game

Another sure sign a game is a winner is when there are lots of smiles around the table

I couldn’t resist, here’s one of Kenny standing up again

Results Of Game
Bohnanza
I don’t know who won Bohnanza actually but let’s call everyone a winner since they technically didn’t play the game to its intended finish.

Dixit
Somehow I keep remembering that Wai Yin & Xiu Mei did exceptionally well in Dixit but I wasn’t playing in the last few games of the second day so can’t be sure who else won at it.

For Sale
For Sale saw many different winners throughout its many, many games but the most calculative award goes to Meng Chern, Cae Me and Xiu Mei I think haha. Congratulations guy and girls.

My biggest takeaway? Most of them knew that I am into boardgames as a hobby before this but actually thought I was playing stuff like this:

This board is very, very cool by the way

There are great Ameritrash games out there some of which I wouldn’t mind spending the necessary half a day to get through a single game but to be fair, these sorts of games aren’t exactly what we would call “light games” and probably wouldn’t appeal to your average non-gaming person. So I’m glad that at least, I could share some of the joys of my hobby and how easily accessible it is. Spread the love, boardgamers!

Food Review - Peppercorn Cafe

5th of November 2011 (Saturday)












Location:
Peppercorn Cafe @ SS15, Subang Jaya

Type of Food:
Western, Italian

I haven’t been to Peppercorn Cafe in ages and I think the last time I set foot into this place was probably in my college days some 9 years ago. Then, I came away feeling the soup was rather bland and the portions rather small for the price you had to pay. I have heard that there was a change in management though and got to give the place a try when my sister-in-law had her birthday celebration there.

Most of us ordered from one of the dinner sets that were available on the menu which comes with an appetizer, soup, main course, dessert and a drink. So let’s start with the appetizer.

I have no idea what the appetizer is called but cold olio spaghetti in with a small piece of fish garnished with diced cucumbers, tomatoes and some mince. I am usually quite averse to cold food but found this dish surprisingly refreshing and the garlic flavour seems to come out stronger when served cold which I liked.

The appetizer with no name

The soup of the day was mushroom soup which is a solid choice for many restaurants and eateries but the most common complaints are always that it is either too watery / bland or has the taste of instant powder. I am happy to report that the soup was creamy, with actual mushrooms in it and not too salty which brings out the flavour of the mushroom. I thoroughly enjoyed the soup and it certainly helps that it came with croutons and complimentary garlic bread (these things are like the icing on the soup for me and I love icing).

This is my bowl of soup with the half submerged submarine of garlic bread

And here’s the dinner party, baby Anna is obviously enjoying her garlic bread

This was Meng Hong’s dish which wasn’t on the set menu. I don’t recall what it is called but seem to remember that it had both meat and seafood in it

JR ordered the cod fish for which I had to give her the customary and traditional warning beforehand. Ordering fish in a western restaurant is always a tricky business because when compared to ordering fish in a Chinese restaurant, the sizes are just not comparable. My JR has a big appetite when it comes to seafood, pasta and vegetables but she loves a cod fish that is properly prepared and decided to give it a go anyway.

As expected it a standard size piece of cod fish but I think the creamy white sauce helps to add size to the meal plus it had baked potatoes which JR loves so she gave this a thumbs up

I believe this was the steak, which is of a good size actually. If I recall correctly, Meng Chern ordered this dish and it was pretty good.

I had the roast lamb which came with sides of mash and cooked vegetables. The lamb was nicely cooked so that there was no “lamb-y” smell and had few bones which was great because it was one of the few times I didn’t have to resort to licking fingers whilst eating my lamb. The sauce complimented the lamb well, I only wish I had a little more to go with the mash which was a little too bland for my tastes.

I wonder why God made lamb taste so good

I don’t have a picture of the dessert but it was a caramel custard tower which reminded me of the ones my dad usually buys from Ipoh. It comes quite close actually and that’s probably the best recommendation I can give to anyone’s caramel custard.

Verdict:
I don’t think you’ll come away feeling bloated from a meal at Peppercorn Cafe but I came away feeling very satisfied and look forward to coming back to try the Chicken and Mushroom Pancake with Mozzarella Cheese which I’ve heard so much about.

Food Review - Plan b

26th of October 2011 (Wednesday)













Location:
Plan b @ Bangsar Village 1, Bangsar

Type of Food:
American Breakfasts, Bakery, Western, Italian

Taking the opportunity of the Deepavali public holiday here, Joyce and I made arrangements to have breakfast with good friends at Plan b. This would be a first time venture for both of us and it certainly didn’t disappoint.

I like the creativity of having the menu on a nice thick wooden clipboard

This is JR with the menu, we haven’t taken pics like this in a while

The breakfast menu is quite extensive but most of the items have a common theme of eggs which are very nicely cooked in whichever way you prefer them. Glancing through the menu, my eyes constantly flicked back to the words “smoked salmon” and I gave in to instinct to order the “Eggs Royale” which is basically a muffin with smoked salmon, poached eggs and hollandaise sauce.

This was absolutely heavenly

JR ordered the “Plan B Platter” to share with me and it comes with a whole stack of stuff, eggs, toast, hash browns, mushrooms, tomatoes, beans, sausages, bacon, juice AND coffee / tea. Unfortunately I was so busy enjoying my glorious Eggs Royale that I forgot to continue taking pictures from this point forward. I am embarrassed as a blogging food reviewer and will try to do better next time.

Nevertheless, Joyce enjoyed her choice and so did I. Hehe. The hash browns were not too oily and the mushrooms plus roasted tomatoes were my immediate favourites. Our friends’ little girl ordered the “Ultimate French Toast” which is not for those with trade embargos against sugar. I had a taste and boy was it sinful. Crispy toast with bananas, ice cream and syrup is the kind of food that just makes you smile like a mini sun.

Verdict:
Absolutely fantabulous. We’re planning on bringing my parents-in-law here sometime soon. My advice for you is to get there early because after 10am the line to be seated starts to build up. At 9am its still relatively nice and quiet.