Curry rice, very nice

I thought I would put up a few photos from lunch yesterday with Mel and N before I hit the sack!  I hadn't seen Mel in awhile and when she finally got a Friday off, we  made a date to meet.  She wanted to buy me a (belated) birthday lunch.  She'd recently got around to trying banana leaf rice (I couldn't believe she'd been missing out for so long!) and when she found out how much I loved it, she suggested Samy's Curry at Dempsey.

I love Samy's Curry, more for nostalgia than anything.  It used to be part of a very old civil service club branch and since my parents were both civil servants at one point, we used to go there a lot.  I have very fond childhood memories of the old eighties arcade games that we used to play while the food was being served.  After eating, we would take long walks or drives through the knee high grass that surrounded the main building.  There were small, empty churches or abandoned barracks with their windows smashed in.  

Now Dempsey is a hipster stomping ground, but Samy's looks exactly the same.

A not very picture of a very, very good meal.  If you've never eaten banana leaf rice, it's literally rice served on a banana leaf and piled high with tonnes of other dishes that commonly include chicken curry, two types of vegetables and papadums.  On top of that, you can choose things that you want to add on at extra cost.  I'm partial to fish cutlets, mutton mysore and chicken masala, washed down with neon green lime juice or chai masala. 

The flavours are absolutely awesome but it is a very spicy meal and I don't recommend it for Indian food novices.  I'm always dying to bring my foreign friends here but I'm never sure that they won't come away with a severe stomachache. 

Though they usually eat a fair level of spice, N and Mel really started sweating once we tucked in.  N sweated so much that the sunglasses that he had perched on his forehead started fogging up! 

N and I shared a dish of giant-ass prawns.  He was happy to share various bits with me because Mel doesn't eat red meat or seafood.

It was an awesome lunch and we laughed and chatted relaxedly over cups of tea afterwards.

I took pictures of this adorable cat that was chilling out by the stairs.  Some animals are natural camera hogs.  The moment I pointed my lens in its direction, the moggy rolled obligingly into a perfect pose.

On our way back to the car, we walked down a long sloping path framed by trees.  The path has been there since I was a child and I remember walking under pine needles that were still dripping leftover rain.  We decided to take a few photos and N got really crazy with the camera.

He insisted on taking this photo that looks as though we're holidaying in Cameron Highlands.  He got down on the ground, pointed the camera up at us, and when Mel said, "What are you doing?" in horror, he replied, "I'm very creative with my angles, okay?  I'm showing you the world from a dog's perspective."

We couldn't stop giggling after that.


He made us prance down the path and said, "Turn your butts to the camera."  Mel gave up halfway, but I'm an America's Next Top Model, yo.  That's dedication for you.

Not from the perspective of a dog: this shot taken by me.  I kind of love it - they're cute together and the pose is cool.  Mel wants me to say that N changed his shirt at least three times before deciding on this winner.

I have to admit, I loved her shirt more.

Afterwards, we headed over to Peninsula where I got my lenses.  N found a jamming studio tucked away in a cute little music memorabilia shop and we spent two hours singing everything from '60s rock songs to hymns.  (You may not believe it but ten years in a Catholic school means that I know As the Deer forwards and backwards.)

I was having so much fun I forgot my camera, but I do wish I had taken a picture of N looking very cool behind the drumset with his sunglasses and Mel belting lustily.  My beloved friend is, after all, a professional singer. 

I leave you with this test shot that I took on my new zoom lens in the shop, at 55mm, ISO 1600, aperture probably around 3.5.  I haven't touched anything except for upping the warmth by exactly four points to avoid the pasty-fluorescent-shop-light-look.  I really like the image quality (grain level is acceptable to me), especially for the price.

I'll put up some shots from the 35mm prime soon.

Thank you, Mel and N, for an awesome day out!  Mel and I have spent at least thirteen of our birthdays together and we don't intend to stop anytime soon.

Her smile here says it all: it was everything a Friday should be.