We have finally reached year 2010. I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of you the love with your family and friends, the happiness and joy, the best of everything and of course, a better year a head. Happy New Year!


Caption: fireworks at Bandar Utama


Caption: fireworks

By the way, how did you celebrate your new year eve / new year? I have celebrated the new year eve in a very special and fortunate way because we get to eat something really huge, definitely more than any portion of food most people ever had in their lives. By the way, how many McDonald burgers can you eat in a meal? Let says 3 or 4 the most? Anyway, let me draw a clearer picture. Also, click on any photos to enlarge its size.


Caption: New York New Deli @ 1-Utama, opposite Cold Storage

Long ago, let says 4 months back, when Daryl told me about this humongous-sized burger and said: "this burger tastes really good, though the size is super huge!". Well, fine then since he suggested that the burger is really tasty, why not going there when I return home during Christmas. When I returned home, and listen to what they have said, I then noticed that eating this giant burger is free (no charges), if we accept the challenge. But what challenge was that? Brandon explained that this New York New York Deli restaurant has this "Giant Yankee Burger Challenge" where customers need not pay for the whole burger if they could finish the burger and fries within an hour. That sounded great to me because I love challenges. Although the fact is that currently no one posted any photos on blog, stating that they managed to complete the challenge. Is the burger really that difficult to finish? I have even browsed some photo's of the burger online, and I think I should be able to finish it (initially) within 30 minutes.


Caption: the original size of the burger (beef burger): taken from some blogs


Caption: inner burger

They planned to dine at New York New York Deli restaurant for celebrating New Year Eve, and so, Daryl asked me to not eat anything in the morning. Seriously, I think I have read this from some articles, stating that the theory of food consumption will not depend on how little we eat on that day. This simply means that not eating anything in the morning will not contribute to eating more at night. Therefore, I had a heavy breakfast before dinner. Aunty Georgia decided to join along to whitness the process; she wanted to see how are we finishing the giant-sized burger alone.


Caption: menu (READ THE MENU)

Seriosly, everyone had a shock when they know both Daryl and I are going for the 'giant yankee burger' challenge. Personally, I felt a little nervous when reading other people's blog. They sounded scary when mentioned the Giant yankee burger challenge in some online forums. In fact, it is true that most bloggers suggest that they were unable to finish the burger alone because the size of the burger itself, plus the significant portion of chips (or fries) are almost impossible to finish by a normal human being. I feel they are exaggerating when I saw some photos from some blogs: "Don't be a chicken, we dare you to finish the monster chicken burger alone". It was written very clearly on the menu. Though it sounded a little exaggerate, they have been browsing on Google and could not find anyone finishing the burger in time (within an hour). Weird, I am sure there must be someone who can finish it on earth. Else, this challenge is kind of worthless due to the waste of time.


Caption: when I planned to start eating the burger

The burger is enough to feed 4 people. The main ingredient of the burger is: 2 pounds of chicken/beef, 8 inches of bun (with a thickness of approximately 10-12cm including the bun and patty), with sauce, salad and cheese. By the way, 2.2 pounds is equal to 1 kilogram. Okay, here is the rules of the giant burger challenge. We have an hour (the time starts ticking based on our own watch). That was fair for me. According to the chef (Mr. Eric), the original challenge should have 1 kilogram of fries. However, they reduced the amount to around 700 gram (or so) of fries so someone could possibly win the challenge. They will ignore charging us if we could finish the burger.


Caption: daryl with his own strategy of finishing the buns first

So, we start eating. I could sense that aunty Georgia was staring at me when I start eating the first quarter of the burger. Although the workers in the restaurant suggest to finish the fries first, but I think I will not make it if i finish the fries first. Psychologically, I think I should finish the burger first. I remember finishing the first portion in 2 minutes and the next in around 3 minutes (finishing half the burger within 5 minutes), and worst is, I still feel okay after finishing half of the burger! The chicken patty is made off solid chicken meat (90% meat, 10% flour). This is what I told Brandon: "I will definitely finish the burger in time".


Caption: "enjoying" the challenge

I start feeling sick when I start eating the 3rd quarter of the burger. Why is that so? Because the size of the burger is really huge, and I could barely bite the burger properly. So what I do was to compress the size of the burger by force, pushing the 2 buns againsts the chicken patty to reduce the size of the burger in sight. Although the burger looks smaller now, the weight should be about the same. Anyway, I still had a hard time finishing the 3rd portion due to the texture of the bun; it is dry and gluey when I start chewing it whilst making my stomach bloated when start drinking plenty of water and swallowing it. I just continue biting and eating, drinking plenty of water and green tea, and finally finished the whole burger within 25 minutes of the elapsed time. Here is a tip. Green tea is helpful in digestion.


Caption: unfinished portion of fries on the plate

I started to have a tremendous bad feeling when staring at the fries. If the amount of fries is near to 1 kilogram (I believe it should be around 700 grams) in weight, how am I going to finish it in such condition. I have been thinking rapidly, again and again repeatedly. Overall, the burger tastes okay for me. The chicken is fine and tastes really good good. However, I will not recommend eating the bun if possible. The quality of the bun is bad, so keep chewing it will make it tougher to swallow. Time passes really quicly. Maybe an hour is not sufficient to finish the whole burger and fries entirely. The photo above was taken 20 minutes before the challenge ends.


Caption: Giant Yankee Burger Challenge [COMPLETED]

Daryl had become my main motivation for that challenge. I could see him eating non stop. I believe his stomach is really strong or energetic on that day. Simply giving up will make me look pretty weak *LOL*. In addition, it is silly by just giving up when I only have fries left in the plate. I start speeding up eating when I have 3 minutes left, and managed to complete the challenge within the remaining 5 to 6 seconds. Thank God! Anyway, I feel like vomitting later. Glad I did not finally.


Caption: the chef and I


Caption: hooray to both Daryl and I

Finally, the chef (Mr. Eric) told us that there were around 6 people who had successfully finished the challenge. Yes, only 6 people. He added: "one customer was from Singapore, and the rest were from East Malaysia (i.e. Sarawak, Sabah etc.)". Therefore, Daryl and I should ranked at 7 and 8 in the chart *LoL*. Mr. Eric added that "no one in Peninsula Malaysia has ever finished the challenge yet" so the two of us were probably the first in West Malaysia. Initially, we finish the challenge so we are not paying for the 2 burgers. I recalled Mr. Eric mentioned about giving us a free membership card (e.g. 10% discount on all their products, getting free drinks, etc.) but we have to wait till the restaurant to have such membership card and rewards. I am a patience person, so that should be fine by me *evil grin*.


Caption: the 2 orders were subsequently slashed out from the receipt

Therefore, says who a person cannot finish a giant yankee burger? To anyone who plan to accept the challenge, just go for it. Remember, if I can do it, then should able to do it! Trust yourself and you will definitely make it! Good luck.