Dining Out with Bangsar Babe

I finally managed to catch up with Bangsar Babe aka Sue Lynn when we went to Albion KL for a food review and decided to find out what makes her tick.

TC: Why did you start blogging?

SL: I did it as an outlet to voice my thoughts and is a place to share my opinions. I hope people take them seriously as I put a lot of effort into the posts. As opposed to the advertising industry where the client calls the shots, I like to be in control of my reviews.

TC: Women on top huh? So I hear that you’re recently engaged. Do you wear the pants in the relationship?

SL: Haha! Sometimes I do, sometimes my boyfriend, err I mean fiance. I’m not a very organised person but he is so we complement each other. He actually set up the blog for me and the name Bangsar Babe was his idea.

 

TC: Well he certainly got the ‘babe’ part right. So tell me about your fiance.

SL: I honestly think he’s better than me at food blogging. It’s his natural skill. He can tell good cakes by just looking at them in the display and is well versed with KL roads and where to find food. His parents are even better! They seem to have a human radar for food. However one funny incident was when he took me out for Thai food when I was in college and I nearly died as I wasn’t accustomed to it. It took some years of training but now I can eat almost anything!

TC: Almost anything? So what can’t you stomach?

SL: Dogs, cats, spare parts. Hate liver, kidneys, Haggis (a traditional Scottish dish made of spare parts), steak and kidney pies. I don’t really like claypot chicken rice or chicken rice in general but nowadays I don’t mind the Ipoh chicken rice at Satellite Restaurant in Jalan Gasing.

 

TC: Describe your family.

SL: My family believes in eating organic foods. Really! You won’t find any junk food in my house. When we do go out to eat it’s almost always Chinese cuisine and the same few dishes.

TC: Guess that’s why you enjoy your food reviews so much. So what accompaniment do you personally like with your nasi lemak?

SL: Deep fried paru!

TC: If you had to pick just one thing to eat everyday for the rest of your life what would it be?

SL: Can I pick two? Wantan hor and curry mee!

 

TC: Have you ever had a dish so good it was like having an orgasm?

SL: Hmmmm… I’d have to say the tiramisu at Prime, Le Meridien. Eating it felt like a dream, it didn’t taste like anything I’d had before and it was full of Sambuca!

TC: What have you heard people describe you as?

SL: Greedy by my mum and fiance haha! My dad calls me an ‘eating machine’ as I eat pretty fast and have a tendency not to chew my food. Fussy, honest, reliable, skinny? I don’t like people describing me as hot or sexy though.

TC: Eating machine huh? How do you maintain your trim figure?

SL: I eat lots of healthy organic foods and simple dishes such steamed fish at home. Nothing fried and no processed meats. I eat lots of vege and fruits too. Sometimes I just have a bowl of noodles or a salad for lunch.

 

TC: Any other things we should know about you?

SL: I can cook! Everyone thinks that I can just eat, eat and eat. I make good roast chicken, pastas, stew, and Hungarian goulash which was thought by my housemates in UK. I also bake a lot especially muffins in the UK and I forced my housemates to eat them muahahaha!

I want to be known as a serious food blogger as opposed to having tons of sexy photos of myself to attract readers to my blog.

I never considered myself sexy or hot.

TC: Then what made you join pageants? (Sue Lynn was a finalist in Miss Universe Malaysia 2008, Miss Malaysia World 2009 and Miss Universe Malaysia 2010)

SL: The shallow side of me was curious. I soon learned to enjoy the glam factor and getting the attention and pampering. It was a good learning experience for me. when I joined Miss Universe Malaysia (MUM) 2008 I didn’t even know how to put on eyeliner or mascara. I actually accidentally joined MUM when I wanted to join Miss Malaysia World. I thought both were one and the same!

The two weeks at the pageant were harder than working – the training, high heels, long hours, etc. etc.

Good thing Soo Vincci helped me with my makeup and actually gave me her Mac eyeliner and a pair of high heels. She was one of the nicest pageant contestant and she eventually went on to win Miss Malaysia World.

Fortunately now I’m a pro at makeup and heels thanks to my pageant experience. When I joined MUM in 2008 I only brought along a handful of dresses and two high heels. In contrast, when I joined Miss World the year after I brought along 12 dresses, 18 pairs of high heels and a huge makeup kit.

 

TC: Plans for the future?

SL: I hope to someday be a food host and have my own TV show. I enjoy reading books by Jeffrey Steingarten and Anthony Bourdain. As for TV shows, I like Fiona Xie as she pretty (Tim agrees wholeheartedly!), Nigella Lawson as she’s got a special aura around her (Tim just calls it food porn) and Robert Rainford as he makes BBQ look good!

I would also like to see my blog grow and perhaps to have more food columns in the press (Sue Lynn currently writes for The Star).

 

Sue Lynn’s blog is http://bangsar-babe.blogspot.com/