Sometime before Christmas 2010, I was very fortunate to be invited to a culinary retreat at Bayan Indah. When I was first invited for it, I wasn’t too keen as it was on a weekday evening and we had to be there by 6:00 pm. Knowing that it is somewhere in Kampung Penchala, which would mean that I had to leave my office early, go home and freshen up and drive a good 40 minutes (I thought) to the location …
After a smooth drive (by paying lots of tolls to ensure that we arrive on time), we got to Kampung Penchala and from there on, it was … how should I put it … an interesting drive that can only be done with very specific directions that we obtained from Bayan Indah. The instructions were something along the lines of “when you see a large bins on the right, turn left, drive on straight and you will see a left turn with yellow houses on the left and right” (those were not the actual instructions but you get the idea). And guess what! We were the first from our group to arrive! Upon arrival and entering the very serene “resort”, I was immediately rejuvenated even after having started my day early in the office.
The place was so well looked after and a very “tidy” jungle retreat. As it was drizzling, we went to the main function area where the tables have been laid out and free flow of coffee was made available. One thing I must say, although the coffee was instant coffee, being the an area surrounded by lush green “forestry" and with the slight drizzle … the coffee tasted so goooood.
I will not say too much about the place, it is just a very pleasant place to “retreat” to if you have been spending your time in the city, visiting malls, living in the concrete jungle, stuck in traffic jams … well, this is definitely a place worth visiting.
As it is a culinary retreat, part of our X’mas party was also to prepare the food ourselves. To keep it short, my experience is beyond my expectations as firstly, they have a kitchen that was so inviting and so well laid out; secondly, our main host (Rohani Jelani) and her assistants were so patient and made the whole experience very relaxing and enjoyable; and thirdly, our group was just great! lively with some starting out shy about their lack of cooking experiences (but hey, just look at what they came out with in the pictures below!).
My station (above), the person who ended up without a proper recipe and a super-duper large fish with a vegetable that I have never cooked before!
Ok, enough about my “handiwork”, here are some other “professionals” at work!
Back to other creations!
To get much better pictures from the event and to know more about Bayan Indah, you can visit their website at www.bayanindah.com or even better follow them on Facebook!
As for the location … contact them to setup your culinary retreat! It is definitely well worth the experience and I will definitely try to get back there again.
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