Sekeping Serendah offers just about the ideal place for a barbecue at night – there’s the sound of nature seeping through the peace and quiet of the forest, a cool breeze blowing into the patio, and the sound of running water from the brook. It’s just so chill. The caretaker has already…er, taken care of the BBQ when we finished our extended swim and soak session in the private pool.
The BBQ pit is an old fashioned receptacle with a mesh grill over it and good old fashioned charcoal covering the bottom. I helped to man the BBQ pit for a while, ensuring all the charcoal is evenly burned before Joyce and Windy took over. I’m not good in gauging food readiness, since I can eat raw food so I left it to better hands. 😉
There are no restaurants or anything of that sort in Sekeping Serendah so you’ll have to either bring your own food or cater from the caretaker (RM 20 per pax) for dinner. We had the foresight (?) to bring our own food. A trip to the local Giant for supplies ensured we had enough food and drinks to last the night. The grocery shopping bill came close to a whopping RM 400 but a large part of that was due to ethanol based beverages.
We got lamb chops, fish, chicken wings, corn on the cob and eggs for the barbecue. I got eggs coz no one believed me when I said eggs can be cooked on a BBQ by just putting it right on the grill. It really works – I’ve done it numerous times before. We also got a lot of bottled water and fruit juices for hydration. For the dehydration part, a bottle of Absolut Vodka was procured.
I would have thought that would be enough but apparently not – I’m in the company of veterans here, much to my surprise. It was decided that we’re getting another bottle of liqueur – Kwai Feh Lychee Liqueur which Windy swears is the best thing she ever had. The bottle describes the history of the liqueur very poetically – “Emperor Ming of the Tang dynasty supplied his charming consort with a specialty for which she craved and was richly rewarded with her delightful smiles and appreciative heart.” Okay.
We also got a bottle of Merlot for good measure. I was a bit apprehensive about the amount at first – a bottle of vodka, a bottle of liqueur and a bottle of red wine for three people, two of whom I didn’t think could drink much.
…and guess what, we were drinking the Absolut Vodka neat from the bottle without any mixers and nearly finished it before we even got to Sekeping Serendah Retreat! OMG! I knew we wouldn’t have enough alcohol at that point. Thus, I managed to persuade the caretaker to drive out to town at about 10 pm and get us some cheap, locally distilled vodka (RM 45).
This is our dinner. I had the black corn, lamb, fish, and an egg. Everything was grilled to perfection! Kudos to the girls for manning the BBQ.
I didn’t even know fish had to be disemboweled before slapping it on the grill. We used real butter to cook the food and had a bottle of BBQ sauce to go with it. It was great eating under the moonlight with a Styrofoam cup of red wine. The food somehow tasted better under the stars.
We started playing Blackjack after that with the bottle of Kwai Feh Lychee Liqueur and finished it in less than 10 minutes. (!) That leaves the dodgy vodka which left everyone (including me – and I’ve drank a lot of shitty alcohol) apprehensive as soon as it was opened. The smell of the vodka is…revolting. I don’t have a better adjective to describe it.
I think everyone puked that night courtesy of the dodgy vodka with a distinctive methanol odor. It probably had a legion of other unidentified non-ethanol spirits inside. I puked straight after drinking it but was still sober and slept only at around 4 am. I made sure that the caretaker would bring us breakfast (RM 5 per pax) which is a choice of either roti canai or nasi lemak before sleeping for about four hours.
It was a great trip despite all three of us throwing up before the night was over. 😉
Regurgitation Register:
Joyce: 7
Windy: 2
Huai Bin: 1
It was technically twice for me too, but the first time was not directly ethanol related. I forced myself to puke coz I was full and wanted more space in my stomach to…er, fit more alcohol in. :p
I have much respect for Windy, she drank almost as much as me and managed to hold her liquor. 🙂
eh, the BLACK corn taste so bad ! I bought it once for RM 3 in tesco and threw it away after the 1st bite 😛
Shit man, you’re making me so bloody jealous man. Its been quite sometime since my friends and I had a nice bbq together with smokes and ethanols. End up drinking and eating too much, then puking our guts out. Then, after that, its straight to soaking in the pool, doing more silly things XD, and smoking and drinking again.
Sighhhh…. Those were the days.
Wahlao eh… Regurgitation Register pulak. What a cultured word. LOL! Okay, I admit that. But then, practice makes perfect. Next time, it ain’t gonna be 7 times anymore. Mark my words. 😉
Bringing eggs to BBQ. Hmm something new for me. I shall try it!
Walau…totally agree…what a cultured word..
Drunk until like that also can…sweat haha
*tsk tsk*
yalor, reali sweat. 😉
Wey Huai Bin, mine should be 6 times laaa (I know this figure is hilarious). The 7th time was bcoz u forced me to drink half a bottle of mineral water. o_O
Wahlao, my saham drops reali geng now. Wat will the rest of the ppl think arr? *scare scare*
I almost thought the corn was bbqed to become super black haha, hardly see a black corn here.
hmm…some 3 some? hehe
wow! the food looks sux but with the alcohol around . . . .hehehehehe! all will taste delish. . .
way to go dude
That some outing and bar b q. Thought you might make some satays more easy to cook and eat. On camping trip I went was the worst ever. Everybody did not get along and fighting going there and back. They forgot many things too. Ended up using cola and branches into cooking and basting food.
Stick meat on branches and cola made nice sauce and baste. No body remember the grill that why.
chefmel: I kinda like black corn. 🙂
It doesn’t go well on a BBQ though…the moisture that makes it sweet dries up.
Marlboro Guy: Yeah, I did a lot of that in my youth as well. Overnight at some resort with a huge group of friends, drink, bbq and wreck havoc in the swimming pool. I remember the guard in Damai telling us it’s closed 5-6 times when we were in the pool drinking and he finally gave up and let us be coz we were there almost every weekend. Heh!
Joyce: Haha! Alright, we shall see. 😉
eiling: Yup, it really does cook! Without cracking too. 🙂
hitomi: I’ve been writing stuff for a long time, I have euphemisms for everything. 😉
Joyce: You seriously have to drink water after so much alcohol and after puking. Hangovers are primarily caused by being dehydrated. You’ll feel terrible the next day if you hadn’t drank any water. I can feel the difference if I drink a lot of water before I sleep and if I don’t. It makes a lot of difference. The Difference is Clear (TM). 😉
Darren: Heh! The black corn is more expensive than regular corn coz it’s imported in. It’s supposed to taste sweeter. I hardly see it around too.
Paul: Nope, just good clean fun. 🙂
foodcrazee: Indeed…Serendah is a great place and it’s so near KL. I kinda like their no advertising and word of mouth marketing. People recommend this place coz they like it. I was told about the place by a coworker of mine who loved it. 🙂
Michael (Mike): Yeah, that’s some old skool cooking going on there. Meat on branches. Nice! 🙂
Black corn looks odd.
ShaolinTiger: Black corn is actually pretty good if steamed. It doesn’t work very well on the grill – it’s supposed to be sweeter than regular corn, but the juices evaporated on the grill.
This one is from Taiwan.
first time in my life seen a blackcorn..
interesting!
sounds like a fun gate away for the weekends..=)
ages i didn’t bbq…sigh!
eric: It’s available in Ta Kiong. Also a Taiwanese import instead of the Aztec black corn variety (although I believe they are both similar strains of corn).
Yeah BBQ is fun and weekend getaways even more so! 🙂
I’m up early on a Sunday. Lots of work to do.
Gah Carol, we’re in the same boat! Working Sundays. =_=”
so many things different, but so many the same,HB. The fire pit, good intentions, beer and booze, same food ( well kind of, but very similar. When we have a pig picking – a whole or half hog cooked slowly,then invite the neighbors over to eat- we have egg based potato salad, and kind of corn like that, (on the cob) but not that dark. And usually some fresh fruit or pinnaple cake for dessert, The kids eat it but the adults just sit aroud in lawn chairs at that point. About midnight, the kids are sent to bed in the house, in their sleeping bags. The party breaks up around 3:30-4 am, when all are sober enough to drive again and the fire has burned down to ashes. Those that are not or are not fit to drive are covered with a blanket, no bad words are said, everyone goes home safe, or is taken care of, and the dogs get the scraps. (which they have been waiting for, all night, you know) Secrets have been traded, a coummunity of friends is better off, and all is well. Hope you don’t mind, put I have used the fire pic for my screen background. I really liked this article of yours. A half a world away, it seems persons are the same, HB. That is a good thing.
God Bless
Tom
Dont mean, to laugh, HB, but did you not know a fish has gotta be gutted? and many fish scaled. even a shrimp deveined or chickens plucked of feathers. or a hog singed of its hair. Unless it is a sardine or oyster, which you you eat it guts and all? A friend and I just went in together on a heifer ( young cow) It was a pretty animal, but I DID NOT BUY IT FOR A PET, ok. One more mouth to feed I do not need right now. It dressed out at slightly over 250 lbs. ( to be crude- it was about 600 lbs. I shot it,and cut it’s throat, to bleed it. It felt no pain. That is forbidden by my religion – Christianity. When it came back, in neat packages, minus its skin and head ( what do you think hotdogs or sausages are made of – I told them keep the liver, also) I put it in the freezer. If you are gonna eat meat, you better know where it came from. I don’t eat foie gras, veal, or caviar… because of cruelty to the animals or fish involved. I just get tired of eating leafs, grasses and grains otherwise… Sorry. Kind of an omnivore. I will eat cow, pig, fish or chiken, cause if given the chance, they would eat me. I just happened to be born at the top of the food chain.
Tom
Haha, good old days eh? Upon seeing this post, all those good memories start to come back. Now, my friends and I are so damn busy and some of them in different parts of the world, it makes me wonder, when can I ever have so much fun like that again with the same old bunch of friends.
where is the dodgy vodka!! anyway we have a bottle of kwai fei at home too, goes really well with watermelon. cut a hole in the watermelon and infuse it with the lychee liquor. keshiokkan yang tak terhingga!
Oh, Kwai Feh Lychee Liqueur! It’s the only drink I’ll take straight. 😀 Quite nice and sweet.
Huei Bin,
Wrapped the corn with aluminum foil . . .then the juices will also assist in cooking the corn via steaming .
Do you think it’s necessary to bring dolphin snacks to attract ’em (if they’re around)? LOL. Black corn! Not that I’ve seen them sold at supermarkets or markets. Thanks for the tip regarding the Irrawaddy dolphins 🙂
To Samantha Poh; what a nice website you have. You are lovely, but need to find a younger guy than me, for sure. I enjoyed your site, but be careful, Sam. There are some not so nice guys out there. Wishing you only the best.
Tom
The bbq pit thingy looks like an old wok.
tom Robison: OMG! Why didn’t we think of that? It would be great to attempt to BBQ a small suckling pig. Or have some pork at least.
Yeah, I’ve been to some barbies in Australia, it’s pretty much similar everywhere – beer, salad etc.
I thought the fish was already gutted coz we got it in a hypermarket instead of a butcher (fishmonger?).
I’m an omnivore too, perhaps leaning more towards the carnivore pursuasion. 🙂
Love the idea of eating your heifer’s liver. I like the taste of liver.
Marlboro Guy: I hear you mate…a lot of my friends are scattered around the world too. It would be great to have a reunion of sorts. We just had our high school 10th year reunion. Now for the 20th year reunion. Jesus, we’re getting old. :S
YilingL: The dodgy vodka (what’s left of it) was disposed of by my coworkers. It’s rather horrible – locally distilled samsu. It even smells like methanol. :S
Yeah, I imagine that would taste really good on a hot afternoon…nice, cold watermelon infused with Kwai Feh Lychee liquer. 🙂
Naoko: Yeah, Windy was introduced to it by the ex-coworker that I never met. The German girl?
It’s too sweet and at 20%, it’s good as a mixer instead of for serious drinking.
foodcrazee: Unfortunately, we neglected to get aluminium foil. We got paper plates, plastic forks and spoons, disposable cups…but no foil. 🙂
Samantha Poh: Dolphin snacks? I was under the impression that a lot of Irrawaddy dolphins sightings depends on season, timing and luck. I haven’t seen the mammals myself, but a lot of other people have. Some had to take two or three trips to get to see it though.
Black corn is available in a lot of hypermarkets. There’s a Ta Kiong (Sibu import specialty place) in tHe Spring, you can check that place out.
Pixeldoll: I’m pretty sure it is an old wok. 🙂
I love Serendah coz they use a lot of quaint stuff. 🙂
omg dear hb, what is that black corn? Mind to tell me this kampung ppl?
goolooloo: It’s available in Ta Kiong la…
Just look at the refridgerated goods section. It’s imported from Taiwan or China. 🙂
euphemisms…undeniable man, you have good vocab but not vocal LOL
hitomi: That’s why I’m a blogger instead of an MC. 🙂
im hungry