AS RICH AS CROESUS

Halal restaurants in Guangzhou

2012-02-17T17:01:00.003+08:00

Hi all, just got back from Guangzhou, China (again!!), went there on 13/2/12 to 16/2/12 to attend to FAT (Factory Acceptance Test) of escalators and travellators.

Last visit in Dec 2010 and the factory was not ready to perform the test then and we had to re-visit. A lot of drama as well before the departure date but thank God everything went well.

Day 1 13/2/12
We left KL at 9.30am and reached Guangzhou at about 1.35pm. After getting our bags, checked in at hotel, we met up for dinner. But too early for dinner, so we stopped by at White Cloud Mountain to walk around and later off we went to a restaurant for dinner. Where? one of favourite restaurants in Guangzhou - Abdullah Qinghai restaurant. We ordered lots of food (fried chicken, big plate of chicken, veg, lamb etc), we enjoyed the food but 'the big plate chicken' was too salty for our liking and we ended up wasting it. After dinner we went to Beijing Street for shopping. I didn't buy much as I had visited the same place in Dec 2010. I bought boot for my nephew (RM15), laser pointer (RM25), sweater (RM20) and sotong snack (8 packs, RM12/pack). and that was all :-).
Went back to hotel n zzzzzzzzzz

Day 2 14/2/12
FAT from morning till 5pm or so. Lunch break the factory driver took us to a place and that place was closed! But time was short and we saw across the road there was halal restaurant and decided to try. Albaraka Restaurant. The newly opened restaurant serves chinese food, arab food, african food etc, however on 14/2, they only have chinese food. Food was not bad all and definitely will stop by here if we go to Guangzhou again.

For dinner, we suggested seafood and the driver brought us to 1001 night restaurant. A lebanese restaurant! The food is so so. Will never go back to this place.

After dinner, too late for shopping and went back to sleep.

Day 3 15/2/12
Factory arranged for Guangzhou tour. We went to Yuexiu Park to take photo with 5 goats statues (Guangzhou symbol). Then off we went to Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall. Then followed by a Muslim street (lots of Muslim shops here, Huaisheng Mosque can also be visited here), later off we went to Ancestral Temple of the Chen Family (also called Chen Clan Academy or Chen's Lineage Hall but now serves as Guangdong Museum of Folk Arts and Crafts). After visiting Chen's Temple, we were hungry and we went back to Guangta Road (Muslim street). We were sick of kebab and lambs and looking for halal cantonese meal but not to be found and we ended up having another uighur meal right opposite Huaisheng Mosque. Not bad at all.

After lunch, one group preferred shopping while the other preferred sightseeing. The shopping group went to Beijing Street while the rest of us (including me) went to Shamian Island. Very similar to Georgetown in Penang. Then off we went to our next stop Flower City Square. Wow! nice buildings!!

After the square, we went back to hotel to freshen up and off to dinner. This time seafood dinner at Moslem Restaurant. Will update the address here later.

I enjoyed my meal here the most as compared to the other restaurants. Then back to hotel to rest.

Day 4 16/2/12
Time to leave Guangzhou. We went to airport at 11am n once at the airport we enjoyed halal noodle at the shop at the airport. Fantastic!! Another must go place in Guangzhou.

Reached Malaysia at abt 7pm.

Will update with websites of the places we went later.

Halal restaurants in Zhongshan & Guangzhou

2011-12-27T00:14:00.002+08:00

Hi, I just got back from China, went there on 18/12/11 and came back on 24/12/11.

Went there on business trip. I was in Zhongshan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhongshan to visit ThyssenKrupp elevator factory and I was in Guangzhou to visit Otis escalator & travellator factory.

18/12/11 (Sunday)

We landed at Guangzhou Airport on 18/12/11 and it was warm (colder than KL but hotter than Genting) and we were puzzled why locals wrapped up with thick coat, shawl, hat, boothttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifs.

ThyssenKrupp rep waited for us at the airport and took us to Zhongshan (2 hours drive away). We checked in at King Century Hotel

We reached the hotel at about 4.30pm, after checked in we went for coffee at Starbucks outlet nearby. The hotel? The room is big and breakfast spread..hmm not much choice for muslim just bread, cereals and grilled fish!

Bernard the ThyssenKrupp rep took us to dinner at Xin Yue Muslim Restaurant everyone enjoyed the xinjiang food dinner and looked forward to tomorrow's lunch at the same restaurant! After dinner, Bernard took to us to walk around/window shop at Zhongshan pedestrian street shops. Bernard took us back to the hotel and the group was split into 3 groups! one group continued shopping at the pedestrian street, the next group prefer to go experience Zhongshan clubbing scene while me and another guy preferred to go for full body massage. Not bad, 1 hour/person was only 40 Yuan (RM20).

19/12/11 Monday
Full day at the factory. Bernard did a splendid job, everything is ready and he had arranged for right persons to answer all our queries. All the tests passed with flying colours. Client wanted to cramp all the tests today, so we shorten our lunch and the factory had arranged for KFC lunch delivery for us (prawn burger n chips). After the visit, Bernard took us for massage (I opted for foot reflexology), according to Bernard it was about 70 yuan (RM35), the rest opted for body massage. After massage we went to Xin Yue Muslim Restaurant again and met up with 3 guys from ThyssenKrupp escalator/travellator/PBB factory. Again, very tasty dinner. Lots of grilled meat (beef, lamb, chickens). I did not snap any pictures, ha ha to shy to do that but you can view similar food here the ThyssenKrupp guys told us, Xin Yue is not the only muslim restaurant in town! well...maybe next time.

After dinner, the group decided to go for shopping n clubbing again but I opted to go back to hotel.

20/12/11 Tuesday
We checked out from King Century Hotel and took 2 hours drive to Guangzhou. Checked in into Westin Hotel nice hotel. After checking in, Bernard took us for lunch at Xin Jiang Building Glass House. More xinjiang food and can't imagine more xinjiang food until 23/12/11! After lunch off we went to Shangxia Jiu Lu to shop.

I didn't buy anything though I found few interesting sweaters n clothes for my nieces/nephews as I still have 3 more days in Guangzhou.

After shopping, went back to hotel to freshen up. We decided to go for light dinner at Subway (I had tuna sandwich), after dinner, again others decided to go clubbing while I went back to hotel to enjoy warm cozy bed n tv.

21/12/11 Wednesday
Breakfast spread at Westin is huge, more choices for me. After breakfast, client group packed and ready to depart for airport. While waiting for 2nd group to arrive, 3 of us decided to venture to Beijing Road (Beijing Lu) by using Guangzhou Metro

We had sushi for lunch (very expensive) and then the 2nd group arrived n we had to rush to hotel to meet them. Dinner was at Guang Zhou Xin Yue Muslim Restaurant (same building as Glass House Restaurant where we had our lunch earlier). Thankfully my project team member who was with us in earlier group went to the restaurant first with the rest of the new group and he ordered different kind of food (more cantonese rather than xinjiang food).

Otis guy was not prepared and very inexperienced. He didn't bring enough yuan and he was on tight budget! The restaurant did not accept his card and he had to borrow money to pay for dinner! After dinner he disappeared! OMG! Your host disappeared...tsk tsk tsk I had to call him n reminded him that he's with clients and he should not behaved the way he did. He came back half and hour later and we had advised him on proper way to conduct the Factory Acceptance Test (FAT). He listened but decided to do his way..sigh..

22/12/11 Thursday
Factory not ready for FAT and the day was filled up with shopping activities at Beijing Road. Since Otis guy has no cash, he looked around for a place that can accept his card and decided to bring us to Ritz Carlton Hotel for lunch! Fancy place but he decided to place lunch order himself without asking group members if the food is acceptable to all! He ordered bread, salad and fried rice....sigh..

He seemed to forget client pay for everything and he's not spending Otis's money but he's spending client's money!

After lunch, we returned back to hotel and later that night we went to Ottoman Restaurant (again in front of everyone Otis guy asked the restaurant if they'll accept his card and again to control his budget, Otis guy ordered for everyone). We went back to hotel and later some of the group members ventured out to check out Guangzhou night life.

23/12/11 Friday
After breakfast, we went to Otis factory. After controversial briefing (Otis rep was not prepared), Otis guy sent us to the nearby reflexology centre as he needed to prepare inspection form! Clients were furious but tolerated but when we made to wait at the centre and nobody attended to us, they can't no longer repressed their anger and decided to walk back to otis factory and demanded to continue with the FAT! after few minutes we noticed they were not ready and some of the components were not even available at the factory! The clients can no longer tolerated and they exploded!
The FAT didn't end well. The Otis guy failed in PR (dealing with people) and he was disorganized from day 1. Very disappointing!

We went for dinner at Abdullah Qinghai Moslem Restaurant everyone tried to forget what happened earlier at the factory but with not much success.

After dinner, we were taken for massage (again I opted for foot reflexology), a bit too late for Otis to pamper their guests n develop good PR but I guess it was their way of apologizing for their screw up.

24/12/11 Saturday
Thank God, the ordeal was over n time to go home...

Selamat Hari Raya Idul Adha 2011

2011-11-07T22:49:00.003+08:00

Salam and hi guys,

Been really busy with my current project and had no time to update this blog.

This year, my parents came to KL, well my father came to recuperate. He had nasty infection on his ankle and the swelling even spread to his leg. Went to see doctor and he was given antibiotic. The swelling reduced but he has not recovered fully and thankfully yesterday (raya haji) he's well enough to participate.

Few Days Before Raya:
This year we celebrated raya in KL since both parents are here. To make them feel at home I suggested that we (my siblings) 'gotong royong' and cook at my bro's house in U-Thant and celebrate raya at his place since he has big house and big compound (can cook outside and plenty of place to park our cars).

But response was not good and it seems 'pot luck' was the preferred option. So, I volunteered to buy cakes & cookies from Suanson; fruits (watermelon and honey dew); while my bro offered to prepare 'ketupat pulut daun palas'and beef curry; my eldest niece (2nd sis's eldest daughter) offered ketupat nasi and kuah kacang; my sis (4th sibling) offered rendang & lemang;

Raya Eve 5/11/10
Raya eve, everyone busy at their own house, so I bought laksa curry from Group Base so we could have dinner together.

Stayed there until 10pm and left.

Hari Raya 6/11/10
My alarm clock rang and I switched it off thinking it was another Sunday! woke up again at 9pm something and realized it was raya day! Rushed to shower n drove like mad woman to my bro's house.

Everyone turned up and I was the last one to arrive! Blush blush....Then, makan time..all that I mentioned above spread on the table for us to sample..yum yum. Everyone enjoyed cakes I bought from Suanson (carrot walnut, chocolate fudge & lemon wonder)

Ha ha with stomach full everyone chit chatted and slowly each family excused themselves since they need to prepare food for next family meals.

Lunch - my second sis invited everyone to her house. Her children and her prepared dalca, acar, roast chicken, fried chicken, nasi tomato, butter rice, lychee jelly.

Dinner - my sis (4th sibling) invited everyone to her house for dinner. Menu? lontong, kuah lodeh, sambal ikan bilis, laksa siam, rendang ayam.

2nd Daya Raya 7/11/10
My youngest sis invited everyone to her house for aqiqah do. Menu? roast lamb, coleslaw, grilled potato, rice, ayam masak merah, dalca, lamb stew.

quite enjoyable raya. at least we don't need to drive 5hours to get to see my parents and raya with them..

Refer here if wish you wish to learn more about subjects mentioned above:
Suanson cakes http://www.suanson.com.my/delivery.htm
Ketupat palas http://nasilemaklover.blogspot.com/2011/08/homemade-ketupat-daun-palas.html
Beef Curry
Groupbase http://parfait10.blogspot.com/2011/05/dinner-groupbase-bandar-sri-damansara.html
http://www.sajionline.com.my/index.php/ayam-dan-daging-othermenu-117/1011-kari-daging-kerisik.html
Ketupat nasi http://mwdah.blogspot.com/2011/09/interesting-story-ketupat-dan-lemang.html
Kuah Kacang http://e-nalovelykitchen.blogspot.com/2010/06/kuah-kacang-daging.html
rendang
Lemang http://www.foodbuzz.com/blogs/my/malaysia/549839-lemang-pak-ali-warisan-jalan-au5-lembah-keramat-kuala-lumpur
Rendang http://homefamilysite.com/blog/resepi-rendang-ayam/
Dalca http://www.myresipi.com/top/detail/1332
Acar http://psittacula.wordpress.com/2007/09/05/acar-buah-buahan/
roast chicken http://www.femail.com.au/roast-chicken-with-lemon-and-thyme.htm
Fried chicken http://emymilia.blogspot.com/2010/11/ayam-goreng-berempah-mabelesss.html
Nasi Tomato http://surayaartis.blogspot.com/2011/08/resepi-juadah-berbuka-puasa-nasi-tomato.html
Butter Rice http://nasilemaklover.blogspot.com/2010/10/butter-rice.html
Lychee Jelly http://sugar-inc.blogspot.com/2010/12/lychee-jelly-recipe.html
lontong / kuah lodeh http://www.myrecipepages.com/2011/08/02/soup/simple-kuah-lodehvegetable-soup/
sambal ikan bilis http://www.blogresipi.com/2010/01/22/ayam-tandoori-goreng-dan-sambal-ikan-bilis/

Delicious cafe vs Theobroma Chocolate Lounge

2011-03-27T22:12:00.005+08:00

Hmmm..been very busy n had been neglegting this blog for many moons ha ha..anyway, few weeks back my ex-boss arranged a dinner for ex-colleagues and another ex-boss who just got back from India (he's working there), due to busy schedule I had to miss the dinner at E-San Thai Kitchen Ara Damansara http://food.malaysiamostwanted.com/venues/e-san-thai-kitchen-ara-damansara. My ex-boss fav restaurant it seems. He took us to the other branch in Taman Seputeh before http://food.malaysiamostwanted.com/venues/e-san-kitchen-taman-seputeh

Anyway, I had not seen my ex-colleagues TH (last met her during our Bangkok trip during xmas 2010), VK & NMM...since our dinner at VK's place. So, NMM called and insisted that we should have dinner soon. Since I'm only available on Sunday, NMM suggested we meet up for tea. I suggested Delicious since as UOB card holder, I can have 50% discount on 26/3/11 n 27/3/11...

On Saturday, my bf was busy with wedding dinner, so I went to 1U n walked into Theobroma Chocolate Lounge (bloggers seem to adore this place), ordered their Iceberg Lady and Seafood Spaghetti Olio Olio. The verdict? Iceberg Lady is just ok n the spaghetti Olio Olio not that satisfying...lack the oomph. For price visit here http://www.chocolatelounge.com.my/

Anyway, after the meal, I walked over to Delicious and tapau "Pan Seared Cod served with Sauteed Prawns on Ratatouille & Fried Potatoes" and "Aglio Olio Spaghettini with seafood". The cod fish was delicious but quite pricy at RM48.90 however at 50% discount, why not? The spaghettini..much better than the one in Theobroma Chocolate Lounge. http://www.delicious.com.my/#menu_mains

So, Sunday came and I got 2 massages from NMM n VK that they'll be late. I texted TH and she was at Mark & Spencer. We walked over to Delicious and she ordered "Hearty Noodle Soup with Cod, Vermicelli, Salted Vegetables & Tomato" and I ordered "Pan-seared Crispy Skin Salmon served with Coriander Relish, Asparagus & Fried Potatoes" and for drinks I ordered "Watermelon & Lychee Blast" and TH ordered "Frosty Lychee & Lime'. We enjoyed our late lunch and NMM arrived. She ordered Caesar Salad with Salmon and same drink as TH. VK arrived when I had finished my salmon n she ordered Caesar Salad with chicken. All of us enjoyed our selection. Then we decided to try "Traditional English Afternoon Tea for Two"....we can choose one cake from the display cabinet. "Peach Frangipane with Vanilla Ice Cream" looks good.

The set came with:
Warm Scones with Preserves & Fresh Cream
Assortment of Finger Sandwiches & Duck Confit in Filo Pastry
Strawberry Chocolate dip & Hand-Rolled chocolate truffles
Rosemary & Cheese Cookies
Choice of any one cake on display - we chose Peach Frangipane with Vanilla Ice Cream
Choice of any two cups of tea

Everyone attacked the scones first, then the peach frangipani. the scone is nice but the peach frangipani is just way too sweet...we couldn't finish the set n decided to tapau the leftover..

We stayed there for almost 4 hours and spend almost RM300 (RM287.20 to be exact), but at 50% discount and good chatty time with old friends...priceless.

What others said about Delicious & Theobrama n E San:
http://food.malaysiamostwanted.com/venues/theobroma-chocolate-lounge-one-utama

http://food.malaysiamostwanted.com/venues/delicious-cafe-tea-bread-one-utama-pj

http://food.malaysiamostwanted.com/venues/e-san-thai-kitchen-ara-damansara

http://food.malaysiamostwanted.com/venues/e-san-kitchen-taman-seputeh

Portuguese Settlement & Asam Pedas

2010-11-22T12:26:00.002+08:00

I just got back from Melaka yesterday. Went there with my sis, 3 nieces n 2 nephews. My bro's family need to attend my niece's convocation do in Trengganu so my bro's asked for our help to send his son to Kolej Yayasan Saad for final selection program (form 1 intake) http://kysm.edu.my/

Anyway, we got there about 3pm++, sat for briefing etc and proceeded to check-in into our accommodation for the night at Garden City Apartment http://www.gardencity.com.my/

Not a bad place, we have stayed here before during our family outing years ago, the place looks like any residential apartment. Reasonably clean though one lift was down so long queue to use the lift and most peoples decided to use staircase. The bed in our unit..hmm need to be careful, my 3 year old nephew kept on asking why is the bed tilting when we slept on it.

That night we went for dinner at Portuguese Settlement, as usual the moment you parked your car, a group of them came to 'promote' their stalls. We felt harassed n decided to walk around before deciding which stall to have our dinner at. While walking around, we googled and found someone recommended stall 88, hmm not a good choice. We had scallops cooked with dried chillies (powdered chilly tasted uncooked), butter prawns (guts not cleaned), Portuguese bake fish (tasted so so), sotong fritters (not nice), garlic kailan (nice), cili padi lala (nice). Total inclusive drinks for 5pax RM138.00

After dinner, went back to the apartment n zzz. Next morning had bread n peanut butter for breakfast. For lunch we decided to look for best asam pedas daging in Melaka, googled and someone suggested 'Restoren Nasi Ayam Special di Bachang', she mentioned http://www.kakinakl.com/2010/05/makan-apa-yang-sedap-di-melakabest.html it is nearby Melaka Sentral, so we went looking and couldn't find the place, we were hungry and saw this restaurant "Restoran Cinta Rasa & Kafe" at Plaza Melaka Sentral. Their daun ubi masak lemak cili padi is delicious, their asam pedas daging is not bad too. lunch cost us RM38 for 4pax.

After lunch off to KL

===================================================================================
Excerpt from my blog entry in 2009:
The stalls -

* Seafood Terrace
* Joan n El' Chico's - we had our lunch here
* Seafront
* Joe Splash Five
* Big Benz Fountain
* Jenny Kopitiam
* J&J Corner
* De Costas

Food? Delicious! We had clams (lala), grilled portuguese fish, brinjall (portuguese style) and butter prawns. Total? RM80++?

What others said about Portuguese Settlement:

* http://www.usj.com.my/bulletin/upload/showthread.php?t=24358
* http://j2kfm.blogspot.com/2009/01/seafood-portuguese-settlement-melaka.html
* http://www.iwannaseetheworld.com/?p=7
* http://www.foodpoi.com/2008/10/portuguese-settlement-sea-terrace-seafood/
* http://jasonmumbles.com/2008/12/sea-terrance-portuguese-settlement
* http://jasonmumbles.com/2009/01/revisitng-sea-terrace-portuguese-settlement
* http://absolutginger.com/tag/portuguese-settlement/
* http://www.melaka.org.my/eatingout/portuguese.html
* http://food.malaysiamostwanted.com/venues/only-one-mango-juice-portuguese-settlement

Halal restaurants in Hong Kong & Shenzen

2010-05-28T22:03:00.010+08:00

Salam all,

I just got back from Hong Kong & Shenzen last Sunday. I was there for 5D/4N with my family and we were there with other tour group members (we joined Reliance tour group http://www.tourworld.com.my/pdf/hong_kong/riang_ria/MHS_MHD_28122009.pdf )

Cost/adult: RM2,629.00 (return flight, accommodation, food, disney pass, transport (tram, train, bus) including airport tax 340.00; visa 90.00; tipping 80.00)

We rented a van to/fro KLIA/Jln U-Thant, cost us RM380 (RM190 per trip).

Day 1
We arrived at the HK airport as scheduled, after passing the immigration counters, the group waited for everyone to gather but 8 were missing! They were detained by the immigration department! All those with Muhammad or Ahmad in their names (including my nephew). We waited for almost an hour! While waiting we went to buy water, prepaid card at the airport. Guess what a piece of sweets which sells for RM0.20 for 3pcs in KL cost? HKD1...the IDD prepaid card? HKD60..http://www.2cardphone.com/prod_detail.asp?fid=201&id=819&sjcard_id=

Finally all those Muhammads & Ahmads were released and we proceeded to Prudential Hotel. On the way to the hotel we were amazed at Hong Kong's busy port and tall tiny apartments...(We stayed at Prudential Hotel located at Nathan Road http://www.prudentialhotel.com/
Excellent location with MTR station close by but the hotel is located above a shopping complex (looks like Sungai Wang to me)..)

No meals were provided by the programme on day 1; so my sis & sis-in-law cooked dishes (beef with soy sauce (daging masak kicap), rendang, sambal ikan bilis and rice. They also brought with them plenty other food - cucumber (timun), chinese turnip (sengkuang) n pecal sauce; instant noodles, snacks etc. They packed them carefully and our dinner on day 1 was excellent :-)

After dinner, we freshened up and started checking out the area around the hotel. I went to a shop and asked a girl to help me translating the chinese characters on my phone but before I can say anything more than 'can you help me...' she abruptly cut me off by saying NO! How rude!!

Anyway, we walked around Nathan Road, Jordan Road then it started pouring..my sis bought a windbreaker so that we could go back to the hotel without her 3-yr old son getting wet (he was whining that he wanted to go back to hotel)..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Road
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordan_Road,_Hong_Kong
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_Street,_Hong_Kong

We got back to the hotel, showered again and zzzzzz

Day 1 Solat: hotel

Day 1 Purchase:
water (HKD11); prepaid card (HKD60); kitkat; coke (regular n lemon)

Day 2
We had halal dim sum for breakfast at Osman Ramju Sadick Islamic Centre
http://www.cnngo.com/hong-kong/none/halal-dim-sum-212805

After b'fast? DISNEYLAND!!

We were told there's no halal food inside Disneyland, so my sis packed dim sum from the canteen as our lunch, the operator said with his halal sticker, Disney will allow us to bring the food in, we asked the guard (they checked your bag before letting you in) and he told us to leave the food with customers' service office and collect them later when we want to have our lunch.

Disneyland - small compared to the one in Orlando http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/attractions/?resultSet=165page=2 (of course) but the system is much improved, they have fast lane access where you you book your entrance (using your entry ticket and machine), so you book your entry for popular rides, walk around and come back without the need to queue for long period of time. When I was in Florida we wasted time on queuing...

Parks - a fraction of what is on offer in Orlando - Hong Kong offers Main Street, U.S.A. , Adventureland, Fantasyland and Tomorrowland.

n of course it is a bit weird that many Disney characters are mostly asians..ha ha..

Anyway, since it is very small one can try all the rides n watch all shows in 1 day..

Food wise - nothing interesting - typical American fast food...

Apart from the rides n shows of course one can shop for souvenirs base on Disney characters - I bought plenty of key chains and mugs...

Before we left we watched fireworks - interesting!! When I was in Florida, everyone watched the show by standing up but here most people just sat on the ground...:-) very Asian and very considerate for the shorties..

http://park.hongkongdisneyland.com/hkdl/en_US/home/home?name=HomePage

ohh if you wish to perform your solat, Disney is very considerate, just go to emergency aid centre, tell the staffs you want to pray and they'll allocate a room for you. Just remember to bring your own praying gear (praying mat, telekung, compass)

Back at the hotel we were all very tired, everyone decided to stay in and had dinner in the room (Brahim http://www.brahimsfood.com/products.html ,maggi http://www.maggi.com.my/); But my nephew & I decided to venture out to Temple Street n try out local street food. We went to Ah Long Pakistani Halal Food (95B G/F, Woosung Street, Jordan Road;T: 23677489); recommended by our tour guide. We had rice n curry (he had chicken n I had beef) n coke. A bit weird as in M'sia we will have more than 1 dish for such meal (vegetable, n at least 2 dishes)...anyway, hot food tasted really good as we were hungry n tired..Price? RM32++..including 2 packs of plain rice for my nephew n brother. Then we went next door to Delhi restaurant to buy kebab for my sis. Price - RM30-RM40. Plenty of halal restaurants in this area.

http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/dining/images/gp_pdf_hala.pdf

After dinner? zzzzzzzz

Day 2 solat: emergency aid room Disneyland

Day 2 Purchase:
Mugs x 3; photos; keychain x 3; cookies x 1; ice cream x 2; juice x 2; watches x 2; crayons x 1;

Day 3
We had breakfast halal dim sum at Osman Ramju Sadick Islamic Centre again..on first day we finished almost everything. Today? We got a bit jelak (tired) of the food and plenty was left wasted.

After breakfast we were taken to a jewelery factory (more like herd of cattle were led to be slaughtered) http://valdezfamilyinbangkok.blogspot.com/2009/05/hong-kong-macau-jewelry-factory.html I can't remember the shop name and my receipt is in chinese...

next off to Repulse bay (30min) to post with Jacky Chan's house on the background...; before that we were taken to Aberdeen harbour - basically we were shoved into a sampan, once in, the operator asked us for money! money! She took us around the harbour - passing through jumbo floating restaurant, boat houses, yatchs n back to the jetty.

http://www.jumbo.com.hk/eng/main.php

Then back to Osman Ramju Sadick Islamic Centre for lunch (http://www.islam.org.hk/eng/E-HKmosque.asp); good food but were still full from our breakfast n again lots of wasted food.

Next off to The Peak by tram, lots of people at the station it seems it was Hong Kong's public holiday (Buddha’s Birthday and Cheung Chau Bun Festival). Atop the peak? a shopping mall! also one can visit Madame Tussaud, again smaller than the one in London http://www.madametussauds.com/

After The Peak, the guide told us that we'll stop at Ginseng shop next before proceeding to train station for our Shenzen trip. We asked him what time are we supposed to reach Shenzen n he mentioned abt 6.30pm or so; we told him that we need to pray (zohor/asar) first as it will be too late by the time we reach Shenzen. He looked puzzle (he's not a muslim) as it is not in his programme (of course ginseng shop must be in his itinerary for his commission), we suggested we can pray at the ginseng shop or at the train station but he said both places are not suitable. He suggested that we pray in the bus! I guess we can, if we are desperate but surely there's other option? Finally he discussed with the bus driver and he suggested Kowloon Mosque! Wow! genius....see if you speak out, people will surprise you...

Since he needs his commission, of course he led us to another slaughter house - ginseng shop, same modus operandi, we were given short brief on ginseng and sales talk began n they kept on harassing us to buy their stuffs..all cost more than RM100....sigh

After the shop, we were taken to Kowloon Mosque as promised for our zohor n asar prayer before going to train station for our journey to Shenzen. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kowloon_Masjid_and_Islamic_Centre

The train journey is ok, typical...but the crossing over is another story...

After the train stops, we had to walk to an immigration control point (to depart from Hong Kong) then walk further to China side 9to enter China), then walk further (with heavy luggage), up the escalators, pass through shopping mall, up/down the stairs before reaching our bus! By the time we got to the bus everyone was panting..Not advisable for kids, sickly n elderly..

The China guide welcomed us, he speak fluent indonesian (speaks no english unlike our Hong Kong guide who is fluent in both English n Indonesian). He took us to a restaurant for dinner at Shenzhen Muslim Hotel Restaurant http://www.muslim-hotel.com/ Add:1023, Wenjin South Road, Luohu district, Shenzhen Phone:+86-755-82228207

Food? pretty good xinjiang food. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuisine_of_Xinjiang

After dinner we were taken to Century Plaza Hotel http://www.centuryplazahotel-shenzhen.com/ - good location, near shopping area n train station. After freshen up zzzzzzz

Day 3 solat: Kowloon Mosque

Day 3 Purchase:
jade pendants x 2; jade Pixiu x 2; preserve strawberry (HKD320); Aberdeen sampan fare; photo; coke; Madamme Tussaud ticket (HKD135)

credit card: HKD3,300 (jade pendant)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixiu

Day 4
We had breakfast at the hotel, very small buffet selection - bread, buns, cakes, fried rice, boiled eggs, baked beans n sausages. Hmm the restaurant menu includes pork in its offer, so it is interesting to see these malaysian families wearing head scarves feeding sausages to their kids! They assumed the meat is halal since we are in muslim tour group!

Anyway, after breakfast again another slaughter house - jade shop, and then silk shop. Lunch was at another muslim restaurant (plenty in Shenzen) refer here
http://www.islamichina.com/halalfood/halalfoodbydistrict.asp?did=45

but same dishes.....

After lunch we were taken to The China Folk Culture Village http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Folk_Culture_Village but it rained heavily.. so after touring the area with monorail http://www.travel-hongkong-attractions.com/shenzhen-attractions.html we decided to skip the park and headed to Luohu Mall http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luohu_Commercial_City

monorail note - nothing much to see due to trees hampering views of whatever we were supposed to see..

After Luohu Mall - we were back at the hotel, freshen up n then off to dinner at another another muslim restaurant- again same dishes.....

after dinner, off to Dong Man market for more shopping; http://www.shopinshenzhen.com/tips.htm

Day 4 Solat: hotel

Day 4 Purchase:
prepaid card (Y150);gold bracelet x 1; uygur bread x 2 (Y6 x 2); snacks x 3; tea x 2; tram ticket x 1; t-shirt x 2 (Y69.50 x 2); handbag x 1; socks x 3 (Y10 x 3); Massage x 1 (Y79); bao fu ling x 2 (Y250 x 2); mini slow cooker (Y30); adaptor (Y65).

http://en.baofuling.com/

Day 5
B'fast at hotel n off to HK airport. Again 2 immigration posts to pass through, first China side (to depart), we had to remove all bags from the bus, carried through China immigration, then reloaded into a bus then 1 minute bus ride away we reached Hong Kong immigration side, same thing, removed bags, carried through immigration post and reloaded bags into the bus....sigh

Ohhh...again the 8 Muhammad and Ahmad were detained by Hong Kong immigration, after more than 30minutes, they were let go...

We missed breakfast at the hotel so we had our brunch at Hk airport at Popeye http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/dining/images/gp_pdf_hala.pdf

Day 5 Solat: Hong Kong Airport (wudhu at the toilet; solat at secluded corner of boarding area).

Day 5 Purchase:
Jade bracelets x 5 (HKD100); fridge magnets x 10; crystal bracelet x 1; popeye meal x 1 (coke x HKD2; fries x HKD4; 6pc wings x HKD54); loacker x HKD26.90; choc cookies x HKD23.90; paco rabanne perfume x RM230.00

Total cash expenses in Shenzen = Yuan 3,058.00
Total cash expenses in Hong Kong = HKD2,266.00
TOTAL SPENT: RM3,900 + RM2,629 = RM6,520.00

Comment:
It is easy to find halal food in both Hong Kong and Shenzen, it is more enjoyable if you opt for free and easy trip. With a group, you waste a lot of time waiting for everyone to gather and you are forced to go to places which you don't fancy and you have to hurry at the places that you enjoy and prefer to linger..

Tiring trip; still very tired on Monday. I was at work but others took leave..

Halal Restaurant in Port Dickson

2010-05-02T21:17:00.002+08:00

My sis had a seminar (organized by her office) at Thistle PD. She wanted to bring her son along but as she'll be busy all day, she asked us (me, my 2 nephews n niece) if we want to come along. Hmm..short weekend break? Why not..

My sis was a designated driver, so she left early Saturday morning with her colleagues. I left later (after office hour) with the troop. When we reached PD, my nephew played with my car window (back window) and it was stuck. We stopped by at a workshop and the mechanic help to close it but he told me that it will stay close as it will take him some time to fix it. He advised me to take it to a workshop in KL later for proper repair.

We reached Thistle about 4pm and it was really hot. My nephew wanted to swim but we have to wait till later in the evening.

Thistle is a nice hotel (formerly Guoman Resort), everything is new except bathroom fittings (I guess they burst their renovation budget).....I like the hotel as it family oriented n very comfortable with plenty of facilities - pool, children playing area, library etc...

But, since it was quite new when we visited the place, they were not ready for huge crowd, it was chaotic during breakfast. They ran out of clean coffee cups (we had to use bowls for our coffee), the trainees waitresses/waiters were very inefficient (caused many guests to lose tempers)....a part from that, I enjoyed my stay here.

Dinner? before the trip I surfed the net on where to eat good seafood, found 2 places, one is Weng Yin Seafood Restaurant and the other is Restoran Chardin Seaview; we decided to go to Weng Yin as it is near Thistle while my sister joined her colleagues at Chardin Seaview.

We enjoyed our seafood dinner - we had soy sauce fish (forgotten what fish we ordered), butter prawn, Kam heong bamboo clams and vegetable...Definitely will visit this place again if we go to PD again.

What others said about Weng Yin (pork free):
http://j-travel.blogspot.com/2010/01/weng-yin-seafood-restaurant-at-port.html
http://www.portdickson.net/pages/wengyinseafood
http://stevenhavingfun.blogspot.com/2008/09/restaurant-in-port-dickson-weng-yin.html
http://www.usj.com.my/bulletin/upload/archive/index.php/t-10408.html
http://www.malaysianbabes.net/forum/index.php?/topic/6990-any-food-to-recomend-in-port-dickson/
http://www.friedchillies.com/index.php/forums/viewthread/3179/

What other said about Chardin (pork free)
http://joshuaongys.com/2009/11/restaurant-chardin-sea-view-seafood-village-port-dickson/
http://lifeofcontinues.blogspot.com/2009/02/restaurant-chardin-sea-view-port.html
http://kadusmama.com/2008/06/lobster-crab-geoduck-any-for-you.html

Read what others said about Thistle Hotel here:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g303991-d1473370-Reviews-Thistle_Port_Dickson-Port_Dickson_Negeri_Sembilan.html
http://www.thistle.com/hotels/malaysia/port_dickson/thistle_port_dickson/index.html

Other nice hotels in PD:
http://babytaz38.blogspot.com/2007/01/destination-port-dickson-malaysia.html
http://khongfamily.com/blog/?p=318
http://www.cuti.com.my/hotel/info.php?id=2782&hotel=Avillion+Admiral+Cove
http://www.kuali.com/news/story.asp?file=/2009/11/4/eatingout/5013840&sec=eatingout

Laksa oh Laksa

2010-05-02T14:39:00.008+08:00

I just had S'pore laksa as lunch. Bought it from Secret Recipe. Tasted ok but I'll not go for second helping as it is a bit too rich for me..

I was thinking why not blog something about laksa, after all we've so many variations of laksa here in Malaysia..

I was in Sibu airport few days back, went there for a site visit - basically visiting the airport itself as Ministry of Transport (MOT) is planning to expand the airport. One of the worst airport that I ever visited. Doors are rotten, floors are stained..about time they do major renovation work.

Anyway, we had no time to go to town, so we had our breakfast and lunch at the airport restaurant (only one restaurant there), it looks like typical malay nasi campur restaurant. For breakfast I had laksa (Sarawak) and for lunch we had nasi campur. The laksa was actually quite tasty, better than what I had tried at Tesco's (Mutiara Damansara) food court and Alexis (Great Eastern Mall http://alexis.com.my/html/ampang.html ).Nasi campur? The dishes were too sweet to my liking..

Anyway, back to laksa. Basically, laksa has 2 major variations - sour and without coconut milk (penang laksa, assam laksa, kedah laksa etc), and lemak (rich) laksa (nyonya laksa, mi kari, curry laksa etc).

What's the difference? Well, read here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laksa and here http://www.squidoo.com/ultimate_laksa_guide and here http://www.pickles-and-spices.com/types-of-laksa.html

Anyway, my article here is base on personal experience, taste and preference.

Kedah Laksa
I love this version. For obvious reason since I was born and raised in Kedah. I love home made version, but making it, is quite a tedious process. In Kedah, Laksa Teluk Kechai is very popular. Tried it before and I love it.

http://www.friedchillies.com/index.php/site/detail/laksa_teluk_kechai/

recipe sample - http://www.scribd.com/doc/24064747/Laksa-Kuala-Kedah

Kedah Laksam
Not many people knew that there is a Kedah version of laksam as it is not popular outside Kedah. Even in Kedah, laksam is only popular in Kuala Kedah and nearby area like Alor Star. Anyway, my parents' neighbour originated from Kuala Kedah. The late Mak Mah made a mean laksam. Before she passed away, my sister managed to get a recipe from her. And now we can always enjoy laksam whenever my sis invited us over for makan makan at her place..

sample recipe http://kuaci-corner.blogspot.com/2009/09/laksam-chek-nani.html

Penang Laksa
Very close resemblance to Kedah Laksa...

recipe sample - http://resepi.mesra.net/Detailed/1058.shtml

Perlis Laksa
Close resemblance to Kedah Laksa. But they add sugar in their gravy...
i tried Perlis Laksa before, tasted like Kedah Laksa to me...anyway, I heard people said (urban myth?) that authentic Perlis Laksa use eels as its main ingredient..

recipe sample - http://www.docstoc.com/docs/8290699/My-Resipi-Laksa-Kuala-Perlis/

Penang Assam Laksa
I prefer Kedah Laksa, assam laksa is an acquired taste for me, my bf is chinese so sometimes when we eat at chinese stalls, there's nothing much that I can eat except assam laksa, rojak, grilled fish or grilled tauhu. After a few bowls of assam laksa over a number of years, I now love this version...

recipe sample - http://www.penangchefs.com/recipe.aspx?recipeid=22

Curry Laksa
Spicier version of nyonya laksa

Sample recipe - http://kuali.com/recipes/viewrecipe.asp?r=830 (for halal version, opt out pig's blood)

Nyonya Laksa
Quite similar to Singapore laksa but spicier...
Sometimes when I have craving for this laksa, I'll have it at either Secret Recipe or Nyonya Colors http://food.malaysiamostwanted.com/venues/nyonya-colors-nyonya-foods-one-utama

Nyonya Colors also offers Thai Curry Laksa & Dry Curry Mee (close relatives to Nyonya Laksa)

recipe sample - http://www.malaysianfood.net/recipes/recipelaksalemak.htm and http://resepi.mesra.net/Detailed/758.shtml

Pot Laksa
Another variation of nyonya laksa. My sis's specialty. She found a recipe in a recipe book, modified it and made it her own. Another dish that we'll always enjoy whenever she has makan makan do at her place.

recipe sample http://www.101cookingrecipes.com/nyonya-recipes/pot-laksa.php

Mi Kari
Malay version of Nyonya Laksa, less creamy, spicier. Taste like you are eating your noodles with thin curry...

Recipe sample - http://www.resepirrrecipe.com/recipe_details.php?rec_id=172

Sarawak Laksa
Will never eat this version in Peninsular Malaysia. Tasted horrible. But In Sarawak it actually taste quite nice.

recipe sample - http://www.1easyasianrecipes.com/borneo-recipes/sarawak-laksa-recipe.php

Singapore laksa
- not my favourite kind of laksa. Secret Recipe offer this dish in its menu

recipe sample - http://www.hpb.gov.sg/hpb/default.asp?pg_id=1488

Johore Laksa
- not my favourite, a bit too rich for me..

recipe sample - http://resepi.mesra.net/Detailed/3321.shtml

Kelantan laksa & laksam
My favourite during fasting month..

recipe sample http://qutreen.fotopages.com/?entry=1668638 and http://kuali.com/recipes/viewrecipe.asp?r=85

And many more variations that I've yet to try...

Kijal and Cherating - 3D/2N

2010-03-01T19:00:00.005+08:00

3D/2N Kijal/Cherating

Day 1
We planned to leave KL last Friday (26/2/2010) at 9am, I reached my sis’s house and my 2 nieces yet to arrive n my sis was still feeding her son breakfast n my sis in law was cooking breakfast.

After everything was done, we left at about 10am. We drove straight to Kijal, along the way we stopped at Warung Otak-Otak Che Wan at Kuala Kemaman for satar & otak-otak at about 1.30pm. Too early n they were not selling anything yet. So, we decided to drive around Chukai town n perhaps stop by at Hai Peng, it was closed! We drove further to check out other shops, Tong Juan was open (they are famous for stuffed crab) but my sis looked at the shop and was not keen to eat there.

We turned back to Warung Otak-Otak Che Wan Kuala Kemaman n waited awhile (they open at 2.00pm) and enjoyed satar, otak-otak, pais and keropok lekor. The food was nice but the weather was really really hot.

After lunch we drove straight to Awana Kijal n checked in at about 3pm. I stayed here before as my previous employer had a plant at Teluk Kalung. To me this is the most decent hotel around Kijal/Cherating.

Since it was hot outside the room, we decided to laze about inside our room n at 5.30pm decided to try out their fitness centre (my sis n her son swam). We worked out for an hour n after that we went for a walk on the beach (we walked until we reached Star Cruise jetty n turned back to hotel).

Really good work out n we were sore all over..then returned to our room to shower n got ready for dinner. We had our dinner at Grandview in front of the hotel. Everyone was hungry but my sis didn’t finish her rice as she felt bloated (she was too hungry n her stomach felt like it was filled with air n she could’t eat) and I thought the food was not to her liking. Anyway, the others enjoyed their food. We ordered stuffed crabs, butter prawns, kailan with garlic, lemon chicken and garoupa cooked with soy sauce.

After dinner we drove to Kerteh to view lights from oil & gas plants there. Reached hotel n we were all tired. Tried to watch dvd but all of us fell asleep before the movie ended.

Day 2
We planned to wake up early, go to the gym at 7am, then at 8am walk on the beach and have our breakfast at 9am. We woke up at 9am! Would not have woken up if my bf didn’t call. My 2 nieces decided to sleep in, so my sis n I went down for breakfast by ourselves. Same spread as per my previous visits.

We returned to our room and it was time to check out. We packed our stuffs n my 2 nieces decided that they wanted to go for a swim. So we loaded our stuffs into our car n waited for them n lounged about by the pool.

We left Awana n went to Warung Otak-Otak Che Wan again for our lunch. This time we had satar, otak-otak, mee calong (different version of mee soup) and nasi air, ABC, jelly kelapa and kelapa laut. Mee calong n nasi air were actually quite nice.

After lunch we drove straight to Holiday Villa Cherating. After checking in, again it was hot n we just stayed indoor. Went to the gym at 5.30pm n went to the beach for a walk. Took my nephew along as my sis wanted to go for massage.

After our walk, went back to our room and prepared to go out for dinner. This time we went to Duyong Restaurant at Kampung Cherating. The waitress recommended Ikan Barat (cooked with dried chillies), Kam Heong crabs, my niece ordered kalian cooked with oyster sauce n the other niece ordered tom yam.

After dinner, my niece needed to look for areas where she can have wifi access as she needed some info to finish her assignment, we found a café with ‘free wifi’ signboard. No other customers there n the owner was more interested in listening to music on his pc rather than serving his customers. His moody son acted as a waiter, the internet connection was very slow n we decided to leave n asked the boy to pack our drinks. Guess what he said? Sorry we have no plastic bag to pack your drinks! I asked for ice n I guess they ran out of ice too :-(
2 cans of cokes (no ice) and a mug of hot milo cost us RM8.00. Will never go to this place ever again. This place is called Payung Café.

We walked towards a shop where my sis n the other niece was browsing for souvenirs n along the way we stumbled onto a cyber café. Lucky break for my niece. They charge RM2.50 per hour. She downloaded her work (by borrowing thumb drive from the owner before downloading them into her laptop), took her less than 15min n the owner didn’t charge her a single cent. The cyber café is next to Little Bali.

Then back to our room n zzz…..

Day 3
We woke up early today n went down for breakfast early ie around 8am. After breakfast my nieces wanted to go for a walk on the beach but it was too hot for me n I lounged about on the hammock, very relaxing – just swaying, feeling the sea breeze n enjoying the clear sky…

They came searching for me after their walk, sweating n we went to the gym. We worked out for an hour and then went for a swim. Then time to pack n go home.

We stopped by at Turtle Sanctuary – small displays but they have both live turtles n turtle replicas……my 3 year old nephew loves the displays.

We returned to Kuala Kemaman to buy keropok to bring back to KL but since it was still early we decided to go to Hai Peng for light lunch. Then back to Che Wan to tapau keropok n stuffs.

Earlier plan was for us to have our lunch at Pak Su Beserah but we already had our lunch at Hai Peng so decided to drive straight to KL.

We stopped by at Gambang rest area to pray n later stopped at Termerloh rest area for drinks. We reached KL at about 7.30pm.

Good holiday but I was offended by my niece n sis at the end of the trip, we were having a conversation and they said something vague implying they talked about me behind my back. I was tired n the weather was super hot n I found their remarks to be extremely rude. To me if you want to talk behind my back be my guest but keep it behind my back (whatever it is, that was not my concern) but if you want to hint to me that you talked behind my back, you better tell me what was the issue. Hiding it by saying it’s nothing is plain rude. Anyway, I was fuming n was ready to scream if anyone bothered me. Thank God they left me alone to simmer or everyone’s holiday n good mood will be spoilt……but then again I guess that's family, we quarreled n we made up....

Day 4
Good holiday, I was expecting to be too lazy to wake up, feeling tired to go to work. But I woke up early n feeling very fresh………

Hotels Review
I prefer Awana than Holiday Villa.

Holiday Villa a bit run down, you can see blood on the bed sheet (from smashed up mosquitos, was wondering whether they changed the sheet or not before we checked in or rhe blood was old stains). The compound, walkways not spotlessly clean, the gym had little to offer n the breakfast spread was very small n taste wise they were awful.

My sis left her sunglasses in Awana, she called them n they said they’ll keep for her..

But then again, we paid RM230 for Awana n RM160 for Holiday Villa so I guess you can’t expect much.

Beach? I prefer Kijal as it was cleaner. Cherating beach was dirty n at some part of the beach, dirty n smelly water (sewer?) was drained to sea……eew!!

But the beach at turtle sanctuary was very beautiful n clean……. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/5/15/southneast/14226065&sec=southneast

Expenses
Petrol – RM140 (return)
Tol – RM58 (return)

Awana Kijal - RM230 x 1 room x 1 night (normal rates view here http://www.awana.com.my/en/ak/accommodation/roomrates.htm )

Holiday Villa - RM160 x 2 rooms x 1 night = RM320/night (normal rates view here http://www.holidayvillacherating.com/accomodation.html )

Lunch 26/2/010 - Warung Otak-Otak Che Wan Kuala Kemaman RM24
Dinner - Grandview Kijal RM162

Lunch 27/2/010 - Warung Otak-Otak Che Wan Kuala Kemaman RM34
Dinner - Duyong RM110

Lunch - Hai Peng Chukai RM58

Tapau satar+otak-otak+lekor at Warung Otak-Otak Che Wan Kuala Kemaman RM3.50x4 + RM 7x4 + RM5x4 = RM62
Tapau keropok+ikan bilis + etc at tenggiri = RM100
Pineapples - RM10 x 2 = RM20

GRAND TOTAL: RM1,138 for 4pax

What others said about:

Awana Kijal
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g303999-d455027-Reviews-Awana_Kijal_Resort-Kijal_Terengganu.html

http://dexxy.net/travelogue/treasure-hunt-awana-kijal-terengganu/

http://headsteadi.com/2009/02/03/room-review-awana-kijal-terengganu/

http://bacss.blogspot.com/2009/01/awana-kijal-terengganu.html

http://www.adiwong.com/sunrise-at-awana-kijal-terengganu/

Holiday Villa Cherating
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g298296-d631296-Reviews-Holiday_Villa_Cherating-Kuantan_Pahang.html

http://www.virtualtourist.com/hotels/Asia/Malaysia/Negeri_Pahang/Cherating_Beach-1294899/Hotels_and_Accommodations-Cherating_Beach-BR-2.html

Light shows at Kerteh
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=228342
http://kertehcommunity.blogspot.com/2009/03/evulusi-remaja-kini.html
http://razmahwata.wordpress.com/2008/08/07/travelling-around-kerteh-taxis/

Cherating Turtle sanctuary
http://www.paikia.com/2009/08/cherating-day-2-turtle-sanctuary/

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g666315-d1126914-Reviews-Cherating_Turtle_Sanctuary-Cherating_Pahang.html

http://journals.worldnomads.com/taroso/post/1134.aspx

Warung Otak-Otak Che Wan at Kuala Kemaman
http://sigilatv.blogspot.com/2010/02/travelog-to-kuala-kemamansatar-sedap-di.html

http://knizam.com/keropok-lekor-satar-pedas-jeli-kelapa-kat-kuala-kemaman-terengganu/

http://www.kosmo.com.my/kosmo/content.asp?y=2008&dt=0629&pub=Kosmo&sec=Rencana_Utama&pg=ru_01.htm

http://nouryssa.wordpress.com/2009/07/10/warung-che-wankuala-kemaman/
Kedai Kopi Hai Peng
http://bernsy.blogspot.com/2008/03/haipeng-kopitiam-kemaman-terengganu.html

http://headsteadi.com/2007/06/05/famous-hai-peng-kopitiam-in-terengganu/

http://masak-masak.blogspot.com/2006/07/hai-peng-kopitiam-kemaman-terengganu.html

http://bangsar-babe.blogspot.com/2009/08/hai-peng-kopitiam-kemaman-terengganu.html

http://yewhenry.wordpress.com/2009/09/08/east-coast-trip/

Tong Juan
http://jasonmumbles.com/2009/04/stuffed-crab-kemaman-restaurant-and-pak-su-seafood-restaurant
http://food.malaysiamostwanted.com/venues/tong-juan-stuffed-crab-chukai-kemaman

http://www.paikia.com/2009/10/terengganu-tong-juan-stuffed-crab/

Restoran Grandview Café Kijal
http://www.adriancjy.com/wordpress/2009/11/kl-kuantan-pahang-kijal-terengganu-day-1/

http://cherylzen.blogspot.com/2008/11/awana-kijal-3-where-to-eat.html

http://belacans.blogspot.com/2005/06/awana-kijal-11-june-2005-day-2.html

http://www.virtualtourist.com/hotels/Asia/Malaysia/Negeri_Terengganu/Kuala_Terengganu-1281769/Hotels_and_Accommodations-Kuala_Terengganu-Awana_Kijal_Resort_Terengganu-BR-1.html

Duyong Restaurant Kampung Cherating
http://elamic.blogspot.com/2009/08/duyong-seafood-restaurant-cherating.html

http://tzeemeng.com/what-to-eat/dinner-at-duyong-restaurant-cherating/

http://weiyein.blogspot.com/2008/05/cherating-in-nutshell.html

Payung Café Kampung Cherating
http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Pahang/Cherating/blog-279551.html
http://www.legendria.com/2009/01/26/surfer-paradise-cherating/

Restoran Pak Su Beserah
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g298296-d1132955-Reviews-Pak_Su_Restarant_Seaside-Kuantan_Pahang.html

http://food.malaysiamostwanted.com/venues/restoran-pak-su-jalan-beserah-kuantan

http://kyspeaks.com/2010/02/04/pak-su-seafood-near-kuantan-best-night-view-by-the-seaside/

http://pingmouse.com/2009/06/school-break-2-cherating-pak-su.html
http://becklee.wordpress.com/2008/09/20/pak-su-seafood-restaurant-kuantan/

Ikan Bakar Awang Cherating – note to self “try this place next time”
http://tamkiapo.blogspot.com/2008/07/kuantan-food.html
http://food.malaysiamostwanted.com/venues/ikan-bakar-pak-awang-jalan-kuantan-kemamam

Huddersfield.....down memory lane

2010-01-23T03:24:00.011+08:00

Lately i'm feeling nostalgic...I miss Hudderfield :-( I graduated from University of Huddersfield n I love the place. Why the sudden urge to reminisce? I guess it was triggered by my niece n nephews. They had just completed their SPM and they had been attending education fairs n naturally I shared my student days stories with them.

It made me realize that I should document whatever I can remember now before I forget them totally, who knows one day when I've money to spare I'll visit Huddersfield again and visit the places that I used to frequent when I was studying there...

I've forgotten about most of the places but thank Allah with google map (satellite view) it managed to trigger old files stored deep inside my brain :-)

My first day in England
We (MARA students) arrived in Heathrow, MARA had rented a coach for us n all of us got into the bus. Along the way, students were dropped off to their respective universities - Luton, Sheffield, Liverpool, Manchester etc. Every time the bus stopped we'll take photos n bid goodbye to each group. Then we reached Huddersfield! It was cold (autumn) and wet September. The university organized a little reception for us. Temporarily we were given accommodation at Hollybank House in Lindley. That night a M'sian family who resides in Huddersfield prepared dinner for us.

Next day I woke up early (jet lagged) at 5am! But it was already quite bright. So I went out n explored the surrounding area. No one was around. Very quiet n I enjoyed the new sights, new experience...... (I remembered a pizza place n google reminded me it is called Pizzeria Napoli) and I did this everyday during my stay here before my body adjusted itself to the new time zone.

A few days later, JPA students arrived. And the university was ready to sort out our 'permanent home'. Some of us preferred to rent a house and stay with friends while others prefer to stay at residence hall (hostel) - my residence hall was in Warrenfield Hall (room 32, Warrenfield Hall, 221 Deighton Road, Sheepridge Huddersfield HD2 IJL) 2.3 miles (3.7km) to Huddersfield University.

Direction to Warrenfield Hall (now demolished and Warrenfield Court a residential homes occupy its site)
http://maps.google.com.my/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Queensgate,+Huddersfield,+HD1+3DH,+UK+(University+of+Huddersfield)&daddr=warrenfield+court&geocode=FZKLMgMd59bk_yknGxMSc9x7SDHwKSGzq2nBUw%3BFenwMgMdxRbl_ymLYfKDL9x7SDFIO5qxzwGnPQ&hl=en&mra=ls&sll=53.667661,-1.769979&sspn=0.000745,0.002411&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=13&dirflg=d

Next day we explored the surrounding area, can't remember other places but I do remember a church, kebab shop n fish n chips shop. Couldn't recall the name of the shops but I managed to google the name of the church.

Woodhouse Christchurch, 43 Ashbrow Road , Sheepridge , Huddersfield , HD2 1DX

Very old church. They have been Church of England on this site since 1828. When we took photos at the church (with cemetery) it was foggy, trees were without leaves n it reminded me of vampire movie ha ha.... I couldn't find pictures online, perhaps later I'll scan my pic n post here.

What I remembered most about this place?

Yorkshire accent :-) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eB1yuYwExGs&feature=related n they addressed you as 'love'..

Hmm.. I was carrying grocery bags (after I got down from a bus) and was walking to my hall when an English guy basically ran after me n offered to carry my bag! Very chivalrous :-)

2nd incident? A bus driver grabbed my hand n refused to let me got out of the bus ha ha. Why? He was dating my friend and she decided to ignore him so he wanted to find out from me what happened to her! I told him off n asked him to let go of my hand n he did..

next memorable incident? My hall was a co-ed hall with toilets separating boys n girls sections. Some of the students loved to hang out at the corridor outside the toilets :-) these students loved to party n drank themselves silly, one night a girl was really drunk n she was pissed with one of the guys, she brought a pail n went from one room to the other asking us to deposit any liquid that we have into the pail - shampoo, conditioner, moisturizer, washing liquid etc then she poured the content onto the poor guy's bed! ha ha it was a cold night n i didn't know where he slept that night.....

I loved my morning shower too.. the students woke up late n they don't shower in the morning, so I had the shower to myself..

Being M'sian I loved to cook spicy/smelly food (chilly, belacan etc) so I avoided cooking at the common kitchen with the rest of the English guys/gals. (kitchen was in separate building from our rooms - ha ha just to have dinner I had to go through through snow and ice)

I normally cooked in my room by using rice cooker where I cooked rice n after that boiled Brahim dish (pre-cooked M'sian dishes) or I'll cooked late at the kitchen after everyone had their dinner. So, one day I was happily cooking my sambal tumis bilis n suddenly an English guy ran to the kitchen breathlessly.. he asked me what I was cooking because he can smelled it from outside the building and he was sneezing ha ha...

hmm..being students, some were very naughty, so one cold night we were sleeping n fire alarm went off so everyone scurried outside as they were without coats or shoes! Very very cold brrrr n it was false alarm..

My friend Linda and I decided to check out what was the fuss about going out at night to Student Union, so off we went one night n students were drinking n dancing. A group of English guys approached us and asked to us to kiss one of their friends (they claimed it was his birthday) we declined n they teased us and accused us of being lesbians... I stopped going there but Linda loved it n she frequented the place often.

I also remembered making a call to my parents (they were at my aunt's house) but they didn't sound excited to hear from me, I guess they were concerned of the cost calls.. anyway after that cold reception I never bothered to call them again. I just wrote to them occasionally.

After few months, they had vacancies at Hollybank hall (81, Hollybank House, Hollybank Road, Lindley, Huddersfield HD3 3BP, 2.6 miles (4km) from Huddersfiled University). Hollybank had better facilities, in safer area and I moved there. I shared a house with common kitchen with a Nigerian, 2 English ladies and 4 M'sians (including me).

http://maps.google.com.my/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Queensgate,+Huddersfield,+HD1+3DH,+UK+(University+of+Huddersfield)&daddr=warrenfield+court&geocode=FZKLMgMd59bk_yknGxMSc9x7SDHwKSGzq2nBUw%3BFenwMgMdxRbl_ymLYfKDL9x7SDFIO5qxzwGnPQ&hl=en&mra=ls&sll=53.667661,-1.769979&sspn=0.000745,0.002411&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=13&dirflg=d

Memorable experience here? the Nigerian lady was in her 40s, we were in our 20s, perhaps to her we were like her children. She told us that she was from a rich family, she used to vacationed in London (when she was residing in Nigeria), never washed her hair by herself etc. Because she was a newcomer, we helped her to acclimatize, my roommate Linda (ha ha the same girl who dated the bus driver) took her shopping n accompanied her to church. What did she do? She treated Linda like one one of her employees! Linda had to carry her shopping bags n followed her around! Anyway, I didn't like her that much n I couldn't be bothered with her. One day she had a bleeding nose (most newcomer experienced that because of the cold temperature) n she went to a hospital, when she came back I didn't rush to ask her how she was doing and she went ballistic and called me heartless! Ha ha what a drama queen.....

One day I woke up slightly late, by the time I got to the bus stop the bus had just drove off. I ran after the bus and of course the driver didn't see me and just drove off. One lady driver took pity of me and gave me a lift to the university. She told me her sister worked (or holidayed?) in M'sia before and the malaysians were very nice to her. Ha ha I guess that was safer days, I mean I got into her car without question! Anyway, thank Allah there were still good people in this world.

Other things I remembered - got excited whenever I took filled milk bottle n replaced it with empty bottle outside the door (used to watch it on tv n I was experiencing it myself), I loved UK milk, very tasty, used to enjoy it with cereals - morning, noon, night ha ha. I don't quite enjoy m'sian milk as much.

what else? Huddersfield was quite near to a strawberry farm, whenever friends visited us from other cities, we'd take them to the farm n brought back baskets of strawberries. Ha ha what did u do with so much strawberries? cakes, puddings, all kind of desserts... the Nigerian lady was not all bad, she helped to bake cakes etc :-)

What else? the house had paid phone inside, I used to chat with friends for hours...

During winter, we built our first snowman inside the compound (the house had huge compound).

Food - we (malaysians) shared our food, we took turn to cook, one of the girls never cooked in her entire life, during her turn she fried chicked without the usual salt n tumeric n washed the chicken with water without flour (to remove the smell) that was her last cooking turn, we told her to wash dishes instead. One day we decided to share our dinner (fried meehoon) with our housemate the English lady. She was crying as the food was really hot but she kept on eating it as it was delicious ha ha..

During my 2nd year at Huddersfield we had to move out of residence hall n find our own accommodation (students were only allowed to stay 1 yr in residence hall due to insufficient rooms, priority was given to 1st yr n final yr students).

This time I moved to a house in Victoria Road (couldn't find correspondence for the full address) but it is nearby Jamia Mosque (google helped me again) only 2km to the university. I walked to school everyday.

http://maps.google.com.my/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Queensgate,+Huddersfield,+HD1+3DH,+UK+(University+of+Huddersfield)&daddr=warrenfield+court&geocode=FZKLMgMd59bk_yknGxMSc9x7SDHwKSGzq2nBUw%3BFenwMgMdxRbl_ymLYfKDL9x7SDFIO5qxzwGnPQ&hl=en&mra=ls&sll=53.667661,-1.769979&sspn=0.000745,0.002411&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=13&dirflg=d

I shared a house with 3 other M'sian girls. They were my juniors. Same arrangement - we shared rent, bills n food hence the need to share house with muslim mates. All of us were quite good with cooking and we ate good food everyday - chicken rice, nasi tomato, nasi lemak, rendang, kerutuk etc.

Memorable experience?

As I mentioned I walked to school everyday hence my slim figure (ha ha even though my staple food for lunch was crisps n snickers and occasional sandwich n fish & chips n takeaway lunch from Marks & Spencers), anyway one day it was raining and very windy. The gale swept my umbrella away n while trying to hang on to my umbrella my glasses flew off! I was frantically looking for my glasses n one lady stopped to help but we couldn't find it. I went home n used my spare glasses n next day I found the broken glasses :( since it was expensive to make glasses in England, i forwarded my prescription to my sis in M'sia so that she could make a new pair for me n posted it to me. Thanks :) wasn't super thrill with the glasses that she chose for me, so I used it temporarily n changed the frame later.

I joined parachuting club, cost me a pretty penny. Learned all the techniques, everytime we were scheduled to jump, weather was bad. One day everything seems ok n we drove to Doncaster for our jump. On the way we visited fellow club member who broke his leg during a jump (we were already very scared after the visit), after that we reached the field n tried sitting in the helicopter (plane?) - how to sit, sequence of jumping etc slept there for one night then we waited for our turn. Weather was bad n we returned home. Happened many times, I guess bad timing to join the club n I didn't manage to jump at all.... sigh..

I love bowling n no bowling alley in Huddersfield. What did I do? took a train to Leeds (15 min ride) to bowl. Took my swimming lesson there too but stupid decision as I took the lesson during winter n I gave up....:-(

During summer a friend came from Liverpool n we toured areas surrounding Huddersfield - countryside, Castle Hill, Haworth, Yorkshire moors etc. We left the house in the morning n came back at night for few days. Very nice n tiring ha ha.

I love travelling and I was short in cash so I worked during summer wrapping soaps, gift baskets etc. The money was good and enough to finance my Europe backpacking. During my sandwich year (internship year) I was paid for my training and I used the money for my almost 4 weeks USA trip. I'll blog on this later.

Apart from Europe & the USA, I visited London (visiting friends n visited famous spots), went to Lake District with a friend, visited York, joined tour group to Scotland, joined tour group to Amsterdam (I used coupon in newspaper in my first week (or month?) in England) n of course various cities where we could get free accommodation ha ha (friends' house) - Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Sheffield, New Castle etc.

Others?
I was preparing for my final exam, all my housemates were already on holiday n were visiting other cities. I received a call from my friend wishing me 'Selamat Hari Raya (Haji)! I didn't even realized it was raya haji n was wondering why pakistanis were walking past my house in their finest dress n there was something going on at the mosque n i thought it was a wedding!

What else? I remember my first trip to Sainsbury at Market Street picture here http://www.qype.co.uk/place/347233-Sainsburys-Huddersfield/photos/237271 shelves n shelves of bread - various brands of thin cut, medium cut, thick cut, wholemeal, etc click here to see what they are selling http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/groceries/index.jsp?bmUID=1264251835725 . Never before that I saw that many choices just for bread (I guess if an English guy shops at our supermarket he'll be overwhelm with our choices of rice too). Due to proximity of Sainburys to the bus station I did my grocery shopping here. Ha ha one day I bumped into this really cute English guy at the bus station. I thought he was really good looking but I never saw him again :-( n he smiled at me ha ha. Perhaps he was hoping to bump into me again too (I wished).

Tesco - when I was there I preferred Sainsburys to Tesco (located at Viaduuct Street). But I did shopped here occasionally, sometimes I also visited Iceland at Trinity Street http://www.iceland.co.uk/page/view/store_locator n of course when I visited Manchester my friend there preferred Asda.

Lunch - my staple food was crisps from Sainsburys (I bought them in boxes) n snickers. Occasionally I'd buy packed rice from a M'sian student (she sold it at the surau), sometimes it would be egg or tuna sandwich from a shop near the market n library aka Princess Alexandra Walk / Piazza Shopping Centre (couldn't recall the sandwich shop name, googled n couldn't find it I guess they had moved), I enjoyed having my sandwich on the bench al fresco.. typical british style. Sometimes I visited Marks & Spencer at New Street for their lunch to go yummy!! n of course sometimes I enjoyed typical british staple food - fish & chips...

Pizza - I was excited to try pizza n went to a pizzeria couldn't recall the name but from the map it could be Sole Mio, anyway I ordered 4 seasons n when they sent to me I saw sausages on the pizza, they told me it was pastrami/pepperoni I was like..ummm they said what's wrong, I said I couldn't eat them because of my religious diet, n they said ' no problem, just put it aside when u eat the pizza.' Since I've ordered the pizza I paid n asked them to pack it for me. I went back to my hall n gave it to my non-muslim friends. I also enjoyed going to The Deep Pan Pizza chain opposite lloyds bank. I googled but I guess the restaurant had either closed down or moved somewhere else.

Shopping? read here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huddersfield

Banks - when we first stepped onto Huddersfield we had lots of money - tuition fees, allowance etc. Of course all the banks tried to lure us to become their customers - very attractive offers, deposited certain amount of money n they'd pay us 100 quids! Ha ha being typical kiasu M'sian we subscribed to all the banks with good offer, collected their goodies n closed the accounts except those most convenient to us. I opened my accounts with Barclays at New Street, Natwest at Market Street and Lloyds at Westgate. I kept my Barclay's account n closed the rest.

Recently my sisters n I were talking about our next year holiday plan - London! My sis asked if we want to visit Huddersfield, I was like of course I'd love that but in term of tourist spots nothing much to see and it is 310km from London. It has no direct rail line to London - passengers have to change at either Manchester Piccadilly, Leeds or Wakefield Westgate

but I guess we can do things which I did but not typical agenda for M'sian tourists, we can stay in Huddersfield (ha ha when I was studying I always wonder what will it be like to stay in George Hotel http://www.georgehotelhuddersfield.com/ , from there we can explore Haworth (30km) , Yorkshire Dales http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yorkshire_Dales n http://www.yorkshiredalesandharrogate.com/ which is about 32.2 miles (51km) and York http://www.visityork.org/inspire/must-see-york/default.aspx (77km) from Huddersfield.

I guess 4 days in Huddersfield is good, perhaps 5 or 6 days in London...

You Tube
• London (330km north to Huddersfield) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7l2X6fOEMF8
• Greenwich (10km from London) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHF3R3gc9MM&feature=channel
• Oxford (95km south from London) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxAU88LxLis
• Canterbury (97km south London) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgWeWdMMVmU&NR=1
• Stonehenge (139km south from London) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yz0xNkMmAI
• Cotswold (162km south from London) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVongz0PMZo n http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYtPDJhVvNA&feature=related
• Stratford-on-Avon (167km south from London)
• Bath (185km south from London) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYvPcq8jkco&feature=related
• Huddersfield http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PMm7RjtGX4 n http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxDEdAoJBvY&feature=related
• Haworth (30km from Huddersfield) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcQqpxRdiPs
• Yorkshire Dales (51km from Huddersfield) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssFsEekgCd8
• York (77km from Huddersfield) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWQbAMp_Weg n http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKejmSb_51M
• Lake District (220km from Huddersfield) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RHh5SPpjzw&feature=channel

BB THAI SEAFOOD VILLAGE n more

2009-12-05T14:14:00.007+08:00

Hei you....

Wow! been shying away from this blog for reaaally loong time, well.. one reason - I can't no longer blog in the office as they've installed firewall....sigh..

At home? Well most of the time after work I'll either see my bf for dinner or go to my bro's house to play with my nephews..... n by the time I got home I'll be plonking myself in front of the idiot box :-) Weekend? Hmm.. I'll stay in bed longer than usual, idiot box again n day dreaming on becoming a millionaire ha ha ha how? I've this character in my head that I wish I can animate in a cartoon movie... the problem? Ha ha I know diddly squat about animation... been surfing the net trying to learn cartoon making but..... too hard.... anyway...

So.. what have I been eaten for the last 3 months since Raya Puasa? Well... the usual haunts in Sri Damansara which I've blogged before, seafood stall behind Imbi which I blogged before as well, 1-Utama - been visiting Sakae Sushi few times, Chilli's, Victoria Station, Coliseum, Subway, Flying Chillies at Mid Valley, Salero Negori TTDI, Sari Ratu, Rumah Thai, Ayam Penyet, Nyonya Colors, Taiping Lim, restoran Anje, etc etc ... 3 months is a long time n I eat out every night....

Anyway, one night my bf asked me what I want to eat, I suggested De Chiang Mai in Sungai Buloh... ha ha easy to suggest but I don't know where the place is located! The suggestion was made when we were already in his car. So, he said we'll try to find the place. So, off we went and ended up at Sungai Buloh Hospital! We were hungry, so next suggestion Lala Chong near Terminal 3..... and guess what? They've moved! Well.. too late to explore for more restaurants and we decided to try a restaurant located next to Lala Chong former site.

A restaurant called BB THAI SEAFOOD VILLAGE.. ha ha I've forgotten what we ate but the food? Not bad all..... I'll definitely pay them a second visit....

Why not visit these sites to see what others said about this place:

If you want to know about Lala Chong Ara Damansara (Chinese), visit these sites - tried the old restaurant, yet to try the new one.

Nyonya Colors 1-Utama - very nice kuih but super expensive

Taiping Lim kiosk, Desa Park City - best RM1.50 karipap (curry puff) in KL

Flying Chillies The Gardens (Thai) - expensive but I like the food - spicy!!!

De Chiang Mai in Sungai Buloh (Thai) - tried the old restaurant, yet to try the new one.

Rumah Thai Taman Melati - hmm...typical thai hawker food (menu & taste) in restaurant setting! Probably will not pay a second visit..

Village View Bandar Baru Bangi - - hmm...typical thai hawker food (menu & taste) in restaurant setting! Probably will not pay a second visit..poor service too.

Salero Negori TTDI (Nasi Padang) - ok, but I prefer Sari Ratu.

Sari Ratu Jln Sultan Ismail (Nasi Padang) - I like the food here

Ayam Penyet Bandar Baru Bangi - I like the food here - super spicy!!

Nasi Briyani Gam Johor Restoran Anje Bandar Baru Bangi - not bad

Sakae Sushi 1-Utama - ha ha a jap restaurant that offer decent food w/o burning holes in your pocket

Chilli's 1-Utama / Bangsar Shopping Centre - my fav order? Cajun Fajitas :-)

Victoria Station Jln Ampang- my nephew loves Thomas the train..choo choo

Coliseum Cafe KL - food quality not as good as before, either they changed chefs or ... everything here don't change much since looong time ago.

Ha ha 3 months food......

Selamat Hari Raya 2009

2009-09-23T18:31:00.025+08:00

Salam..:-) Selamat Hari Raya 2009..hmm I started my blog on raya 2008 n it is now 1 yr old yeay!!

I just got back from my kampung (hometown) last night. Traffic was quite smooth, we left Kedah at 6pm and reached KL at 12 midnight..

Well..I guess I'll share what I did during raya..

18/9/09 (Friday)
We (my eldest sis n my youngest sis together with my 2yr old nephew) left KL for kampung. We reached Sungai Petani and did a spot of grocery shopping at Tesco for upcoming hari raya - noodles, rice, cooking oil, fish, dishwashing liquid, snacks etc etc well..2 trolleys...fully loaded..

We reached my parents' house about 5pm and my parents were busy preparing food for buka puasa - mee bandung, pulut sekaya http://darirumahkakton.blogspot.com/2009/04/seri-muka.html and fish curry http://hanieliza.fotopages.com/?entry=1359691 . Since we also bought crabs at Tesco earlier, my sis cooked chilly crab to add to the buka puasa spread.

19/9/09 (Saturday) hari raya eve..
My sis woke me up early morning for sahur...too lazy to wake but it was a last sahur for Ramadhan 2009 n decided to drag myself up :-(

After sahur and subuh prayer I decided to go back to sleep..but when I was about to doze off my father called and asked me to prepare grocery list for him to buy at the local market. So, woke up n prepared the list - a short list.. since we've purchased most things at Tesco earlier..tried to go back to sleep but..."could you drive me to the market? Lots of stuffs to carry..." sigh....ok.

Came back from market with beef, chicken, vegetables and coconuts...had a short break and it was time to prepare for hari raya feast - ketupat http://fairy.mahdzan.com/story/207.asp , beef curry http://www.myresipi.com/top/detail/149 , rib soup http://periuktanah.blogspot.com /2009/03/akan-datang-sup-siam-tulang-rusuk.html etc including food for buka puasa...my sister decided to try and cook Nasi Maqlubah (upside down rice from Jordan). Recipe here http://www.zulismail.com/resepi.htm or just google for more versions.

Nasi Maqlubah

While peeling, slicing, cutting, chopping, wrapping etc my sister (4th sibling) arrived with her family...thank God more reinforcement to help out with the chores..

They left KL at 3am but due to heavy traffic they arrived at our kampung at 1pm! So..we asked them to take it easy and rest before pitching in to help with the chores..

After taking a nap, they started helping out with food preparation and cooking. The kids helped out with spring cleaning of the house and putting up curtains.

At 6pm, my brother (3rd sibling) arrived with his family..thank God more reinforcement...they brought with them more food - kanji http://www.myresipi.com/top/detail/5163 , rendang http://www.myresipi.com/top/detail/133 etc.

Buka Puasa Spread

Dig in guys...

After buka puasa, we continued with spring cleaning and food preparation...at about 1am, my brother (5th sibling) arrived with his family.

Busy in the kitchen

Fans need cleaning up too

Fixing up curtains

Even the young ones pitched in

Ah choo!! so much dust........................ Taking a break

Happy grandparents

20/9/09 (Sunday) Hari Raya
At about 2am we completed with all our chores and went to bed..exhausted.

Soo...tired...

Could you help me with my homework?

Hey guys I'm ready..why are you still sleeping? Wake up!! Raya prayer is at 8.30am..

As usual after raya prayer we did the usual thing of asking each other for forgiveness for whatever wrongs we did to each other and income earners distribute 'duit raya' (money) to non-income earners - children including college going kids. Then...family photo session...well no photo here.......

Shortly after, neighbours' kids started to pay my parents' house a visit...well more like collecting duit raya rounds......

Giving out duit raya to young guests

Then my parents, sisters, brothers, nieces n nephews grouped together and paid our neighbours raya visits. Ha ha more food......laksa, mihun sup etc.

After the visit, they came back and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Exhausted after looong night...

My nieces playing

Shower time

In the evening, guests trickled in.....

Entertaining guests

Isyak prayer.................................I'm tired zzzz...................After prayer drink

Enough meat for today..I'll have fried dried fish for supper..

At about 9pm, my sis (2nd sibling) arrived home with her family. As usual they departed KL for Kedah after Raya prayer and met up with my bro-in-law's sister in KL.

Sparklers time

Bonding with 'pirate game'.................and conquer the world with 'risk'

Lets play uno...........................................................and life

21/9/09 (Monday)
My father called his cousin telling her that we are paying her family a visit....

On the way we spotted a stall selling mihun sup (noodle soup) and decided to stop.

Slurp......

We reached my father's cousin's kampung and stared.....God!! the access road is narrow...just enough for one car to pass trough at a time.....scary....

View from the house

Meeting generations of cousins

After the visit, we proceeded to Alor Setar to visit another cousin of my father. His wife passed away recently. Then proceeded next door to his sis-in-law house (my uncle passed away for few years already).

After Alor Setar, My brother (5th sibling) and his family proceeded to Jitra to his in-laws house and the other brother (3rd sibling) and his family proceeded to Seberang Perai to his sis-in-law's house.

The rest drove back and reached my kampung almost 10.30pm. Everyone had showers and some decided to sleep, chit-chatted and some stayed up to play 'risk'.....

Granddad and grandson - Not a healthy habit to instil.....

22/9/09 (Tuesday)
After late breakfast my sis (2nd sibling) got ready to leave for KL to visit her sis-in-law in Perak. They left at about 12 noon......traffic was quite heavy. They reached KL at about 9pm (they only stopped for 1 hour at my my sis's sis-in-law's house).

My eldest sis, me, my youngest sis and my nephew left kampung for KL at 5.30pm.....

23/9/09 (Wednesday)
Last family left kampung for KL...

Insyaallah we'll meet again next raya.......

Treasure Hunt KL-Melaka

2009-07-23T14:08:00.004+08:00

My niece is in KL now for her school break (she's studying in Jakarta - International Baccalaureate programme http://www.ibo.org/).

As part of the programme she is required to accumulate points for extra co-curricular activities - any programme that can develop her strength, enhance her knowledge, develop new skills etc.

Few years back she & I and my sis participated in Treasure Hunt event organized by The Sun (2005). That time we didn't win anything as we were new and clueless on how to read cryptic clues and solve the puzzles (we did however managed to secure top 10 placing in monorail hunt 2003 - beginner's luck).

Now, that she's back here she suggested that we tried again (after many years), I forwarded to her some treasure hunt sites and we finally chose an event organized by YKN (Yayasan Kebajikan Negara) - the prize seems good (even though we don't think we'll win anything) and we can participate in charity event.

So, Friday night (17/7/09), I went to sleep at my sis's house in Jalan U-Thant since we need to be at the flag off point early (flag off at 7.30am). That night, I couldn't sleep - 1) lots of mozzies (in the end my niece & I stayed up and managed to kill 7-8 mozzies) then we finally managed to sleep, but after an hour or 2 hours of sleep a loud noise can be heard from outside due to on-going road work...urgh...

I only managed to catch few winks then time to get up (5.30am) - after subuh prayer, we went to Pandan Indah to tapau McD's breakfast (breakfast cum lunch - my sis tapau 2 burger for each of us). We reached Pusat Sains Negara (flag off point) quite late, 10 minutes before flag off. After short briefing, photo session, off we go with tulips and questionaires in hand.

First stop at South City Seri Kembangan. 2 portions here and we only managed to solve correctly answers in 2nd portion. Then we continued with our hunting.

We managed to submit our first part of the questionaires at check point 1 (Medan Selera Sri Kendong in Rembau); after collecting 2nd part of the questionaires we started hunting and submitted the questionaire at last check point (Rumah Seri Kenangan Cheng, Melaka).

We can only check-in into D'Village Resort at 3pm so we spotted Aunty & Uncle Kopitiam after we left Rumah Cheng, decided to stop for lunch. The shop is new and the owner (I think he's the owner) very friendly and attentive. My niece had mihun sup and I had their chicken curry set lunch and we tapau fried rice for my sis (she had bad headache and slept in a car). Taste? Typical kopitiam food..

Bee hoon soup RM4.50
Chicken curry set (includes rice and lime juice) RM5.50
Kampung fried rice RM4.50
Hot coffee RM1.40
Fresh orange juice RM3.50
Carrot orange juice RM3.90
Lemon orange juice RM3.90

After lunch we proceeded to D'Village Resort. Check-in was a breeze as the organizer was very efficient n organized :-)

As we enrolled in family category, we were given family chalet - 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms basically 2 individual chalets linked together with adjoining door. Reasonably clean with basic facilities - I don't mind going there again.

After resting a while we decided to explore nearby attractions - first stop - butterfly park (farm?) - the place looked abandoned..perhaps they closed for renovation? Next stop - Mini Malaysia / Asean Village - they closed at 6pm and we reached there slightly after 6pm...sigh..so we just walked around the compound and returned to hotel..we spotted a playing ground opposite the hotel (Dataran something) and decided to stop by so that my nephew can play there. While waiting for him, an ice cream man (with motorbike) came and we enjoyed his ice cream (homemade?) reminded me of my childhood days in my kampung...

Image from http://www.freewebs.com/cho-ko/picspeninsularmalaysia.htm

That night we had dinner (included in our Treasure Hunt package) and after dinner, main event of the night - the organizer revealed the answers and prize giving ceremony. We secured 3rd place in family category and 16th place in open category...not bad huh...considering this was our 4th hunt and our last hunt was like 4 years ago....

(hmm..trying to recall our 1st hunt...my eldest sis asked us to join her in a hunt organized by FRIM some time in 1993? something about eco/green or earth thingy...we were totally clueless..and gave up after few questions.......we didn't even know how to read tulip!)

Dinner was good. Lots of food and only 5 adults and 3 kids sharing the food (well..2 kids since my nephew doesn't eat rice or any dishes).

Stir fried sawi
tofu
tom yum
sweet sour fish
fried chicken
masak lemak udang
asam pedas ikan (Malacca specialty)
ulam & sambal belacan

Next day's breakfast was nasi lemak, fried noodles and bread...nasi lemak was actually quite tasty...

We checked out at 12noon and decided to drive around Jonker Street and stopped by to try Eye of Malacca.....after that we went to Portuguese Settlement for our lunch.

The stalls -

Seafood Terrace
Joan n El' Chico's - we had our lunch here
Seafront
Joe Splash Five
Big Benz Fountain
Jenny Kopitiam
J&J Corner
De Costas

Food? Delicious! We had clams (lala), grilled portuguese fish, brinjall (portuguese style) and butter prawns. Total? RM80++?

What others said about Portuguese Settlement:

My Elephant Jalan 17/13, Seksyen 17 PJ

2009-07-12T23:38:00.006+08:00

My group of friends (ex-colleagues turned friends) TH, NMM, VK & HA meet up regularly. We tried to make it once a month but of course sometimes because of other commitments we only manage to see each other once in 2 or 3 months. When we meet up we'd like to try new places, after all, these ladies don't eat much so when we meet up it is sort of a time to splurge and abandon dieting regime...-)

So, last friday we made plan to meet up after previous cancellation (last 3 weeks due to VK being away, we missed he in our previous outing). Thursday morning, HA sent an email telling everyone that hubby had planned for them to balik kampung on Friday night n she has to miss our date.

So, we proceeded without her. TH recommended My Elephant - she said it is pork-free, not sure meat is halal or not but we can order seafood. She had been there 4 times n enjoy the food there very much. We agreed and proceeded to the restaurant after work.

I didn't expect the restaurant to be located inside low cost flat! But the owner/s had done quite extensive renovation and turned the restaurant into a quite cosy place. According to TH, lots of diners patronizing this place especially during Fri-Sun and they are actually willing to que!

Lucky for us, TH managed to book a table and while we were at the end of our meal, we noticed quite a number of people were waiting outside for tables! Feeling uncomfortable, we didn't linger and finished our dinner and proceeded to Coffee Bean at Jaya1 to continue with our chit chatting

Our dinner:
Fish cake (starter) 5pcs RM8.00 (very nice, I wanted to order My Elephant starter plate but TH said it is too big portion. We also ordered Mieng kum - but they didn't have it, it was on the menu, perhaps it was sold out)

Image from http://spinzer.us/2009/04/my-elephant-happy-mansion/

Drinks - TH ordered Pandan cooler (RM3) while the rest ordered Kraciap cooler i.e roselle flavoured drinks RM3/glass - similar but nicer than ribena..

Tom yum - TH preferred tom yum with santan while NMM and I preferred tom yum minus santan so we ordered 2 types of tom yum. Tom yum seafood is nice and VERY spicy. Myele tom yum talay - VERY sweet. I don't like it at all. Tom yum seafood (s) RM20.00 and tom yum talay (s) RM23.00. Quite huge portion for a small bowl, 3 or 4 persons can share a bowl.

NMM likes kerabu and she ordered papaya salad RM10.00 and mango salad RM10.00. I like pucuk paku and we ordered it too RM12.00. Of all these 3 vegetable dishes, pucuk paku seems to be everyone's favourite.

Image from http://spinzer.us/2009/04/my-elephant-happy-mansion/

TH ordered mayonaise prawn RM18.00 - fried prawn + dragon fruit + mayonaise, she loves it but if I were to go to this place again I'll not order this dish again - too sweet and rich for my taste.

Image from http://blog.benghan.com/2008/07/my-elephant-thai-food-menu-ss17/

We noticed all our dishes quite dry - without gravy to 'wet' our brown rice (RM10 for 4pax), we decided to order fish green curry RM15.00. I like this curry as it was freshly prepared and served piping hot and not too rich nor sweet as serve at most thai restaurants. This dish? RM15.00.

Image from http://blog.benghan.com/2008/07/my-elephant-thai-food-menu-ss17/

I like omelette to go with my rice and ordered omelette with otak-otak (Khai Jiao Homok) RM12.00. TH objected as she said we ordered quite a lot already, anyway we proceeded with the order.

Image from http://blog.benghan.com/2008/07/my-elephant-thai-food-menu-ss17/

Total? RM165.00 and we paid RM41 each (NMM sponsored RM1.00 ha ha).

Will I go to this place again? YES but will try other food and order what I like ha ha..

Where?

My Elephant Thai Restaurant & Café,
Block C - G4 Happy Mansion, Jalan 17/13,
Section 17, Petaling Jaya.
Tel: 012-328 5028, 019-360 8911
Business hours: Tuesday to Sundays - noon to 2.30pm,
6 to 10pm except Sunday lunch.

What others said about this place:

Food at Selayang Mall

2009-06-30T16:26:00.002+08:00

From my previous postings, you'll notice that my office is in Selayang (been working here 1 and a half years already - since 4/2/08). Within walking distance we have very limited selection of eateries (mostly roadside stalls).

Most of the time I try to skip lunch (as part of my dieting attemp ha ha) but sometimes (if I skipped breakfast or dinner previous night) I'll be really hungry and need to eat during lunch time.

What to eat? the stalls or drive out? Most of the time I'll drive out to malay restaurants nearby Selayang stadium, or go to Selayang local council food court...

Recently I discovered a shopping mall nearby my office, only 10 minutes drive....so far I've tried:

Food court - quite yucky actually
Mc Donald - service here quite good. friendly and they serve you free coke when your food take longer time to prepare.
KFC - busy outlet.
Shakey's Pizza - the worst pizza joint I've ever been to! Yesterday I went to the mall to tapau my dinner, wanted to go to Penang Express but couldn't locate the shop, so decided to tapau pizza. I should have listened to my instinc! I was looking at the menu displayed at the entrance, a waiter came n hovered then she said if you want to tapau the menu is inside! I told her off and said I'll go in if I decide to buy food from the shop. Then another girl came and hover! For some unexplanable reason I walked in and ordered pizza and fried chicken. They took their time to take my order as they have to wait for different guy to man the cashier counter. After my order the food took long time to prepare (longer than pizza hut / domino time limit of 15-20min); When I asked the guy at the counter apologized and said they just realized they ran out of coleslaw and they are frying potato chips to replace the coleslaw and of course they never bothered to inform me about it! Then, came the pizza..the worst pizza I've eaver eaten...dry and tasteless! I've been to Shakey's at my old office in USJ9, taste not bad and service is good, when you go in they greeted you and while you wait they provide you with free coke. Here...well I will never ever go to this place again. Now, mystery solved. I mean Shakey's was amongst the pioneers in serving pizza in KL yet their presence compared to Pizza Hut and Domino's almost invisible...now you have your answer. http://julietchun.blogspot.com/2008/05/sale-jom-shopping.html ; http://ejartsweetcatchy.blogspot.com/2008/09/jalan2selayang.html
Ketupat & Rendang - in front of Shakey's 2 malay girls sell ketupat and rendang. As I was hungry everything look good :-) so i bought 1 bundle of rice ketupat (5 pieces per bundle) RM4.50; 5 pieces of ketupat pulut RM4.50 and 200 gram Rendang Tok RM10.00. Rendang Tok is delicious, I don't mind buying it again but the ketupat pulut taste very bland...I guess I can only eat good ketupat pulut from my mom.
Pappa Kopitiam - nothing special but palatable enough to fill one's hungry stomach. http://jancanfly.blogspot.com/2009/05/pappa-kopitiam-selayang-mall-kl.html ; http://mimid3vils.blogspot.com/2008/04/papa-kopitiam.html ; http://www.pappakopitiam.com.my/default.asp?contentID=533 ; http://www.3-meals.com/?p=318
Borneo Station - expensive and I don't like the food. http://www.borneostation.com/Default.asp ; http://sirei5198.blogspot.com/2009/04/borneo-station.html ; http://beckleesblog.com/?p=586
Garden's Cafe - food taste awful
Johnny's - same taste as other branches. place quite empty http://www.johnnyrestaurant.com/menu.htm ; http://www.sawanila.com/kedai/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=515:wefwefweferwfwe&catid=50:makan-time&Itemid=153 ; http://foodmoochers.blogspot.com/2007/04/johnnys-steamboat.html
Secret Recipe - don't have the craving for this place yet as I've frequented their Sri Damansara outlet very often. http://www.secretrecipe.com.my/
Penang Express - just tried today, they have promotion where you can order one drink (from 3pm to 6pm) and you get to buy char kuew tiaw for RM1. Offer from 3/6/09 to 30/6/09. Anyway, I went there during lunch time and my lime kasturi drink (lime and asam boi drink) and a plate of char kuey tiaw cost me RM12.40! very expensive. Still cheaper than Borneo Station, a plate of their fish noodle almost RM10!
Cone Pizza - yet to try http://www.foodstreet.com.my/food-street/opage.s?outlet=Italian+Cone+Pizza ; http://www.conepizza.com.my/ ; http://www.kornykornelius.com/?tag=cone-pizza
Haji Samuri - yet to try, I'm sure taste wise must be the same as other outlets. http://www.onestopmalaysia.com/food-reviews/selangor/kajang-satay-(haji-samuri).html ; http://kyspeaks.com/2007/06/20/ky-eats-sate-kajang-haji-samuri-at-damansara-uptown/ ; http://food.malaysiamostwanted.com/venues/restoran-sate-kajang-hj-samuri-satay-bgn-dato-nazir ; http://www.thekualalumpurtraveler.com/satay-kajang-hj-samuri-the-best-satay-in-malaysia/

Bandung / Jakarta trip

2009-06-16T17:07:00.012+08:00

After months of planning and research, we visited Jakarta & Bandung.

8 of us (my parents, my 2 sisters, my sisters in law and a nephew) and 3 kids (a niece and 2 nephews).

The group was split into 2. First group went to Jakarta on 6/6/09 and left for Bandung by train on 7/6/09. Second group flew straight to Bandung from KL on 7/6/09.

Flight –

6/6/09 – 11/6/09 KL-Jkt-KL : KLM RM301 return ticket per adult & RM201 per child. http://www.klm.com/travel/my_en/index_default.html

7/6/09 KL-Bandung: Air Asia RM50/pax (promo);http://www.airasia.com/

12/6/09 Jkt-KL: Lion Air RM154/pax http://www.lionair.co.id/

All expenses for 3D/2N in Bandung and 3D/3N in Jakarta RM600/adult excluding flights n shopping money. Well we only stayed 2 nights at Geulis Hotel in Bandung. In Jakarta we stayed at my sis’s house.

Read on perhaps you’ll find info here useful for your next trip.

6/6/09 saturday

KLM Internet check-in – very useful to avoid long queue at KLIA. All we need to do just drop off our bags at the designated counter.

During booking (if you are a muslim) specify you require halal food.

KLM meals – not bad

Adult – fried noodles / jelly / rojak

Kiddy’s meal – spaghetti bolognaise / , kit-kat / fruit / ribena. With the box they provide colouring page for the kid. My niece tore of the page to be coloured later n left it on the plane. She kept on bugging the mother for it while we were in Indonesia; we thought KLM will provide the same box on our journey back but turned out that was a promo pack. My niece sulked through out the flight back.

My sis & family picked us up from airport. On the way we dropped by at Grand Indonesia http://www.grand-indonesia.com/#(similar to our Mid Valley etc), interesting mall, they have theme for each section including the toilet – Middle East, Japanese etc. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RumIH970TkI

Went to a book shop n bought Mentari prepaid card. Rp6500 for a sim card and we topped up Rp50k. Very cheap, to call M’sia flat rate Rp60/6 sec (RM0.20/min). We didn’t need to top up for our entire stay there. However on 7/6 to 8/6 we could not call M’sia, only local calls, something wrong with their network connection. http://www.indosat.com/

I bought l’occitanne at Seibu – slightly cheaper than KL. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seibu_Department_Stores#Indonesia ; http://www.loccitane.com/29/1/2270/34000/A-True-Story.htm

After dinner went home. Our dinner was at Waroeng Podjok: http://www.warjok.com/concept.php

Sup buntut x 2pax

Sup buntut goreng x 1pax

ikan patin x 1 pax

soto bandung x 1pax

sayur asem x 1 pax

all with rice

Food? Not bad..amongst the better one compared to others that we tried while in

jkt/bandung.

7/6/09 sunday

Took 2nd train (9am). Only Rp50,000/pax (Argo Gede), with the ticket you get a bun, a glass of mineral water and a pack of wet tissue (they distributed the goody on train). http://infoka.kereta-api.com/jadwal_dan_tarif/artikel.php?to_path=/jadwal_dan_tarif/artikel.php&ka=ARGO+GEDE&ch_lang=en

We reached Stasiun Gambir quite early, so after we bought the ticket, my bro in law took us to visit Masjid Istiqlal nearby. After walked around & performed sunat prayer we went back to Stasiun Gambir. http://www.masjidistiqlal.com/

We were carrying heavy bags – lugging them up the stairs to platform (from foyer) and only noticed the lift when we reached the platform sigh...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxDESlzlPew&feature=related

Train? Similar to M’sia KTM la..not superbly clean like European or British or American train but reasonably clean. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6Fod0SCH8Y

Our bags were heavy, so when a porter offered to store them in the overhead compartment, his service was welcomed. Still a bit blur on Rupiah value, I paid him Rp1,000! He stared at me and showed 5 fingers. He wanted Rp5,000  lucky my sister had small change from her previous trip to Indonesia.

After the porter incidence we realized we need small change (when we changed RM to Rp in KL we only had Rp50,000 and Rp100,000 notes).

So, my sis-in-law bought 2 bottles of water (Rp3k/bottle) from the train staff (they sell stuffs first before distributing free goodies to passenger). Ha ha slight commotion since my sister said we shouldn’t let the staff kept the Rp50k (the guy said he’ll return the balance once he has small change).

Anyway, my sis’s worry for no reason, we saw the guy again walking to and fro selling stuffs later. It seems he tried to tempt us to buy his stuffs (toys. Souvenirs, snacks etc) and only returned the balance when we almost reached Bandung.

During lunch – Argo Gede offers nasi rames, nasi goreng, chicken cordon bleu, nasi rawon. we ordered nasi goreng (Rp15k)for my niece but she slept through out the journey. So we asked the staff to pack the food for us. We saw other passengers enjoying hot steaming lunch in proper plate & cutlery.

Images from http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/A9vU7J-GUs3lQBi69_z_Zg?select=KaOdCNucRoG-Pqam65gNuQ ; http://yahaa-fly.blogspot.com/ ; pujangga.net/.../07/12/nasi-goreng-restorka/

The 3 hour journey was pleasant , whenever bored/tired we walked around. N the view? from jkt you can see guys and kids sifting through garbage for useful items, then the train pass through paddy fields, villages and nearer to Bandung you can see terraced paddy fields, deep ravine. Mountains.. beautiful. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_sxHS5UM_o&feature=related ; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtnTANRj_1k ; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78NLSjNtuCk&feature=related

I guess if I were to go to bandung again from jkt, i'll choose train over car...

We reached Bandung station n saw 2 gates Utara & Selatan, not sure where our hotel rep waited for us, we went to gate Selatan; turned out main entrance is at gate utara…..

Hotel Geulis http://www.geulis-hotel.com/room.php?id=2&aksi=lihat

Nice, clean hotel. We took 2 family suites for Rp4,120,800 (RM1,413) for 2 nights. The suite is a duplex unit with one double bed on lower floor and 2 single beds on upper floor. And one bathroom.

We booked the hotel through Bayu Buana http://www.bayubuanatravel.com/ n the rate is cheaper than buying direct from hotel. The rate is also cheaper than usual rate quoted to foreigners because my sis resides in Jakarta and she bought the hotel voucher for us using local rate.

We were hungry and shared Argo Gede nasi goreng – surprisingly good and the portion is huge.

After a nice rest we started our factory outlets exploration around Geulis Hotel. We started across the street - Coconel right in front of our hotel, it sells shoes. Next is Grande – this one sells clothes etc, next is Jetset also sells clothes n stuffs, next is Blossom – clothes n more clothes.

By now my sis was tired and my niece was throwing tantrum as she was hungry. So we walked to Kartika Sari for our dinner and to pack food for group 2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VF4sVz6cwz8

Food? Ok la since we were hungry (we had better food at Waroeng Podjok at Grand Indonesia).

Nasi capcay Rp22,000 (RM7.54) x 1pax

Nasi goreng ikan asin Rp19,500 (RM6.69) x 5pax

Nasi goreng kampung Rp22,500 (RM7.71) x 1pax

Sup buntut goreng Rp34,000 (RM11.66) x 1 pax

orange juice Rp10,000 (RM3.43) x 3pax

Strawberry ice cream Rp12,727 (RM4.36) x 1pax

TOTAL: Rp240,600 (RM82.52)

Dessert/snacks:

Pisang bolen mini Rp23,000 (RM7.89) x 2 boxes

Brownies kukus adinda Rp24,000 (RM8.23) x 1 box

Brownies choco chips Rp30,000 (RM10.29)

Kacang bogor Rp22,500 (RM7.71)

Total: Rp122,500 (RM42.00)

After dinner, we were too tired to walk back and took angkutan. How much? Rp4,600 for 4 of us.

8/6/09 monday

Breakfast at 7am – small spread but not bad - nasi goreng, pastries, bread,porridge, lontong, eggs, noodle etc.

After breakfast, the older generations wanted to go to Pasar Baru http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImCG4NmDsgI&feature=related while the younger group prefers FOs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9FCbeWoioM&feature=related , so we split into 2 groups and call Zafiracar http://www.zafiracar.com/ for a car

(we already booked 2 units of 7-seaters for use on 9/6/09 to 11/6/09 and 1 unit 7-seater on 12/6/09 cost us Rp3.1mil). He charged us Rp400k for a unit of 7-seater for a day. So total spent on transport Rp3.6mil excluding drivers’ meal n tips, Zafiracar told us to pay the drivers Rp25k each per day (on 8/6 the driver ate with group 2 in Pasar Baru not sure if they paid the driver any tip or not; on 9/6 we paid Rp25k to each driver for their lunch n Rp25k each for their dinner; on 10/6 same amount with additional Rp25k; last day we paid Rp25k for their lunch n Rp50k as tip).

Back to shopping story - So, my sis, 17-year old nephew, 2-year old nephew & I started our FOs exploration – this time along the road next to geulis – started with Episodes etc, then my 2-year nephew refused to walk and we had to carry him, so my sister decided to buy him a stroller (Rp750k) at Lavie.

After Lavie, we were too tired to walk and decided to take angkutan to Cascade/Heritage. The guy dropped us off at Jalan Dago/Jalan Riau/Jalan Merdeka junction and told us to walk to Cascade/Heritage. We walked for a while n couldn’t see Cascade/heritage. I asked a lady and she told us to get on another angkutan…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itzO7THUonc&feature=related

Image from http://bleucat.blogspot.com/2008/07/going-uphill-to-mt-tangkuban-perahu.html

Finally reached Heritage/Cascade and we just rushed in to enjoy the Aircond 

For info Heritage/Cascade has a play area – so if you are tired and your kid wants to play, stop by at Freckles, the kid can use the facility for 30min for Rp3000.

Image from http://cloudswalldecor.com/?p=66

We had our lunch at Cascade and once done with Cascade/Heritage we waked to Summit next door. Once done with Summit my sis decided to take her kid back to hotel, we took a cab back n after dropping off my sis n my 2-year old nephew, we proceeded to Rumah Mode, Mode Plus & Natural. The taxi driver offered to wait n he said Rp50k (I thought Rp50k plus fare from Summit to Geulis) and agreed. But once done. I realized he didn’t stop his meter n we had to pay meter reading & Rp50k which added up to Rp100k!

Our Cascade lunch:

Nasi Timbel, Nasi Goreng Bakar, fries, beef cordon bleu, strawberry juice, aqua, orange juice (3pax + 1 kid) Rp179,000

group 2 lunch at Pak Chi Met Pasar Baru (5pax + 2 kids) Rp134,000.

Anyway, on the way back we asked the driver to stop at Ayam Goreng Suharti & K Circle (similar to our 7-11) to buy water. I also asked him to take me to Restoran Sederhana or Simpang Raya for Nasi Padang, instead he took me to Pondok Kapau! The food looks like it has been displayed for ages n the place quite dirty, so we skipped the place.

Ayam Goreng Suharti + 2 drinks Rp96,500

Mineral water (from Circle K) Rp30,000

Image from http://desawisata.com/?p=1065

Reached hotel and the others already getting ready to continue shopping. So we joined them since we still have few hours on our rental car. We went to Rumah Mode again. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXbkRPD0YBs&feature=related

On the way back, we stopped by at Simpang Raya to pack dinner (my parents, my sis in law and the kids didn’t follow us to Rumah Mode). No more food left! So the driver took us to the other branch of Simpang Raya. Not much food left. After we left, they closed the shop!

Nasi dus Rp6000 (RM2) x 6pax

Rendang Rp9000 (RM3) x 3pax

Ayam Rp9500 (RM3.25) x 3pax

Sagoti Rp8000 (RM2.74) x 2pax

Sambal tambahan Rp3000 (RM1.03)

Lalab tambahan Rp3000 (RM1.03)

Teh botol Rp3,000 (RM1.03)

TOTAL: Rp116,500 (RM39.96)

Fruits from fruit shop Rp433,267

Image from blog.adrianpradana.com/.../comment-page-1/

http://kehadiranku.blogspot.com/2009/02/bandung-trip.html

9/6/09 tuesday

Programme? Tangkuban Perahu / Sari Ater / lunch at Kampung Daun / more shopping in Bandung / Jakarta

Told my sisters – it will be cold in Tangkuban Perahu http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AothBiASxLQ ; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnoPLoTo280&feature=related . But they decided to ignore my advice. It was really cold whenever the wind blows. In the end the kids n my parents just looked around for a short while n decided to wait in the car. Brr..later off to Sari Ater. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAORKGnCo_U

On the way down decided to stop by at Sindang Reret since I heard so much about the place. Then off to Kampung Daun for lunch. The group love this place. our meals: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQ8O-7XXTyQ&feature=related

Image from http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=564337&page=8

Nasi Timbel Komplit Rp35,000 (RM12) x 2pax

Nasi Goreng Kg Daun Rp35,000 (RM12) x 1pax

Nasi Kukus Kampung Daun Rp35,000 (RM12) x 1pax

Nasi Campur Ala Sunda Rp45,000 (RM15.43) x 1pax

Bebek Goreng Nasi Enak Rp75,000 (RM25.72) x 1pax

Nasi Bakar Sambal Belut Rp38,500 (RM13.20)x 1pax

Kwetiaw Pad Thai Rp35,000 (RM12) x 1pax

Ikan Nila Goreng RM10,000 (RM3.43) 1 portion

Kangkong balacan Rp17,500 (RM6.00)

Ayam goreng Kg Daun Rp35,000 (RM12) 1 portion

Sop iga sapi Rp45,000 (RM15.43) x 1 portion

Aqua Rp5,000 (RM1.71) x 1pax

Avocado juice Rp25,500 (RM8.74) x 1pax

Strawberry juice Rp25,500 (RM8.75) x 2pax

Orange juice Rp25,500 (RM8.75) x 1pax

Kopyor special Rp32,500 (RM11.14) x 3pax

Hot tea manis Rp5,000 (RM1.71) x 1pax

Pisang goreng keju Rp12,500 (RM4.28) x 1pax

Surabi pisang keju Rp8500 (RM2.91) x 1 pax

Es krim goreng Rp22,500 (RM7.71) x 3pax

TOTAL: Rp812,900 (RM278.82)

Images from http://viinkerbell.blogspot.com/2008_12_01_archive.html

http://singka.blogsome.com/2006/04/03/ & http://seralulalu.wordpress.com/tag/food/

Then continue shopping at Cascade/Heritage n stopped by at Kartika Sari for pastries and cookies.

1) Pisang bolen chocolate Rp24,500 x 3 boxes

2) Pisang bolen Rp23,000 x 3 boxes

3) Bika Cirebon Rp27,500

4) Roll tart keju Rp40,000 x 3 rolls

5) Marble brownies kukus Rp25,000 x 3

6) brownies kukus adinda Rp24,000

7) brownies choco chips Rp30,000 x 2 boxes

8) Brownies sp keju Rp34,000

9) Lapis prunes Rp420,000

10) Roti tawar keju Rp12,000

11) kacang bogor Rp25,000 x 5

12) Almond cookies Rp110,000

13) Florentine Rp100,000

14) Naastarr Rp105,000

15) Bakeput Rp50,000

16) Cheese stick Rp70,000

17) Choc almond Rp95,000

TOTAL: Rp1,570,000 (RM538)

Ice cream at Kartika Sari Rp14,00 x 6 cups

left bandung for jkt abt 7pm and reached my sis’s home about 10pm.

10/6/09 wednesday

Programme? One group to Safari /Puncak and the other group Kubah Mas & Blok M. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDax0yM0GHg&feature=related ; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiK9twdpU-0&feature=related ; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDEWzA3gA80&feature=related

Images from http://matacahaya.blogsome.com/2007/04/24/piknik-di-masjid-kubah-emas/ http://wongpwt.wordpress.com/2009/04/20/masjid-kubah-emas-dian-al-mahri/

After safari we were hungry and we saw a nice place Dulang something but our driver said 'jelek' n he brought us to Restoran Rindu Alam. Nice view (like Genting) but place is dirty n food? awful...we knew the driver knew the restaurant guys because when we reached there he knew lots of people there n he probably received commission for bringing us there..

Ayam goreng Rp25,000 (RM8.57)x 1

Udang Mentega Rp65,000 (RM22.30) x 1

Capcay Rp19,000 (RM6.51)x 1

Rendang ayam Rp48,000 (RM16.46) 2 portions

Gepuk Rp44,000 (RM15) 2 portions

Nasi Rp39,000 (RM13.38) 6 portions

Kopyor Rp40,000 (RM13.72) 2 glasses

Jeruk es Rp8,000 (RM2.74) x 1

Es pokat Rp11,000 (RM3.77) x 1

Jus pokat Rp11,000 (RM3.77) x 1

jus apel Rp11,000 (RM3.77) x 1

ice cream gold rush Rp20,000 (RM6.86) x 1 pax

ice cream sensasi Rp17,000 (RM5.83) x 1pax

Total: Rp393,800 (RM135.07)

Images from http://lantschones.wordpress.com/2008/04/11/empal-gepuk/

http://critakhayalngawurku.wordpress.com/category/resep-kira2/

http://www.kabarinews.com/article/Berita_Indonesia/Resep_Indonesia/Resep_Aneka_Es_Nusantara/32962

On the way down we stopped by at Masjid Attawun but everyone was tired to climb up the steep stairs so we skipped the place. Lots of peddlers selling stuff at the parking area. My sis was conned! She bought 30 ears of corns thinking they were cheap, turned out the good ones were displayed above the rotten ears…….

After that, macet (traffic jam) for four hours! The journey was supposed to be 45min-1hour but because of peak hour traffic, combined with rain and demo by Manohara we were stuck for 4 hours!

Later that night we continued shopping at Pacific Place. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlblpE1HVqo

Yogurt at Sour Sally Pacific Place 7cups= Rp203,000

Stuffs from supermarket (Kem Chicks Pacific Place):

Oranges (4pcs) Rp44,162

Guava juice Rp18,500

Chocolate Rp98,300

Conello ice cream Rp5,500

11/6/09 thursday

our flight at 7pm, so we spent the remaining time at Mangga 2 (my sis insisted that we go to Tanah Abang but I was afraid that we might miss the flight if we were to be caught in 4 hour jam again; Mangga 2 is closer to airport) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vIW7X0uzoQ

The other group went to Tanah Abang. According to them they were lucky because the place was closed to suppliers for the day (less busy) because president and his entourage were there to campaign (for coming election). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrWptNyH4LM

Our lunch at Mangga 2 food court:

Nasi goreng Rp13,500 (RM4.63) x 2pax

hot plate noodles Rp22,500 (RM7.71) x 1pax

Aqua Rp3000 (RM1.029) x 3 bottles

Finally Selamat Tinggal Jakarta

KLM Meals:

Rice with chicken curry, salad, corn pudding for adult meals

pasta with chicken, fruit, kitkat, ribena for kiddy's meal

over all quite enjoyable though quite tiring....

Reached KLIA and we saw AH1N1 screening....hmm none of those in Jakarta nor Bandung

Sensation Delight Cafe Damansara Perdana

2009-05-07T22:55:00.006+08:00

One day my colleague brought steaming hot salted egg chicken wings to the office. He said his friend just opened a cafe in Damansara Perdana and he likes the food serves there especially the chicken wings. I asked him - halal? He said of course. He brought like 9 pieces of the wings and so each of us only got 1 piece...:-( It tasted really nice. I asked him where is the shop but his direction was a bit vague, he couldn't even remember the shop name! He said it is called 'cafe'.

I thought I could find the place on my own, so I went to Damansara Perdana one fine day and drove aimlessly....ha ha. No luck.

Today, I was really hungry but couldn't think of anything interesting to eat....:( So I asked my colleague again about the chicken wings place and asked him to draw me a map. He said "I'll print you a map from google!". I said "just in case what's the restaurant name?"

He said Sensation Delight..

Anyway, I googled to find out more info on the place but couldn't find much info but I did find a map and full adress here http://flatworldconcept.com/my/?p=113

Got to the place and couldn't find the restaurant! But the address was right... No wonder, the restaurant name is displayed inside the shop! From outside you can only see a word 'cafe'...

Anyway, no customer around as I drove straight from work n reached there early..so I guess too early for dinner. Their menu is quite extensive. Too lazy to wait, I just ordered Kam heong fried rice, salted egg chicken wings (the primary reason I was there) and another type of fried rice (forgotten the name)..hmm not that good since I can't recall its name.

Both types of fried rice very oily....i think if the cook reduce the oil perhaps it will be ok..I find kam heong fried rice quite interesting as it has nice smell from curry leaves.

Fried chicken? very nice though a tad oily too...and you MUST eat while it is still hot..once cold it tasted horrible.

Will I go there again? yes for the fried chicken. Other dishes? Well..just typical kopitaim offerings..not horrible and not great either....

If you decide to try this place, the restaurant is right in front of the road sign 'Jalan PJU 8/5A'. Still can't find the place? It's nearby Passion Cafe http://bestfoodnetwork.com/blog/lifes-passions-share-passion-cafe-damansara-perdana but when I was there Passion was closed. Other nearby restaurant is Mum's Place http://kyspeaks.com/tag/damansara-perdana/ ; http://www.photoblog.com/chanchiewsoo/2007/12/30/mums-place--damansara-perdana-pj.html

I noticed Damansara Perdana has lots of eateries, amongst them:

To try salted egg chicken wings try this recipe or visit Sensation Delight Cafe.

Bandung / Jakarta

2009-04-10T16:55:00.003+08:00

Planning to go to Bandung & Jakarta this June, so been surfing for info. I thot I'll post my research here for easy ref comes June. I've been to Jakarta but June will be my first trip to Bandung. Pretty excited to try Bandung food........

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2000/03/12/pandering-good-food-get-yourself-bandung.html

Pandering for good food? Get yourself to Bandung
The Jakarta Post , Jakarta Sun, 03/12/2000 7:15 AM Life
BANDUNG (JP): One Saturday afternoon young Yeannie Adisubrata, with her three girl friends, drove her car along Jl. Kolonel Masturi, leaving the busy city of Bandung and making for its hinterland, Lembang.

""I want to reach The Peak before sunset,"" said Yeannie, who works in for international bank. During the trip she turned down the air-conditioning and opened a window, letting the cool breeze crossing the Lembang mountain range whip past her face. ""The sunset at The Peak is one of the most beautiful things here,"" she said.
Located at the top of a hill in Parompong, along the route from Bandung to Lembang, The Peak is one of the newest dining areas in Bandung and underlines the cafemania phenomenon that hit the area last year.

The newest cafe is Kampung Daun, which opened two months ago. It is located on Jl. Sersan Bajuri. According to Dwi Budi, the cafe's customer service officer, a spa and another cafe offering Mediterranean food will soon open there.
""For now we have Warung Cadas Gantung which offers local food and Cabanasfor self-cooking dining,"" she explained.

Nested in a secluded lower area and surrounded by a high rocky wall, Warung Daun's interior is traditionally designed to match nature. Each table is placed under a bamboo structure whose roofs are made of sago palm leaf. International cuisine like shabu-shabu or deep-fried calamari is available, but Kampung Daun concentrates mostly on traditional food and beverages such as nasi goreng ikan asin (fried rice with salty fish), bakso campur (mixed meat ball soup), colenak (fried cassava with shreddedcoconut topping), bandrek (a hot ginger drink) and bajigur (coconut milk drink). The dishes cost about Rp 10,000 each. Traditional touches are also found in the bar's architecture, the waiter's uniforms and also the plates and mug which are made from coconut shells.

The Peak, however, is ensconced in a modern three-story building, with glass walls offering guests the best views of the surrounding mountain valley. The Peak also only serves European food and beverages. ""One of the most favorite items on the menu here is steak,"" said Sukirman, master chef at The Peak. Local steak is between Rp 32,000 and Rp 45,000 while imported meat is about Rp 50,000.

Employing 45 people, The Peak has a 160-seat capacity and is open everyday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., according to the cafe's operations manager, Agus Erick, who was recently busy preparing the cafe's first anniversary on Feb. 27.
In Parompong, there is another cafe called Rossan Resto. But cafes with valley views can also be found in the city of Bandung. In the Dago area, there are the Calista and Lalita Cafes, which face each other. Guests of the two cafes can enjoy the scenery of Bandung city from their seats. And the prices are reasonable: only an average of Rp 10,000 per dish from theirIndonesian and international menu -- from satay to lasagna. No wonder the Calista and Lalita Cafes are always crowded.

""Except for the narrow street leading to the cafes, everything is just great. The scenery, the food and also the prices,"" said SF Gunawan, an telecommunications engineer who often dines there.

Besides the new cafes, gourmet safaris in Bandung have long been popular.For example, there is an old jam factory that is still producing on Jl. Veteran 40. This industry is owned by 80-year-old Mrs. Budiana, who startedthe business in the 1920s.
""But the heyday of our business has gone due to the industrial development in Bandung's hinterland over the last two decades, as it made it difficult to find fresh fruit for our jam,"" explained Inge, Mrs. Budiana's niece.

Selling the jam for between Rp 12,000 and Rp 24,000 per kilogram, the factory is trying hard to maintain their mulberry, pineapple, chocolate, peanut and lobi-lobi (edible fruit) jams.
Across the street there is the famous Es Bungsu. Containing avocado, cincau jelly and mixed fruit, this very sweet iced beverage is a favorite choice for local tourists. This ""brand"" was even chosen as an item to be asked in a national quiz, Kata Berkait, on an RCTI program last year.
Warungs, operated by small-scale vendors, are quite modest with old wood benches for customers. But they are always packed with teenagers who buy their favorite beverage, iced fruit, which is available at Rp 3,000 per cup, usually after eating snacks at Batagor Kingsley next door. One of Bandung's most famous foods, batagor or baso tahu goreng (fried tofu and meat balls) is served with peanut sauce with chili. At Batagor Kingsley it costs Rp 5,000.

Those who want a more international taste should try the brownies at Bawean, at one of the oldest bakeries in Bandung. The bakery on Jl. Bawean,built in the 1946s and which used to be called the Sweetheart Bakery, is also famous for its rumtarts. Another popular brownie maker is Primarasa Bakery, which has outlets on Jl. Buahbatu and Jl. Kemuning. Primarasa has four choices of brownies, sold for between Rp 17,500 and Rp 23,000. Bandungalso has a yogurt center on Jl. Cisangkuy. Various yogurt flavors -- from grapes to lychees -- are offered with sausages and baked potatoes.

Day or night, Bandung is always ready to cater for any taste.

Bandung by train
http://indonesiapics.com/wordpress/?p=20

Jakarta / Bandung - Travel blog

Travel blogs on Bandung:

Bandung – restaurants

Bandung - Spa

Jakarta – restaurants

http://www.jenzcorner.com/weblog/archives/food/indonesian_cuisine/west_sumatra_cuisine/

Bandung Hotels

http://www.virtualtourist.com/hotels/Asia/Indonesia/West_Java_Province/Bandung-1223573/Hotels_and_Accommodations-Bandung-BR-1.html

Our Proposed Programme

3D/2N in Bandung & 3D/3N Jakarta

Group 1 - KL-Jakarta-KL

Group 2 - KL-Bandung-Jakarta-KL

**Note:
· time subject to K.Ah’s or driver (supir) advice.
· Transportation – those with contacts in Jakarta / Bandung – please arrange
· Hotel – sapa-sapa senang please check internet.

DAY 1, 6/6/09 (SATURDAY)
· Group 1 depart from KL by KLM at 4.15pm, arr Jakarta 5.15pm
· Grab a cab from airport to hotel (unless other group members want to spend the night at K.Ah’s house).
· Drop off bags at hotel n freshen up. After maghrib, dinner at Nasi Padang restaurant.
· After dinner – walk around town (shopping or window shopping) / massage
· Book a taxi (Blue Bird) tru hotel for transport to Gambir train station

DAY 2, 7/6/09 (SUNDAY)
· Early breakfast at hotel (if available, if not have breakfast on the train)
· Arrive train station 5.20am (must be at train station 1 hour before departure time)
· Depart Jkt by Argo Gede for Bandung by train at 6.45am. Enjoy the view, or sleep.
· 9.26am - Arrive in Bandung
· Take a cab to hotel & check-in (drop of bags and freshen up), walk around hotel/nearby shopping areas
· 11am - lunch
· After lunch – continue shopping
o fabrics & embroideries - Pasar Baru Wholesale Market (open 10am-5pm)
o leather / shoes – Cibaduyut (open 9.30am-9pm)
o Jeans Street – Cihampelas (open 9.30am-9pm)

DAY 3, 8/6/09 (MONDAY)
· Breakfast at hotel
· 9.00am - leave hotel for shopping exploration
o fabrics & embroideries - Pasar Baru Wholesale Market
o leather / shoes – Cibaduyut
o Jeans Street – Cihampelas
o Factory outlets - Jalan Riau (Martadinata); Jalan Dago ; Cipaganti
o More shopping places here http://indo-spot.blogspot.com/2007/11/bandung-shopping-paradise.html
o Food & drink http://bandungindonesia.blogspot.com/2007/06/ice-creampastry-and-drink-in-bandung.html
· 4.30pm – back to hotel (rest / freshen up) / maybe massage.
· 6.30pm – dinner (kalau tak penat lagi, more shopping after dinner)

DAY 4, 9/6/09 (TUESDAY)
· Early breakfast at hotel
· 7.30am - pick-up by rental van to go to Lembang
· On the way to Lembang, make a sidetrip to Bosscha, the onlyobservatorium in Indonesia. If tour members are into astronomy, if not – no stop necessary (need to make sure reservation is made and to take note on its opening hours.)
· Continue journey to Lembang and stop at one of the food stall that sellsfresh milk. One can drink fresh milk with many flavours. The milk is reallyfresh.
· Proceed to the Mt. Tangkuban Perahu. Go circling around Kawah Ratu (Queen's crater)to see the volcanic activity closely. There are other craters: Kawah Upas andKawah Domas. Beware of the tourist hawkers who sell many things at unreasonablyexpensive prices.
· Continue the journey to Sari Ater, a hot water spring complex. On the way,there is a good Sundanese restaurant, named Sindang Reret, that one can stop byfor lunch. Sari Ater is a resort with natural hot water spring pools, some recreationparks and healthy spas.

. If time permits, continue shopping
· Early dinner at Kampung Daun http://www.samyeap.com/bandung-kampung-daun-restaurant-review/
· after dinner proceed to Jakarta, take a stop at a street food stall and have some grilled 'sweet corns or grilled ketan (sticky rice) while enjoying the view of the tea plantation.
· Arrive Jakarta - Sleep at K.Ah’s house.

DAY 5 10/6/09 (WEDNESDAY)
· Early breakfast at k.Ah’s house.
· 7.30am - pick-up by rental van to go to Puncak / Bogor about 35 mi/60 km south ofJakarta, about a two-hour drive)
· On the way pass by - NATIONAL MONUMENT (MONAS) open 8.30am-5pm, the Land Mark city of Jakarta and
· Stop over shopping at RUMAH BATIK (open 10am-9pm) if agreeable to members, if not proceed to Tmn Mini.
· Visit TAMAN MIN (open 9am-5pm), the miniature houses from 26 Provinces, art andhandicraft display.
· After lunch at Bogor and walk around Bogor Botanical Garden , Proceed the tour to Cisarua - Safari Park with its various tame and wild animals.
· Visit The town of Cipanas is the home of the huge, spectacular National Flower Garden located in Kawang Luwuk Village. (A tall viewing tower in the center of the park offers panoramic views of the gardens and the mountain scenery in the background.)
· After that enjoy the most beautiful panorama of Gede Mountain at Gunung MasTea Plantation.
· Stop by at MASDJID BESAR in Puncak Tea Mountain Resort. After Dinner at localrestaurant, Drive back to Jakarta.

. If belum penat, continue shopping in Jakarta.

DAY 6 11/6/09 (THURSDAY)
· Morning – shopping
o Wholesale Market - Tanah Abang (open 8am-4pm); Mangga Dua 3-in-1 Wholesale Market (Pasar Pagi, ITC Mangga Dua & ManggaDua Mall). Open 8am-4pm.
o traditional markets - These traditional markets provide a lively glimpse into the city’s grassroots life. Among the major markets are Pasar Cikini, Pasar Tanah Abang, Pasar Baru and Pasar Mayestik. (Open 8am-4pm)
o Batik - Jakarta has plenty of Batik outlets. Sarinah and Pasaraya Grande have excellent selections of batik with all of the main styles and producers represented. Batik Keris has a large showroom at Jalan Cokroaminoto in Menteng and a shop in Plaza Indonesia. Batik Semar is in Plaza Indonesia and Blok M Plaza. Iwan Tirta produces exclusive Batik Tulis (Hand-Painted Batik) and one of Jakarta’s most famous batik designers. His showroom is at Jalan Panarukan 25, Central Jakarta or there is a shop at the Borobudur Hotel; Danarhadi Batik Gallery

o Antiques & crafts - Jalan Surabaya in Menteng is a colourful antique market that is include on most Jakarta itineraries. Pasar Seni at Ancol is another good craft market. Other notable areas for antiques and crafts is Jalan Kebon Sirih Timur, only one street away from Jalan Jaksa, for collectors and those after antique furniture who want to browse through the large shops in Ciputat, on the outskirt of the city. A couple of kilometers South of Blok M, Kemang is another hunting ground for antiques and crafts.

o Traditional handcrafted arts - Jakarta is also the city for great buys in traditional handcrafted arts. Sarinah and Pasaraya Grande department stores, both conveniently located, remain the best one-stop shopping places for Indonesia arts and crafts throughout the archipelago. Several floors of each store are dedicated to the sale of locally crafted items including textiles, weaving, carvings, paintings, silver, jewelry, basketry, puppetry, leather goods and a range of interior design items.

o Shopping malls - Elite Plaza Indonesia (adjacent to the Grand Hyatt), Plaza EX and The Plaza Semanggi in Central Jakarta in the East; Taman Anggrek Mall in West, Kelapa Gading Mall in East, WTC Mangga Dua in North, Plaza Senayan and Pondok Indah Mall in South Jakarta.
· Afternoon - group 2 sightseeing; group 1 ready to go to airport.
o Jakarta Old Town (Kota)
o Istiqlal Mosque (the biggest mosque in East Asia) and Cathedral (locatedright in front of it)
o Bird Market
o Sunda Kelapa Port / Old Harbour/ Fatahillah Square - stroll along SundaKelapa Harbour, the city's 16th-century port, where you'll find traditionalsailing ships known as Makassar schooners, or phinisi. One of the world's lastfleets of commercial sailing boats, these brightly painted ships still transportcargo between Jakarta and its outer islands.
· group 1 leaves Jkt by KLM at 6.45pm, arr KL 9.50pm

DAY 7 12/6/09 (FRIDAY)
· Group 2 leaves Jkt by Lion Air at 12.30pm, arr KL 3.30pm

Penang Flavour at 1-Utama

2009-03-10T10:07:00.003+08:00

My bf n I love Penang food, every time we go to Penang we'll eat like no tomorrow! He had quite a few court cases in Penang and he always enjoy going there..rojak, asam laksa, char kuey tiaw, fish head noodle etc. And every time he goes there I'll be texting him asking him what had he eaten and how many bowls :-)

Any way, last sunday I had an appointment with Leonard Drake 1-Utama for my facial. After facial it was already 4ish almost 5pm and I hadn't had my lunch. I only took few pieces of toasts for my breakfast. I thought of having steak and cheese sandwich from Subway and while walking there I saw quite a lot of new eateries sprouting near Cold Storage (formerly the spot was occupied by Giant). One eatery caught my attention as a lot of diners were eating there. So, I decided to give Penang Flavour a try. I ordered char kuey tiaw - the waitress (I think she's the owner) asked me with or without chilly. I said with chilly. Then I saw nice picture of popiah displayed above the counter and decided to tapau popiah too. Both popiah and char kuey tiaw cost me RM13.00.

I was really starving when I reached home and despite my state of hunger the char kuey tiaw and popiah tasted really bland! I didn't enjoy them at all. I guess that'll be my first and last visit to this place.

There's another Penang food outlet at the old wing I think it is called Rasa Penang - I prefer this outlet though their food quality had deteriorated quite badly compared to few years back.

Anyway, with the number of eateries in 1-Utama now, finding something to eat will not be a problem.

What others said about the two places mentioned above:

Penang Flavour

Rasa Penang
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/10/7/sundaymetro/19066094&sec=sundaymetro

Sungai Klah Hot Spring

2009-03-01T18:39:00.006+08:00

Hmm...instead of food, I'll write about a place I visited yesterday - Sungai Klah Hot Spring in Sungkai Perak. It is about 70min to 2hrs drive from KL (depends on how fast you drive).

Yesterday was my third visit to the hot spring; first time I visited the place at night with my parents and my sisters n their families. 2nd time was day-visit with my bf. Those were quite some years ago.

Yesterday I visited the place with my bro n his son, my sis n her son and my nieces (their parents did not join us). We reached there at about 1pm. Before leaving KL my sis told me to buy lunch for all of us as she said she had visited the place many times and the cafeteria ran out of food! So, I tapau rice with few dishes, roti telur, roti canai and teh tarik for our trip. Then I stopped by at the supermarket to buy snacks n bottled water for the journey.

Anyway, when we reached there I saw a signboard saying no outside food/drinks allowed within the park. My sis said "Well...they don't have enough food. I experienced it before". So we brought our food in and looked for a place to have our picnic. And found a shady place under a tree, a lifeguard came and told us to move from the spot as guests are not allowed to sit on the grass under a tree! My bro was upset and told the guy off but we obliged and moved away. We saw empty tables at the cafe with no label and decided to sit there (some tables were labelled for dine-in guests only). We were about to unpack our food when a security guard came and told us that we cannot eat food brought from outside the park and we should leave the food at the guardhouse! My bro was hungry, tired and the weather was really hot so he blew his top and scolded the guard. He said the reason we brought food in was because he had problem with the cafe before where they ran out of food and now his kid n nephews/nieces are hungry. So..tell me what to do? You want me to throw out all these food and buy from the cafe?

The security guard realized that he couldn't win the argument with my bro n decided to allow us to eat in peace but he told us to keep our snacks at the guardhouse and buy drinks from the cafe and he left.

My bro was still quite upset. Anyway, I think the operator should allow outside food/drinks to be brought in especially in the current economy situation. As it is guests has to spend RM10/adult and RM8/child. I think the management should allocate an area for picnickers where guests can put up their tents, spread their mats and eat their home cooked food and enjoy themselves. By having specific area, it is easy for the operator to clean up the place too. Of course the area should have plenty of rubbish bins and the families should be responsible to clean up after they are done with their picnic. To ensure cleanliness, may be the operator can impose a deposit of say RM10 which will be refundable if the operator is satisfied that the spot allocated is clean.

Ohh another thing - if the park operator is reading this entry, I hope may be the management can put up a signboard assuring guests about water cleanliness - I mean how do they treat the water? How do they remove dirt and bacteria from various pools at the park? For swimming pool water, we know they treat it with enough chlorine to kill all the bad stuff (read here on how swimming pool works http://home.howstuffworks.com/swimming-pool.htm) . As for spa pools normal way of maintaining cleanliness is explained here http://poollifemag.com/article.aspx?id=Immaculate-Spas . How about this place? From what I heard the water is from natural source and it is stagnant....n just imagine the same water is used by thousands of guests! and some people actually go there to cure their skin diseases...Eeew...if the water is continuosly flowing and replenish like river then I guess ok lah...

Anyway, after lunch we looked for a place to put our things and found an empty table. I sat there reading newspapers and guard our stuffs as I wasn't in the mood for wetting my body (and for reasons mentioned above), as for the children? Bacteria, macteria - they just sped off to the mountain spring pool for their swim without any care in the world. After the swim, they all came back shivering and asked us to move to hot spring pool. We left our stuffs there and moved to soaking pools. Nice pictures here http://forum.keadilan.ws/viewthread.php?tid=72673

After a while my sis decided to have a massage. They have a promo package where if you purchased 2 sessions (2 hours) you and your family will enjoy free jacuzzi at a private villa. So, I decided to join my sis and the others can enjoy the jacuzzi.

They only have one therapist, so my sis had to wait for me (and enjoy the jacuzzi). While I was having my massage (in the one room chalet - nice clean chalet) it rained cats and dog! Since I wasn't decent, the rest had to wait for the rain to subside outside the chalet on the balcony.

The massage? Ayurveda massage. I didn't enjoy it that much as they use oil all over my body and the pressure applied not to my liking. Too soft. After the massage therapist gave me a bowl of scrub, soap and shampoo to remove oil from my hair and body. The bathroom - very nice and clean.

Once done, it was my sis's turn and for me to wait on the balcony as it was still raining heavily. I encouraged my nieces and nephew to stay in the jacuzzi n play in the rain - after all how often can you do that? I mean the water is warm and the rain is cold....what a combination.

We were at the villa (or chalet) for more than 2 hours while we wait for the rain to stop and the kids really enjoyed themselves.

On the way back we stopped at Sg Buloh rest area to eat and pray. We had satay, curry mee, chicken rice and cendol.

When we reached KL at about 9pm I heard my 8-year-old niece said this to her 4-year-old cousin "I had the best time of my life today." I guess..that wraps up our day trip...

What others said about this place:

and more.....just google

Chili's Grill & Bar

2009-02-08T22:06:00.003+08:00

Occasionally I crave for western/tex-mex food, but sometimes I had the craving when I had to dine solo. So, what do I do? Well....I'll drive to 1-Utama and head to TGIF or Chili's Grill & Bar and tapau food from there. Ha ha believe it or not sometimes I just parked my car, went up to Chili's, ordered my food and drove back!

Most of the time I'll tapau either buffalo wings and/or combo fajitas (beef+chicken - cajun style). Sometimes I'll go for grilled chicken salad or their burger. Tried their ribs before - don't like it. Their steak? Yeah tried that too and don't like it either.

Few days back, i was craving for fajitas...so off I went to 1-Utama. I ordered grilled chicken salad, triple play and combo cajun fajitas. A lot huh? Well I was greedy and of course I couldn't finish everything by myself. Well..I didn't waste the food, I just dumped the left over in my fridge and they lasted 3 days ha ha. Day 1 I had Chicken salad and a bit of triple play. Day 2 n 3 I stuffed on the rest of the food :-).

Anyway, I don't think I'll ever order triple play again - I love buffalo wings but the batter covered chicken was very oily and the egg rolls taste weird. Fajitas? I always love it but sometimes Chili's standard dipped a bit and the beef/chicken they served not that juicy (quite dry). Their grilled chicken salad was excellent.

Actually TGIF and Chili's are not the best places to go for western/tex-mex food, so why bother? well as I said sometimes I just feel like having food I mentioned earlier and these two outlets are the nearest to my place and they are quite tapau-friendly, just go to the bar, order and wait (sometimes I'll go some place else and return to collect the food later). If I wait at the bar, the waiter will serve coca cola for me on the house.

If I were to choose between the 2 eateries, I'll pick Chili's over TGIF. Chili's food is much better than TGIF.

Ohh..I should mention this, Chili's burger taste better if you leave it in the fridge a day or two before consuming it (of course I experienced this after I couldn't finish my food and stuffed them in the fridge). Sounds gross huh? Not really lah, normally I'll reheat the left over food in the oven before consuming them. How to throw away, expensive oii! My recent tapau food cost me RM85!

If I were to go with my friends to Chili's of course we always ordered bottomless drinks and nachos! I think that's the best thing about Chili's just sit down order the bottomless drinks and snacks and just chat away until someone says "Sorry guys got to go." :-)

their outlets:

What others said about Chili's:

and more.....

Restoran Sri Nirwana Maju Bangsar

2009-02-05T23:58:00.006+08:00

Tonight my bf needed to fix his glasses, so we went to BSC to our regular optician. After that we went to look at books at Times and decided to go to Sri Nirwana Maju for dinner. We used to frequent this place quite often but since BV1 & 2 started their business there we stopped going as finding parking place was not easy.

Anyway, since we were in the vicinity we decided to have our dinner there. The place was packed with diners! We wanted to sit outside (at the kaki lima) but all tables were fully seated
and the only table available was inside the shop (quite stuffy);

while ordering food, my bf noticed empty table outside the shop and quickly grabbed it!

The waiter then started piling up our leaves with rice, followed with side dishes (as shown in pictures) and we selected fish curry as our gravy. We also ordered additional dishes - fried tenggiri, chicken varuval and lamb dish.

Taste wise - we quite like this place but we wish they'll serve hot dishes (and hot steaming rice) instead of cold dishes and luke warm rice.

I couldn't finish my portion and my bf finished them for me.

We still prefer Kanna...

What others said about Sri Nirwana Maju:

and more.....

Restoran Ayuthai Taman Melawati

2009-02-04T20:16:00.006+08:00

Went to Mindef for a meeting today. After meeting, one of my colleagues (who drove) was required to accompany the consultants and client to visit site, for the rest of us we had to wait at the road side...HOT HOT.......

Anyway, after waited for them for quite a while the architect suggested that we should go for lunch. Hmm about time! I was reaaaaly HUNGRY!

We were not sure where we were heading so we just followed our site staffs' car and they brought us to Restoran Ayuthai Taman Melawati.

My colleague (from site) ordered the food for 15 of us...the first to arrive tomyam soup campur...tasted very good (maybe because I was hungry?), then came stir fried kailan (not that good kinda tough), next..kerabu suun (tasted weird...can taste some sort of artificial flavour...something like instant noodle flavour powder), next chicken cooked with some sort of sauce (ayam paprik?) ...don't like this one either...the flavour a bit too strong. Next ayam pandan (over fried) but the taste and texture quite different from other thai places. Tasted like the chicken meat was minced and mixed with spices, wrapped with pandan leaf and fried. Not bad, but I prefer the usual pandan chicken. Last dish delivered to our table - steamed fish (kerapu?)...don't fancy this dish either but I think some of my colleagues loved it.

Over all I think the tomyam is good but the rest...pretty bad.

Ohh I read the review by blogger below about pandan chicken that they had at this place quote "It was oh so good, that you just wanted to pop them in your mouth every chance you got. Even though I said pop in your mouth, it was still too big to do so in actuality. You could tell that the chicken was fully marinated and rested, before it was enveloped with pandan leaves and fried fragrant." Hmm did we go to the same restaurant? the pieces served to us....really tiny and the leaves and chicken pieces were charred pretty badly!

Restoran Ayuthai
15, Jalan Bandar 1, Taman Melawati, 53100 Hulu Klang, Selangor DE, Malaysia

What others said about Ayuthai:

Gong Xi Fa Chai

2009-01-26T22:57:00.004+08:00

Just got back from dinner with my bf and his family at his sis's house. Last night we had dinner with his mom.

Well tonight instead of just eat I decided I should bring something, so off I went to Cold Storage at 1-Utama at 4pm to buy chicken and stuff for chicken rendang.

Came back and started cooking. I thought I should jot it down, so next time I know whether people are over charging me or not when I buy from them.

Chicken RM22 (2kg)
Rendang spices (RM10)
Daun Kunyit (RM0.99
Daun Limau purut (RM0.99)
Coconut (3 whole coconut - grated) RM5.40
Total: RM40.00 + gas (2.5 hr) + water + electricity + car fuel (Sri D'sara-1-Utama-Sri D'sara) + parking (RM1) + tol + labour

Anyway back to Chinese New Year story - as usual his mom cooked for reunion dinner but only me, my bf and his bro family were there as the rest had their dinner with their in-laws. Dishes? of course everything that has auspicious meaning to invite the new year.

Tonight at his sis's house, my rendang was a hit! Ha ha. Felt very much welcome, his nephew missed me and he was so glad to see me that he hugged me to the delights of everyone.

I think I made a good decision of cooking the rendang and brought some mangoes to his sis's house.

As usual both my bf & I received angpow from his married siblings and mom. But tonight we had to leave early (as per previous years we stayed and chit chatted while others played mahjong til 1am or 2am) as his client invited him (or rather insisted) that my bf pay him a visit.

Ohh I received oranges and pineapple tart too. DELICIOUS.

Other options for chinese new year dishes:

Udang Masak Kelio
Sumber: Buku Pandai Memasak http://resepi.mesra.net/Detailed/2424.shtml

Bahan-Bahan:
600 g udang
8 biji cili merah ]
2 ulas bawang putih ] digiling
8 ulas bawang merah ]
2 sm kunyit hidup ] 1½ biji kelapa - ambil santan pekat
3 batang serai - dititik
3 keping asam gelugur
3 helai duan limau purut
Garam, minyak untuk menumis
Cara:
Tumiskan bahan-bahan giling sampai garing, lama sedikit baru masukkan santan. Biarkan sampai pekat baru masukkan udang, serai dan daun limau purut. Masak sampai kering.

============================================================
http://favourite-recipes.blogspot.com/search/label/Seafood
Sambal Udang Kerisik

Bahan-bahan

500gm udang
1 sudu besar kerisik
1 cawan santan pekat
1 biji bawang besar - dikisar
4ulas bawang putih - dikisar
3 - 4 sudu besar cili giling
garam secukup rasa

Cara memasak

1. Panaskan minyak dan tumis bawang besar dan bawang putih hingga naik baunya.
2. Masukkan gili giling, kacau dan biarkan hingga pecah minyak.
3. Masukkan udang, kerisik dan santan dan biarkan mendidih.
4. Setelah kuahnya agak kering, masukkan garam secukup rasa. Kacau rata.
5. Tutup api, angkat dan bolehlah dihidangkan.

===========================================================
http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Lab/2446/resepiayam.html
Ayam Masak Merah

Bahan-bahan
1 ekor ayam--dipotong kecil
1 tin kecil tomato puri
1 biji kelapa--ambil santan pekat
3 btg serai
4 inci lengkuas
2 inic halia
15 ulas bawang merah
2 sudu besar serbuk kunyit
200 gm minyak masak
Garam dan gula secukup rasa

Cara membuat
Goreng ayam separuh masak. Angkat dan tos minyaknye
Tumis bawang putih, bawang merah dan halia sehingga garing. Then masukkan tomato puri dan goreng sehingga naik bau
Masukkan santan, serai, lengkuas dan biarkan kuah pekat.
Masukkan garam dan serbuk perasa secukup rasa
Last sekali, masukkan ayam yg telah digoreng. Biarkan ia empuk barulah angkat

Note: Kalau nak pedas, boleh letak cili kisar

================================================================
http://www.malaysiabest.net/2006/08/30/reciperesipi-kari-ayam-kapitan-merdeka-cyber-open-house/
Kari Ayam Kapitan :

* 10 dried chillies - soaked and remove seeds
* 10 red chillies
* 4 onions
* 1 bulb garlic
* 1 thumb size tumeric
* 6 candlenuts
* 6 lemongrass
* 1 piece belacan

Blend them into a paste and fry with oil till fragrant. Add in one chicken (about 1.2kg, cut into 6 huge chunks). Simmer and add coconut milk and lime juice. Season with a bit of sugar and salt.
Just before serving, slice kaffir lime leaves and sprinkle on the chicken.

==========================================================
http://www.pickles-and-spices.com/devils-curry.html
Devil's Curry

* 4 tbs oil

* 2 tsp mustard seed

* 2 large onions, quartered

* 1 chicken cut into 12 bite sized pieces

* 4 potatoes, quartered

* 3 red chilies, sliced lengthwise

* 2 tsp thick soy sauce

* 2 tsp salt

* 2-3tsp water

* 1 tsp pepper

* Vinegar and sugar to taste

* 1 1/2 tsp salt

Blend into a fine paste:

* 10 fresh chilies

* 12 dried chilies soaked in warm water for 20 mins and drained, throw away the seeds

* 15 small red shallots, peeled

* 6 cloves garlic, peeled

* 2 cm fresh turmeric, skinned

* 2 cm fresh ginger, skinned

* 5 candlenuts

* 5 tsp water

Method:

1. Heat oil in a wok over medium fire.

2. Stir fry the mustard seeds until they pop.

3. Add blended ingredients into the hot pan, stirring 2-3 minutes until fragrant.

4. Add quartered onions, potatoes and fresh chilies. Stir for about five minutes.

5. Add chicken, soya sauce, salt and water. Turn fire to low and simmer for about 30 minutes. Stirring all the time.

Good Food in Kedah & Perlis

2009-01-24T13:52:00.008+08:00

This posting is dedicated to my family - now you know where to eat ha ha

Been reading Kedah & Perlis good food guide by Flavours (March-April 2005)...good guide WAYYYY before food blogging as we know today :-)

I'm from Kedah and yet every time I'm in Kedah I'll eat home cooked food (to make up what I missed in KL), so most places recommended by the guide I've yet to try. I guess I'll try them when I'm in Kedah next time and when not in a rush....

Quite a good list from a blogger http://kedahku.blogspot.com/2008/06/kalau-nak-makan-sedap.html

ALOR STAR

Nasi Campur:
According to the guide good nasi campur in Alor Star could be found in Dee Nasi Kampung (about 100 dishes offered) opens 8am-5pm close on fridays & Restoran Sri Pumpong (operated since more than 10 years ago) opens 10am-8.30pm, close on Fridays in Pumpong Alor Star. I've tried Dee Nasi Kampung and love it, I've also tried Restoran Sri Pumpong. Equally good but I prefer Dee Nasi Kampung and will not miss visiting the restaurant whenever I'm in town. Read my previous posting on Dee.

Nasi lemak - good place at:

a stall next to Pusat Pakar Perubatan Putra 888, Jln Sekerat. opens 6.30am-2.30pm and close on Saturdays. I didn't know about this place, if not I would have tried it when I was visiting my dad when he was warded next door - as at 2005 a packet RM0.50! but you'll eat more than a packet. 8 different types of packed nasi lemak and also sells 40 types of kuih and nasi dagang.
Next place Restoran Haji Ali in 1160A Seberang Perak opens 5.30pm-3am - opened in 1960! offer more than 30 dishes! http://www.geckogo.com/Dining/Malaysia/West-Coast-Malaysia/Alor-Setar/Alis-Restaurant.html
Also good a place call Zam Zam Nasi Lemak 937A Lrg Merpati off Jln Langgar opens 7am-2pm / 6pm-11pm - been around over four decades! offer more than 15 dishes.
Zam Zam Hanifa Nasi Lemak (Restoran Selera, 64T Jln Teluk Wan Jah opposite Menara Zakat) opens 6.30am-2pm - has five outlets in Alor Star. average 16 dishes on offer daily.

Nasi Padang - a stall at Kedai Kopi Chooi Hong, 926 Jln Sultan Badlishah opens 10am-5pm, close on fridays and public holidays - more than 30 years old! about 30 dishes on offer. A stall within this shop also offers good bihun sup.

Nasi Kandar -

a stall at Kedai Makanan & Minuman Kim Bee Chew, 8 Jln Tunku Ibrahim opens 6.30am-2.30pm. The owner's father use to ply his trade on foot (hence the origin of Nasi Kandar - balancing of pole on both shoulders with dishes on each side). More than 20 dishes serves daily.

Laksa -

Zakaria Laksa Teluk Kechai, 250 Jln Kuala Kedah opens 1pm-8pm close on Fridays - go early as by 6pm you may not get your laksa.

Mee Rebus at Kedai Kopi Hin & Abu, 1225C Jln Teluk Wan Jah opens 10.30am-9pm and close on Fridays - been around for more than 30 years! and as at 2005, a plate only RM2.50.

Murtabak - Restoran Rose 1522 Jln Sultan Badlishah opens 7am-10.30pm - renowned for over 30 years.
Excerpt:
pasal mi abu ni kan, aku geli sikit nak makan pasai dengark macam-macam cegheta pasai mi mamak ni. tu aku tektiap kali balek kampung bukan tak ghasa nak masuk rose restoran pekena mi dan murtabak dia. tapi tu la, bila tengok dia hidang mi kat aku paih tu ayark tangan dia dok basah-basah masuk dalam kuah mi aku jadi 'lan' nak makan, ntah, ghasa satu macam geli geleman pulak. kot la ni dah bersih dah tak tau la. http://mforum.cari.com.my/archiver/?tid-133408.html

Roti canai - stall next to Kurnia Wakil Insuran 112B Jln Datuk Kumbar opens 6.30am-11am close on Sundays - operating since more than 20 years ago.

Puttu - Kedai Kopi & Hotel Kheng Nam 37 Jln Langgar opens 7.30am-6.30pm - operating over 35 years!

Sungai Petani

Mee Goreng/Rebus, Pasembor - Restoran Taulat 1 Jln Pasar Baru opens 11am-8pm close alternate Fridays. As at 2005 a plate RM2.20. Started busines 40 years ago!

Ikan Bakar - Dataran Ikan Bakar Jln Pengkalan Tmn Pekan Baru opens 6.30pm-12am close on Wednedays.

Thosai / Idli -

A stall opposite Mathen Clinic
Sri Ananda Bahwan Restaurant 206A Jln Market opens 7am-11pm close on 15th of every month. http://www.vkeong.com/2007/11/06/sri-ananda-bahwan-restaurant-northern-and-southern-india-cuisine/

Ice blended coconut drink - last stall next to a river, 59 Bgn PKNK Jln Petri opens 9am-6pm.

Cendol - Push cart outside Kedai Serbaneka next to Photo Ria, Jln Dewa opens 11.30am-7pm - more than 24 years business!

Perlis

Nasi Campur - Warong Pokok Sawa Kg Kerisik Mata Air opens 11.30am-4pm close on Fridays. Offers more than 40 dishes with catfish specialties.

Hameed Nasi Kandar stall 8 opposite Pasar Besar Kangar opens 7.30am-1.30pm close alternate Thursdays. Stall is more than 30 years old. Offers 20 dishes daily.

D'Bendang 35B Jln Besar Arau opens 12pm-2am - malay / thai / western - popular dessert Pulut Durian & Cendol Pulut.

Lynda Ikan Bakar 10/11/12 Kuala Perlis food court opens 6pm-12am.

Roti canai - Stall 15 opposite Pasar Besar Kangar opens 7am-12pm. In business for more than 15 years.

Other recommended places (by bloggers / forum participants):

Alor Star
Recommendation from http://mforum.cari.com.my/archiver/?tid-133408.html

nasi campur= res seri pumpong
kalo utk lunch aku cadang hg pi restoran makwan kat tapak skolah convent lama
selalunya bila aku balik kpg bini aku MESTI ajak aku p beli nasik awie kat jln putra bersebelahan shell tu.... sedap dan rega memang morah la
pi makan kat restoren RN Teguh dpn menara, kat sekolah convent lama. ok juga kat situ. banyak pilihan lauk-pauk. bihun sup pun ada. nasi ayam ada. macam2 ada.
ada 1 gerai nasi kandaq sedap kat jln Tg bendahara.....dulu kat sini ada pasaraya peladang...skrg peladang dah tutup
Lan nasi kandar kat belakang peruda.....lagi satu Restoran Haji Ali...memang best giler..
Lorong Merpati - Nasik Kandaq depan Kolej or Nasik Kandaq kat Market Besaq (Gerai dekat dgn jalan nak beli ikan, nasik warna kuning) or kedai nasik kandaq dekat simpang kola tu pun sedap..tapi aku tak pernah masuk...
tomyam=lot 4 medan kota
nasi ayam= kat kopitiam kanchut
Gerai nasik ayam kat Pekan Rabu tu memang mengancam. Sedap teramat!:P
nasi lemak royal kat pantai johor
rasanya nasi lemak pagi2 ni byk yg sedap..
1) kat jln ultanah kat jambatan ke mergung tu... singgit je sebungkus penuhhh.
2) kat tmn golf... kat kedai raja.. ada untie tu mcm tomboy skit..
3) kat pantai johor.. gerai kat traffic light.. sebelah kiri hala ke anak bukit
weih takdak sapa tau kaa pasal nasi lemak depan menara zakat......aku tan ingat ar nama apa...rasanya nasi lemak pak syed kot.....alah,yang siap ngan kacang n sambal dia dulu letak atas daun pisang tu.....sedap seyh.....aku selalu gak pi beli time balik cuti dulu..alah....yg depan kedai runcit mamak tuh......dia bukan kedai tp gerai keta tolak jaa
kalau mee goreng mamak= mee abu ljn sultanah / Mee goreng 'bodo' kat Pasar Malam Mergong(mamak) / Mee Goreng Derga
laksa kuala kedah/laksa kat bangunan ukir/laksa mama / Laksa Telok Kuchai
kalo laksa/bihun sup kalu..hg pi kat bangunan ukir laa tepi city plaza. Tapi tempat makan dia agak sempit, kena makan cepat-cepat. Ramai orang"
Mee Sup Malaysia
bihun sup sayur kat mergong.. lot kecik je..opposite ngn pizza hut kot tak salah
mee kuah kat pantai johor.. tp ni hawker je.. kat masjid tepi pasaraya peladang
...kedai mee rebuis yg sedap yg aku tau kat buloh 5
kuew teow th'ng [betui ke eja ni?] kat medan selera kat jalan pegawai, opp. masjid..
ikan bakar samudera kat hutan kampung.. satu lagi cawangan kat kuala kedah..tak ingat cawangan dia nama apa..
Kalau nak makan sate, saya makan kat atas city plaza. kat food court.
bagi sesiaap yg suka makan satey aku syorkan hampa beli satey pak cik Mei....sepucuk 20sen/2kupang..mmg sedap......dia meniaga rata2 pasar malam....tapi paling mudah beli kat pasar malam tokai
ada 1 kedai pasemboq bes..kat area tg bendahara la jugak....dulu kedai dia tepi esso jln sultanah ni..pas tu pindah kedai plak...trus dah malas nak pi beli...jauh dari umah dah..
western food = restoran pak tuan jln sultanah/joned cafe, jln stadium / mama cop papa grill kat jln pegawai...
stimbot kat restoran et [xtau nama tempat tp sumwhere kat pasar koboi ngn skolah convent dulu]
fuhh kalo hg nak beger paling best yg aku penah mkn kat aloq staq nih..hg pi kat jln sultanah.dekat area rstoran mama..nama stall tu mutiara brger,depan ngan poliklinik mutiara.tatau depa boh dlm tu tp sedap ya rabbi....:lol:lol ada dua stall kat ctu hg jgn keliru.satlg salah beli jgn salahkan aku plak...:lol.
lagi satu beger best kat beger gemilang jalan kota tanah. FUH!!!! sedap giler... malam2 je ada. kalao makan kat situ order la double plate ka, walalala... sedap adeeiihh~ mleleh ayaq lioq :P
..bila malam2 laki aku lapaq dia nanti keluar pi beli burger yang tepi jalan tu...kat mana lupa dah..ada satu masa tu, dua malam berturut2 laki aku pi beli burger dia ...dia tanya laki aku.." awat abang, bini tak masak ka?" cettt hampehhh tull, :ketuk: :ketuk: orang pi beli bukan nak terimakasih...pi ngata kat aku pulak...:lol :lo
hot plate food court pacific tak sedap langsung tapi pasai dah kat alostaq nih tadak pilihan.. tang tu je ada.. tang tu je la hat sedap :cak:
Cucuq Udang kat Stadium or Pasar Malam Mergong
hmmmm...popia mahkamah jamal takdak peminat kaa???hahahaha,dekat jaa ngan umah aku stall dia.....

Recommended by Random Shots http://amelia7.blogspot.com/search/label/Makan-Alor%20Star

Thai - Restoran Thai Red Village Jalan Putra (not sure halal or not) http://amelia7.blogspot.com/2008/07/thai-food-in-alor-star.htm l
Oasis Village Seafood Kuala Kedah opens 5pm-1am (not sure halal or not)
Fish Head Curry - Orkid Tropika Cafe Angsana flats Jln Langgar (not sure halal or not) http://malaysianfoodblog.wordpress.com/2008/02/25/curry-fish-in-alor-star/
Western - Damira Grill Jln Pegawai area, near CIMB (not sure halal or not)
Noodle Station & Big Apple Donut at Tesco

Wah Tua Guan Star Parade - (not sure halal or not) http://makantrip.wildgeeks.org/2007/12/peninsula-malaysia-makan-trip-update-5.html "They are really good I must say".

Excerpt
"The best place to start in Alor Setar is Pekan Rabu. a crowded place where you can find anything authentic and unique about the malays in Kedah. To try authentic Kedah's food, try Restoran Mustaffa in Pumpong (maybe has changed name), where you can try gulai keli, gulai tulang, daging panggang, sayur keladi, sup tulang, and many other tasty malay dishes, Kedah style. Or, if you want really good nasi kandar, try Nasi Lemak Ali, open after 5 pm. Now there is another restaurant in Simpang Kuala, Restoran Aina, also serves good food. Some people would recommend mee abu, but I have tried once, quite okay but nothing special for me. To the outsiders, they may not see the beauty of Alor Setar, but for me who have stayed there, it is the hometown I like to be in. I want to go back to this nostalgic place.

"...The weather was really very very hot. But the food there was fantastic. Especially during the fasting month. I love to eat pesembor, laksa buyong, cucuk udang n laksam at the pasar malam. Which U cannot get in Singapore. And the best thing is the ICE KACANG BARCELONA at opposite Giant, Alor Merah"
http://wikimapia.org/64587/Alor-Star%E3%80%80

Excerpt from http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/843533
Foods :

1) Laksa Telok Kechai http://www.jomlayan.com/mybb/tempat-makan-yg-best-kat-kedah-t-900.html
2) Pumpong Gulai Kawah - Pumpong Nasi Kampung.

5. Nasi kandar Yasmeen
6. Murtabak ROS
7. Nasi lemak Zam-Zam
8. kopitiam (kompleks alor star & convent)
9. Rong Reng (pure siam cuisine)--->Jitra
12. old town coffea
13. uncle john
14 pak hainan

Sungai Petani

Recommended by Jayce Ooi's Paradise http://www.jayceooi.com/2008/03/02/leboss-cafe-restaurant-at-sungai-petani/

Western food - LeBOSS Cafe Restaurant Legenda Height, Sungai Petani (near to Tesco Sungai Petani)
Japanese - Yoshiya Japanese Restaurant Taman Patani Jaya

Western - If you are around Legenda Heights in Sungai Petani, I do suggest to give Tacco Bell a visit. Good music, cozy ambience, pleasant service and satisfying food http://blog.galvintan.com/2005/07/09/lunch-in-sungai-petani/

Park Avenue Hotel - However, Park Avenue Hotel’s Buffet Breakfast doesn’t disappoint at all.
http://food.yowazzup.com/hearty-buffet-breakfast-park-avenue-hotel-sungai-petani-kedah.html

Nasi Ayam - "kalau anda berada di Sungai Petani,Kedah pergilah ke Gerai Ojo Lali,namanya mungkin pelik tapi nasi lemak dan nasi campurnya sangat sedap.Lokasinya belakang Pejabat Pos Sg Petani,berhampiran dengan Bank Rakyat dan Telekom." http://goodfood.fotopages.com/?entry=1030000

Taman Ria Jaya kalau tak silap....belakang yawata....ada pasemboq dgn cucuq udang yg sedap kat sama....http://www.jomlayan.com/mybb/tempat-makan-yg-best-kat-kedah-t-900.html

Jitra

5 UTARA Restaurant for lunch. Located next to the main road, this restaurant serve Halal Thai food http://foodtracker.ultimatehotzone.com/?p=19

Sintok

"Nasi Lemak Ayam Panas - If you happened to be around Sintok or is on the way to Hatyai or Bukit Kayu Hitam, you should drop by this outlet - Nasi Lemak An. The stall is on your left as you head out from the UUM campus (about 3km from the campus). You can also call them at 012-467-5439 if you are unable to find its location" http://malaysianfoodblog.wordpress.com/2008/08/17/nasi-lemak-an/

California Express BBQ and Grille Station - 1 Utama Old Wing

2009-01-18T19:23:00.003+08:00

Went for my facial at Leonard Drake 1-Utama today (2.15pm), I was rushing from home and didn't eat anything for b'fast/lunch except a few pieces of Mark & Spencer Chocolate Viennese Sandwich with a mug of coffee (nescafe).

So by the time I finished with my facial it was already about 4.45pm and I was famished! But I need to run some errands for my sister (at Jusco) before I eat. Passed by KFC and saw lots of people queing so I went to Jusco to buy SKII set for my sis. Once done walked back to KFC, still a long que!

So, decided to walk over to Jusco food court (opposite Jusco supermarket) and walked around and see what can I eat - sushi? not in the mood; nasi lemak? no; roast chicken? no; noodles? no; pau? no; various snacks? no. Finally I settled on food from California Express BBQ and Grille Station. I saw quite a number of people eating there...food? didn't look that appertising but I just don't know what to eat...:-(

I ordered (tapau) fish and chips and chicken chop (thought of going to my sis's house after I was done with 1-Utama). Sigh...had to wait quite a while. When I asked the bangladeshi waiter he apologised - he said they only have one cook so it'll take a while....thought of leaving but the bangla looked soo sincere and I felt guilty to cancel my order...

Reached home (decided to forget about my sis's house, too tired) and decided to eat both dishes (ha ha didn't finish them, just tried a bit from both dishes), nothing great, but then again what can one expect? It is cheap. Exceeds my expectation though..I though it will taste a lot worse :-)

Surprisingly, quite a few bloggers actually love this place. For pictures and price and review on various dishes visit blogs listed below.

Images from http://kampungboycitygal.com/?p=434

Other bloggers:

My dining places in Bandar Sri Damansara

2009-01-14T21:32:00.020+08:00

I don't usually cook, I eat out everyday. My office is in Selayang and my house is in Bandar Sri Damansara, so if I eat by myself, my lunch is in Selayang (namely stalls - about 2 of them located opposite my office; just too lazy to drive out to Selayang town- most of the time I skip lunch) and my dinner is in Bandar Sri Damansara.

Well..Sri Damansara (SD) is not big in term of food scene....so my choice is very limited. But, for me I just eat so that my tummy won't growl. To demonstrate my 'chincai' attitude to my daily meals? Hmm last friday after qiqong at the office, I went to the pasar malam near my office, bought fried mee mixed with kueytiaw (RM2), beef murtabak (RM2), Rawang popiah (RM2), karipap (RM2) and coconut drink (RM3). In the car towards home I polished off the karipap. My dinner at home the fried noodles. My next day lunch - popiah n murtabak.

Images from http://www.rasamalaysia.com/, http://masak-masak.blogspot.com/ & http://www.freewebs.com/noormasri/kuihmuih.htm,

Basically in Sri Damansara, there are:

7 mamak restaurants (Nasi Kandar Sedap, Al-Safa, Riyadth and 2 other eateries within the same enclave, AMS Smart and Al-Bidayah);
2 Fast food joints - McD (next to Shell petrol station) & Pizza Hut (next to Maybank);
Secret Recipe (next to Grand Union supermarket) and;
2 malay restaurants (Zulpura & an unnamed restaurant next to it);
a chinese-malay-thai-western restaurant (Groupbase) behind RHB Bank and;
rows of malay stalls along Persiaran Meranti and stalls opposite 7-11.
there are few more restaurants and stalls but you have to drive further inside Sri Damansara (away from main road, towards the mosque and probably other areas too) - so I never really bothered.

I'll rotate my dining schedule between these eateries.

For mamak I usually frequented either Nasi Kandar Sedap or Al-Safa . I went once to Riyadth and saw a worker sneezed while preparing my food and I just walked off and never to return. Normally I'll eat either nasi kandar or fried mee and sometimes tosai or capati at Nasi Kandar Sedap or Al-Safa . Actually I quite like tosai at Al-Safa.

Al-Safa was quite a new addition to Sri Damansara, before that, the corner lot was occupied by few indian restuarants but for some reason kept on changing owners. I never bothered to try Al-Safa until my hair stylist at Bianco told me that the food there was not bad. Certainly better than other mamak eateries in Sri Damansara but not great.

Images from http://masak-masak.blogspot.com/ & http://wordpress.com/tag/tosai/ & http://abutang.blogspot.com/

As for malay food I frequented Zulpura more than its neighbour. The neighbour's food? Well lots of varieties and arranged like a buffet table at a hotel (nasi campur dishes) but taste wise? I prefer Zulpura. Even their nasi goreng, noodles etc taste quite bland...:-(

There's a stall in front of Grand Union selling nasi campur during day time and nasi lemak at night. Taste better than Zulpura or its neighbour...but not that much varieties. Once in a while ok la I guess...at least I've an alternative place....if I get bored with the limited eateries that I mentioned earlier.

Images from http://bp2.blogger.com/ & http://makan.cari.com.my/ & http://www.mesra.net/ & http://pensel2b.blogspot.com/

Malay stalls (rows of stalls opposite 7-11) - Well..I guess taste wise maybe similar to Zulpura's neighbour.

Stalls along Persiaran Meranti? hmm..looks quite dirty to me (stalls are located just next to a storm drain, I guess easy for them to discharge their waste). I don't think they have water tap here (I guess the hawkers bring their own water).

Zulpura used to have really good nasi lemak but now somehow the quality is just not the same (maybe they changed their cook, I noticed a lot of old staffs no longer there, now the shop is run almost entirely by Indon). Here normally I'll order Mee Hailam/Mee Bandung/Mee or Mihun goreng/Nasi Goreng for dinner and for weekend lunch - nasi campur. Taste? Can eat la but not great.

Images from http://www.melayu.com/ & http://alkiram.ne/t & http://beelibaala.blogspot.com

Sometimes I also go to this mobile stall opposite school/SD Apartment II - they sell soto, laksa, bubur sup, bakso, nasi ayam - tried all except bakso (never like bakso). Not bad....

Images from:

http://www.rasamalaysia.com & http://kampungttjs.com/ & http://wadthe.wordpress.com/category/finest-cafe/

Groupbase? For a change I'll pay them a visit once in a while. Their nasi campur spread quite big (better than Zulpura) but more expensive. I like their spread because they offer more vegetable dishes compared to most malay restaurants. Their curry laksa very nice. Sometimes I tapau their nasi ayam and beef & spring onion noodles.

The rest of the menu? Tried almost all of them and I don't like it. Once brought my bf n his mom for dinner here. Major disaster! Service was bad and food was horrible (we ordered dishes), I remember their kailan was tough n the rest of the dishes equally bad. My bf said he'll never return to this place. Of course his mom wasn't happy either...oops!

Image from http://upload.wikimedia.org/ & http://www.thefoodpornographer.com/ & http://flickr.com/

When I'm bored with all the above I'll pay Secret Recipe a visit - normally I'll tapau chicken kebab, tumeric chicken or vietnamese noodle and sometimes spaghetti bolognaise or chicken cordon bleu or their steak or fish & chips or their pies. Ha ha had tried almost their entire menu...again taste not that great but a girl has to eat right?

Images from http://miccgal.blogspot.com/ & http://eden2812.blogspot.com/ & http://fei-not.blogspot.com/ & http://yonglui.blogspot.com/

Next alternative - fast food - McDonald or Pizza Hut or Domino (delivery)...

Breakfast? Plenty of nasi lemak mobile stalls along the roads in the morning (especially along Persiaran Meranti). They sell usual stuff - nasi lemak, nasi dagang, nasi kerabu, laksam, mihun/mi/kuewtiaw/nasi goreng and kuih. For me I've tried almost all of them and I prefer the 1st stall that you'll see sited opposite rows of terrace houses next to the low cost apartments (if you are coming from SD Apartment, the first stall on the left). I love their beef rendang. Again the standard has somehow slides, used to taste better (perhaps they sourced the kuih etc from different supplier now). Even the nasi lemak etc does not taste good anymore...what a pity.

Image from http://masak-masak.blogspot.com/
& http://cheateat.typepad.com/ & http://mybeat14.blogspot.com/ & http://www.myresipi.com/

Bakeries? 2 of them one is the one next to Watson and the other one is Berry's. I prefer Berry's.

Of course quite a number of stalls selling typical malaysian tea favourites - goreng pisang, cendol, fruit rojak, putu buloh etc in the evening too.

Images from
http://rozzan.blogspot.com/ & http://ketela.wordpress.com/ & http://singapuradailyphoto.blogspot.com/ & http://masak-masak.blogspot.com

What does my bf thinks about the eateries above? He doesn't like any of them. So, when we eat our dinner (or weekend lunch) we'll drive out as you have read from previous postings.

What others say about the eateries:

Zulpura
It's called Restoran Zulpura and the nasi lemak is good. They also have lontong, fried mee and kuih-muih. The lunch spread is also good. [Posted By Dim Sum]
http://www.friedchillies.com/index.php/forums/viewthread/2110/#14801

Groupbase
excerpt:
They've got quite nice hokkien noodles there. the sauce were really thick black and everything was balanced.
http://zazacraftsandcooks.blogspot.com/2007/08/hokkien-noodles.html

..tak pernah saya kecewa dengan makanan di Groupbase. Nasi campurnya dengan lauk yang fresh tak pernah tak sedap. Masakan goreng nasi ke, mee ke ala China memang best. Chicken chop dia ni, according to my daughter yang suka chicken chop, is the best in KL. Masakan Thai dia pun best. http://malay.cari.com.my/archiver/?tid-145571.html

setakat ni tempat mkn paling murah dan best yg saya selalu pegi kat area Sri Damansara.. nama restaurant tu Group Base ..
http://mforum.cari.com.my/archiver/?tid-360219-page-26.html

groupbase! Haha, it's a restaurant in bdr sri damansara that has been opened for sooo long? Since.. before I was born, actually. HAAAAA! Lama kan? Since we ate dinner already, we had dessert. MMMMMMMMM, I had I had I had. Hahahah chocolate mousse cake :D Omgggg.. It felt like ice cream melting in my mouth. http://coloursoftherainbow94.blogspot.com/2008/11/restless-soul.html

groupbase sedap I went there several times plus ada chinese style of cooking. http://serangkai.blogspot.com/2005/10/annual-iftar.html

My food wishlist - 1. Honey Lemon Chicken Rice at Groupbase Restaurant, Bdr Sri Damansara.
http://primadonafae.blogspot.com/2008/09/food-always-in-my-mind.html

stopped by Groupbase Restaurant in Sri Damansara for lunch at 1.40pm. Had rice with sweet & sour fish, beancurd + vegetables and sambal.
http://amirfuadh.blogspot.com/2007/12/busy-saturday.html

http://klchin.blogspot.com/search/label/Food%20in%20Bandar%20Sri%20Damansara%20-%20Groupbase/Thaibase%20Restaurant

http://www.mymesra.com.my/index.php?ch=lpg&pg=lpg_makan_places&ac=49

http://malaysianfoodreview.weblog.com/2008/2/GroupBase-ThaiBase-Bandar-Sri-Damansara-K-L.html
http://epoi8787.blogspot.com/2008/08/makan-d-groupbase-sri-damansara.html

Nasi Kandar Sedap
http://my.88db.com/my/Services/Post_Detail.page/Food_Beverage/Restaurant/?PostID=82658

http://www.bernas.com.my/sedapsd.htm

Stall Beragas
1. restoren beragas sri damansara (org sekitar area ni mmg tau la tpt ni... artis2 pon selalu nampak mkn kat sini dgn spek itam atau cap atau selendang ala2 cover line giteww)
http://www.pekanrabu.biz/ruang-sembang-sembang-f30/tempat-makan-yang-best-dikawasan-anda-t759.htm

Nasi ayam Baragas - Lokasi di Bandar Sri Damansara. Sebelah MCD di direct stall mkn. Kedai di tgh. Nasik ayam die nie lain pesen skit lah. Psl ayam die goreng ranggup kalah KFC hehehe. Harge pun oklah kalau tak silap rm4.00 kot.
http://nogold.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-20568.html

Other eateries in Sri Damansara (not necessarily halal)
http://klchin.blogspot.com/2008/11/food-in-bandar-sri-damansara-part-1-of.html

Genting Highland weekend drive

2009-01-11T21:15:00.014+08:00

My bf & I idea of weekend getaway (or weekend dinner or tea) is driving up to Genting Highland. My friends and colleagues think we are crazy just to drive up to Genting for dinner! To us, why not? It is less than an hour drive, we can just go up and come down and be home in a couple of hours.

We love to walk around in cold mountain air, clean crisp air...the mist..well at least for a short drive we get to enjoy countryside....away from noise, smoke, dirty air...

Misty...unlike typical Malaysian scene huh?

Today we did the same again..he picked me up about 4ish, we drove up in a lotus...ha ha trying a new car. Went up and chuckled everytime we caught envious or admiring glances thrown at the car...half way up, we took off the roof and wow...it was really nice driving and feeling the wind and the air... clean and sweet.

On the way up we had our lunch (late lunch) at Gohtong Jaya. We had prawn noodle and bought some berangan and continue our journey up.

on the way to this spot we saw a couple of mini waterfalls....

Thick soft moss..like carpet...

We didn't gamble, just drove up and whenever we found a good spot, we stopped..admired the scenery, inhaled clean air and moved on to the next spot...:-)

Beautiful haunting view..perfect for horror movie? Behind the mist - an abandoned half constructed building.

On the way down we stopped at Chin Swee Temple to walk about..nice place to walk around and to view beautiful mountain scenery. We've been to this place many times and it never fails to impress us with its views....

Views from Chin Swee temple

We left Chin Swee temple and stopped at Awana for our tea..well he had coffee and I had tea and we shared a slice of strawberry cheesecake.

And we got home at about 7.30pm!

Food in Genting? Not bad and not that great but we love to go up there for a spot of fresh air and beautiful views......and of course spend time with each other...bliss..

Bukit Gantang lay-by south bound (hentian sebelah)

2009-01-06T23:59:00.009+08:00

I left Alor Setar on 3/1/09 (hitched a ride with my sis and her family). On the way to KL we stopped by at PLUS highway Bukit Gantang lay-by south bound for lunch. I've never stopped here before as I always thought lay-by does not have f&b facilities.....:-)

I think PLUS did a good job at upgrading their lay-bys and rest areas. The landscape here in Bkt Gantang is actually quite beautiful....sort of mini park where one can relax after a long journey and once freshen up ready to head to next destination...

According to my niece, my bro-in-law loves to stop at this lay-by everytime they passed by because he likes to buy fresh fruits sold from various stalls here. I saw ciku, mangos, jambu air, durian menggala, guava, papaya, salak amongst other fruits sold here.

images from
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/36/79713144_f7ad7b5250.jpg
http://zbintim.fotopages.com/?entry=1480460
http://picasaweb.google.com/sarmadys/Eating#5066485765287050322
http://www.malaysia.or.kr/national/fruit.htm

As for food? Well they only have 2 food stalls and 2 drink stalls. We bought mihun sup & 2 nasi campur (total RM11) from a stall called Mak Lang D'village :-). My youngest niece bought fried kueytiaw and fried egg from Aneka Rasa stall (RM1.60). I had the mihun sup and my 2 nieces had nasi campur. My mihun sup tasted not bad at all, Mak Lang was pretty generous with fishballs, chicken etc in the soup. My 2 nieces polished off their plates too (probably they were hungry). Wasn't quite sure where did my sis n hubby bought their lunch as we had to sit at separate tables as the place was quite pack during our visit - school holiday.

Images from:
http://penyapubaru.blogspot.com/2008/08/balik-kedah-punye-gambar.html
http://biggestmenu.com/rdr/CA/Irvine/A-and-J-Restaurant-1590871/Fried-Chicken-Vegetable-Rice-39193
http://www.skolblog.com/2007/02/15/velantak/

We bought our drinks from Ina's cafe - 5 drinks at RM4.50 but my niece said the cashier had an attitude problem! Customers were queing up to pay & order drinks and she just couldn't be bothered - just ignored the customers and chit chatted with her friend (a worker from the same stall). Maybe if I were to stop here again next time I'll try the next stall Anjung Selera R'tiez.

I think the facilities offered here are quite good (surau, toilet, petrol station, wakaf, fruit stalls n eateries) though cleanliness wise the hawkers and PLUS staff should work harder at it - quite a lot of flies and the floors were quite dirty.

What others say about this place:

excerpt:

Aug 2008 - Dengan bayaran hanya RM6.90 seorang, orang ramai boleh menikmati seberapa banyak durian dan buah-buahan tempatan sempena Pesta 'Jom Makan Durian' di Hentian Sebelah Bukit Gantang (arah selatan) Lebuhraya Utara-Selatan anjuran Plus Expressways Bhd, esok.
http://jkrputrajaya.gov.my/aggregator/sources/1?page=206

this guy said nasi lemak here is not bad http://rostam.blog.sinar.fm/54636

more nasi lemak fans:
http://shw.gebang.fotopages.com/19397805/pekena-nasik-lemak-di-Hentian-Bukit-Gantang.html
http://alexzander.blog.friendster.com/category/road-trip/

this guy said one need to seek permission before snapping pictures here (hmmm from whom?) http://silmis.fotopages.com/?entry=1071618

this guy saw a taxi driver relieved himself behind bushes here! http://rotikacangmerah.blogspot.com/2008/10/jam-jam-everywhere-jam.html

and this one said nice to snooze here http://dicqnie.blogspot.com/2008/01/journey-to-penang.html

and this guys kept on snapping bus pictures! http://www.forumforfree.com/viewtopic.php?p=7394&sid=6b1d6eba8a78322ff2578476e69527ce&mforum=malaysianbus

this one just loves to buy fruits http://alifaforever.blogspot.com/

can view pictures here http://www.wayn.com/waynphotos.html?wci=photo&photo_key=19217405

http://www.hmetro.com.my/Current_News/myMetro/Saturday/Hati/20080621114521/Article/indexv_html

http://shw.nabillrifqy.fotopages.com/17455154/hentian-sebelah-bukit-gantang.html

http://www.kpdnhep.gov.my/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12191&Itemid=460

http://kosmo.com.my/kosmo/content.asp?y=2008&dt=0918&pub=Kosmo&sec=Varia&pg=va_01.htm

Dee Nasi Kampung, Pumpong Alor Setar

2009-01-01T11:55:00.019+08:00

Alor Star views

I came back to Alor Setar (AS) on 31/12/08; my father was scheduled for a minor surgery at Hospital Sultanah Bahiyah on 1/1/09; because of his age he was admitted to the hospital on 30/12/08 and the operation date was on 1st Jan 09. He was admitted earlier because he has high blood pressure and doctor need to make sure he's fit for operation.

Views from my father's ward

However on 1/1/09, his blood pressure was 220 and the operation was cancelled. He's still at the hospital as his bp is still unstable. They'll only release him and schedule another surgery date once his bp issue is addressed.

Food? Well I love Kedah food - prepared by kedahan and cooked in Kedah :-) Had an enjoyable dinner prepared by my sis-in-law - Kedah Laksa, sambal belacan (prepared by my niece), Ikan Masak Asam (Fish cooked in tamarind sauce), Ikan masak sambal (fish in chilly gravy), sayur sawi mustard leaves) and fried fish. Simple and tasty.

For lunch the next day 1/1/09 we went to Dee Nasi Kampung (my fav restaurant whenever I'm in AS). For me all their dishes are tasty. I packed these dishes back - fried chicken with honey (my nephew loves this so much that he asked my sis in law to cook the same dish again for lunch the next day), fried chicken, fish head curry, salted fish curry, bamboo shoot curry, fried salted fish, asam pedas keladi, vegetable soup with fish balls, grilled catfish and ulam. Only RM88 and can feed 20 hungry diners! For location refer to google maps below.

View from the back of the restaurant (left), Dee's lunch spread

Malay salad spread (ulam) - top left paku rawan, bottom left jantung pisang, bottom right kerabu daun selom and top right daun putat and lettuce.

Salted fish curry (left) and fish head curry (right)

Fried chicken (left), Ikan masak lemak cili api (right)

Our lunch for today - fried chicken with honey, fried chicken with batter, chicken curry, ulam, stir fried mixed vegetable and hati masak lada (cow's liver with black pepper sauce).

Dishes were prepared by both my sis in-laws - DELICIOUS!!! Sorry no pic, too busy eating he he.

View Larger Map

Other bloggers' view on Dee's

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g298282-d815918-Reviews-Dee_Nasi_Kampong-Alor_Setar_Kedah.html

http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2008/3/30/sundaymetro/20757111&sec=sundaymetro

http://specialgift-emil.blogspot.com/2008/07/dee-pumpong-nasi-kampung-restaurant.html

http://asiavalley.com/MalayCuisine_Wheretoeat.htm

http://geniomalvado.blogspot.com/2008/07/pumpong.html

E san Kitchen Taman Seputih

2008-12-30T00:47:00.014+08:00

Few days back my ex-boss texted my ex-colleague NMM, suggesting dinner with his family. He invited 5 of us and only 3 could make it as the other 2 had other things planned.

We met up at TH's house in Bangsar and NMM picked us up. It was quite fast to get to Old Klang Road from Bangsar, I know that we could cross Tmn Desa to get to Tmn Seputih but tonight we couldn't find the right turning, in the end we decided to use the 'straight forward road' and headed to Jln Syed Putera and then headed towards Tmn Seputih.

My ex-boss gave quite a good instruction and we managed to find the place - it is called E San Kitchen a Thai restaurant. My ex-boss and his family were already there when we reached the restaurant.

We were served pandan flavoured water when we sat down and the waitress kept on topping up the drinks through out dinner - I don't like it. I prefer plain water ha ha. According to my ex-boss they served different kind of food from those we normally sampled in KL.

My ex-boss then proceeded with our order - fried egg salad, grilled haruan fished (grilled with lots of salt), tempura kangkung (not sure what the menu called it but looks like tempura to me), fish cakes, green curry (beef) and minced chicken salad. I didn't look at the menu but I supposed my description is closed enough to what was described in the menu.

Well...my ex-boss was right, the food was certainly different from what we normally called 'Thai food' - the dishes were on the sweetish side, I guess E San is like Thailand's Terengganu...you know? I mean Terengganu folks love sweetish dishes ..:-). But I'm sure NMM begs to differ, she's from T'ganu and she's not a fan of sweetish food.

Fried egg salad - basically fried eggs tossed with lime juice and fish sauce and topped with tomato and coriander leaves. Pretty dish. Taste? sweet...

Grilled haruan fish - big fish! surprisingly even though it was grilled with lots of salt, the fish was not salty at all. Why? they removed the skin covered salt before serving the dish. The fish tasted ok to me but the sauce (served separately).. again on the sweetish side.

Tempura kangkung - well..deep fried kangkung in batter...also served with sweetish sauce (served separately).

Green curry - the beef slices were tender, quite nice but the gravy...you guessed it..sweetish!

Fish cakes - not bad at all, chewy and we can taste the herbs blended with the fish..so far my fav dish here.

Minced chicken salad - well the name described it quite well, minced chicken tossed with fish sauce, lime juice and sugar and garnished with thai basil leaves...

Finally dessert..basically same base ie cooconut milk but with different filling - water chestnut, cendol, tapioca, yam, pumpkin and few other varieties. We ordered 5 different varieties. Actually I like the dessert - not too rich, not too sweet...

What do I think of the restaurant? Hmm...I'm from Kedah and I like spicy and hot food (cili padi hot), so I guess for those who can't tolerate hot and spicy food this is the place for you to sample Thai food without sweating buckets......:-)

I can't find any blogging about this place except here http://preciouspea.blogspot.com/2008/11/e-san-kitchen-taman-seputeh-kl.html . Better pictures here and complete with address and map.

Seafood Stall Jalan Imbi revisit

2008-12-29T12:09:00.011+08:00

Ha ha I just visited this place on 23/12/08 (5 days ago) and today 28/12/08 I'm back here. Last visit, I visited the place with my nephew after my visit to Dr Ting (btw the black spot on my cheek just dropped off yesterday while washing my face).

Well today I visited the place with my dearest bf. Well he was not feeling well and asked me to fetch him from his house, so I did and we drove to Jln Imbi.

We sat down and while waiting for the waitress to take our order we could here shoutings from the next table. The diners from the next table feasted on seafood and just walked away without paying! the stall owners kept on shouting after them to pay up but they just walked off! Bad bad bad men tsk tsk. I guess the hawkers should demand for payment upon delivery of food...quite a lot of opportunists out there....

As for us..Well today we ordered kam heong crabs, mussles, fried rice and spinach and for drinks we ordered coconut and bottled water.

How much? My bf paid and I didn't notice how much he paid. The mussels were big and juicy and tasty...but the sauce a bit watery. The crabs...hmm don't really like it. We can taste the curry paste (not cooked long enough) and quite salty too. I guess the cook was distracted by the non-paying customers. Poor man...We tried his sweet and sour crab before, tasted much better than tonight's kam heong.

Portion quite big and we couldn't finish the crabs and we tapau (packed) it back..

As per previous posting, I couldn't find a lot of blogging about this place...strange though I noticed lots of diners everytime we visited the place. Last night we were there about 10pm and they already ran out of prawns and siput sedut (snails)...

Update 10/3/09:
Finally found what others said about this place:

how to get there - the food court is sited between Jalan Padang and Jalan Walter Grenier. You'll not miss it, from afar you can smell good food and you can see big flame when the cook is working his magic http://maps.google.com.my/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=136,+Jalan+Imbi,+Kuala+Lumpur,+Wilayah+Persekutuan+55100+

Santai Restaurant and Café , Taman Tun Dr. Ismail

2008-12-27T16:03:00.004+08:00

I don't cook..well I cooked once in a while if I feel like it but I don't really know how to cook small portion, so when I cooked it will be a lot and I'll keep the leftover in the fridge and I don't have to cook again for days......:-)

Sometimes my bf feels like eating home cooked meal and I'll cook our dinner but most of the time we eat out...Santai is one of our fav eateries. They serves typical Malay-Thai food - tomyam, kerabu mangga (mango salad), Ikan Tiga Rasa (Fish with 3 types of flavour), Ayam masak halia (chicken cooked with ginger), sambal petai udang (prawn & petai sambal), paprik dishes, fried kailan with salted fish etc.

Those that I listed? well..those are what we normally ordered. Their tomyum - one of the better ones that I tasted in KL.

I used to frequent their branch in Tesco Mutiara Damansara when it was one of the stalls at the food court (now they operate full fledge restaurant inside Tesco complex); the stall was always full with diners queing for their food...so when we found their outlet (or rather parent co) in TTDI, told my bf the food in Tesco was good so TTDI must be good too. Since then, we frequented the place whenever we feel like having hot, freshly prepared dishes (well when we are hungry and can devour a cow or two ha ha).

The price? well not that cheap..more expensive than than those street stalls but the place looks clean and the food is tasty....so we don't mind paying a little extra.

Images from http://www.rasarasa.net/articlePrint.cfm?id=14878

Others' take on Santai:
http://juliansi.blogspot.com/2008/10/santai-taman-tun-dr-ismail.html
http://www.lessthanten.net/2007/07/17/37/
http://epicurious.wordpress.com/2007/05/01/santai-restaurant-cafe/
http://cal-san.blogspot.com/2007/04/santai-taman-tun.html
http://food.malaysiamostwanted.com/venues/santai-restaurant-and-cafe-malay-taman-tun-dr-ismail-kl
http://juliansi.blogspot.com/2007/03/santai-taman-tun-dr-ismail-kl.html
http://food-4-thot.blogspot.com/2007/03/santai-ttdi.html
http://forum.fooxion.com/index.php?showtopic=280
http://www.rasarasa.net/articlePrint.cfm?id=14878
http://www.hmetro.com.my/Current_News/myMetro/Sunday/Ekspresi/20080727112152/Article/indexv_html
http://masak-masak.blogspot.com/2005/07/santai-restaurant-and-cafe.html
http://www.nst.com.my/svcs/forums/fcForum/view_html?forum_loc=382595293069&topic_id=904215677283

Homst Restaurant TTDI

2008-12-27T12:38:00.003+08:00

About 2-3 weeks back, my bf n I decided to go for dinner at Santai in TTDI, went there and they were closed!

So, my bf suggested that we tapau food from the pasar malam (night market) instead, we couldn't find anything interesting there as most peddlers were already packing their stuff (well it was already 9ish)...

So, we drove around the area and spotted Homst a chinese muslim restaurant, quite a lot of diners inside (we noticed the place in our previous visits but most of the time the place was empty), anyway we decided to give Homst a try though my bf remarked "I don't think it will be nice, it is probably full because Santai is closed." He agreed to try the place because we were too lazy to drive elsewhere :-)

We ordered 3 dishes - telur dadar (omellette), kangkung belacan (water convolvulus cooked with shrimp paste) and fish head curry. Ha ha the restaurant surprised us! The service was efficient and the dishes were actually quite good though we had tasted better curry at Jalan Pudu. Our lesson for the day...Never judge a book by its cover...in this case never judge a restaurant by the number of diners inside the shop (though most of the time this rule serves us well ie empty restaurants equal to bad food). We'll definitely visit this place again.

Images from:
http://www.backstreetgluttons.com/2007/11/fish-head-curry-kl.html
http://www.saltnturmeric.com/2008/08/malay-styled-omelette-telur-dadar.html
http://morselsandmusings.blogspot.com/2008/06/kangkung-belacan.html

Homst Restaurant
Cuisine: Chinese
48, Persiaran Za’aba, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Kuala Lumpur
Opening Hours: 11.30am to 3.30pm and from 5.30pm to 10.30pm daily
Phone: 03-77280760

Others' take on Homst
http://makanbyte.com/2008/09/homst-a-chinese-muslim-cuisine/
http://www.sitimariam.com/2008/05/homst-kota-damansara.html
http://gom2j2.blogspot.com/2008/05/homst.html
http://mayonnaise-stories.blogspot.com/2008/10/homst-chinese-musllim-cuisine.html
http://my.88db.com/my/Services/Post_Detail.page/food_beverage/restaurant/?PostID=67181
http://shopaholicsinful.blogspot.com/2008/03/lunch-with-bell-farid-shen-homst-ttdi.html
http://aisyahzaini.blogspot.com/2006/06/homst-burger-king.html
http://asnida.blog.friendster.com/2006/10/

Italiannies 1U

2008-12-26T20:59:00.009+08:00

Just got back from 1U...guess what I was there for 6 hours! Took my niece n nephew there for lunch...well.. to thank them for fixing my blog :-) the new look? their contribution...

We had our lunch at Italiannies 1U..well really late lunch...4pm! We had Shrimp Aglio (RM26.90), Calamari Caesar Salad (RM25.90), Ice Cafe Latte (RM7.90), Strawberry Colada (RM8.90) & Yellow Birdie (RM6.90) ohh n bottled water (RM3.90).

As the norm here, we were served bread with olive oil/vinegar before the main course....how's the food? Hmm if there were to be an award for most blogged restaurant, Italiannies will grab the first place....no contest. I guess you can taste the food even without visiting the place :-)

Anyway, today was my nephew n niece first visit to Italiannies, so I guess I'll let them review the place..:-)

Hey readers...

It's Croesus's nephew here... Our nice aunt took my cousin and i to one utama and treated lunch at Italiannese... Our first time, but I think my aunt's a regular there... We met up at 4ish, why so late? We had our own adventure of getting to 1U.. Well my house is in U-thant and my cousin's is in Ampang, so we took the lrt to Kelana Jaya(KJ) before taking a cab to 1U... At the KJ LRT station, one cab driver tried to con us... He's asking us RM15 to get us to 1U.. We thought that was too expensive and decided to find a cab that uses meter instead.. Luckily at the opposite side of the road, there were cabs lining up and we managed to find one that uses meter... We told him about the earlier encounter with the cabbie and the RM15 fare, he laughed and he said it was a normal thing... The fare was RM7, half the fare of the earlier cab..

Once we reached 1U, our aunt called and told us her location.. We checked the directory and found the place, without realising that our aunt is trailing from behind... We thought that she was already in the restaurant...

It's already 4 and our stomachs are already growling, and after we had our seat, we discussed on what to order... The waiter served some bread with balsamic vinegar+olive oil while we were discussing... We were so hungry that we cleared the plate in seconds... Ha ha..

The waiter took our orders and we chatted as we waited. Waa, the service was super-fast, beverages arrived and followed by the food, in less than 10 mins..

The moment of truth... First up, the Caesar's salad... The appearance is quite bland and normal like any other salad, but with some calamari on top... The taste? Quite good, the leaves are crunchy, the dressing not too wet, just as i like it and the calamari, very crispy... There's some artichoke present, my first time having it, so jakun rite... Ha ha but it tastes like pickles to me.. All in all, it's a very well put salad and great for starting a meal...

Up next, the Shrimp Aglio... Looking very tasty, with plump juicy shrimps lying on top of the pasta bed... Some contrast from the olives and tomatoes really magnified the fantastic appearance of the pasta... And for Italiannies virgins, note this: the servings are not to be eaten alone... So single guys & ladies out there, bring some company so you won't end up bloated at the end of your meal... Ha ha ha... Now for the taste, the pasta was cooked al dente, just right... And the shrimp, tastes fresh and juicy... I like it that they are not too oily... Just enough to bind the flavours altogether...

We gobbled down the food as if there's no tomorrow... Ha ha it's already 4 and we haven't had our lunch.. So you know the drill... Take a peek at the clean plates below... ha ha proof of how hungry we were!"

My cousin ordered the Yellow Birdie.. Which to us tasted like 100plus + pineapple juice... A bit on the sourish side.. I had the Strawberry Colada, basically a banana-strawberry smoothie... It's fragrant and smooth.. As for our lovely aunt, (have to suck up so get more treats) an iced latte... A normal iced latte... My aunt is totally a coffee person.. No wonder for her choice...

My aunt asked whether we would like to have desserts.. We check up the menu, but the desserts doesn't look very good.. Cheesecakes and chocolate cakes... We decided not to have any... I think if they have some ice-cream it would be very nice...

After the enjoyable meal, we walked around 1U and played tourist... The Christmas deco was very enchanting... Trees, trinkets, snowflakes... The atrium at the Oval was decorated in 'Alice in the Wonderland' theme, with playing cards, hedge mazes and characters from the fairytale... Looks so whimsical.. Especially the main Christmas tree display, it was very large, white and sparkly... The extravagant-costume-clad characters staged a mini-performance (lip-syncing to be exact) and gave out free candies to the children.... After a few sessions of snapping pictures, we went to tapau some chicken wings at Chilis.. Unfortunately, the place was filled with throngs of diners, and we cancelled our plan and decided to go home...by the way our dinner? fried kueytiaw, fried rice n fried mee from a stall in Ampang called Cangkirr...cool name huh? The drinks? fresh orange juice, neslo and apple juice. How much? RM25.00.

All in all, it's a very enjoyable outing... Thanks to our aunt for the meal... We love you!

What others say about Italiannies:

http://www.barghers.com/archives/2008/12/italiannies-the-gardens/
http://kampungboycitygal.com/?p=421
http://blogs.setupiak.com/dianne/index.php/2008/11/30/the_ugly_truth_of_what_happens_when_ital
http://ping.sg/item/Italiannies-The-Gardens-Mid-Valley-City
http://kimiessu.livejournal.com/171241.html
http://wordpress.com/tag/italiannies/
http://ieatclub.com/italiannies-828/review.htm
http://j2kfm.blogspot.com/2008/04/italiannies-curve-kl.html

http://bryanlyt.com/2008/11/13/nuffnang-sharing-session-italiannies-the-gardens/
http://www.superwilson.net/2008/11/nuffnang-sharing-session-italiannies.html
http://www.shun2u.com/2008/08/nuffnang-sharing-session-italiannies.html
http://rojaks.blogspot.com/2008/11/italiannies-mama-miaaaa.html

http://simonseow.blogspot.com/2008/11/italiannies-gardens-mid-valley-city.html
http://bearbee-foodstop.com/?p=113
http://wanderinggourmet.net/?p=270
http://azlan.anilezfa.com/early-dinner-at-italiannies-the-curve
http://www.foodpoi.com/2008/05/italiannies-at-1-utama/
http://www.hot-screensaver.com/2008/04/07/italiannies-one-utama/
http://food.malaysiamostwanted.com/venues/italiannies-the-gardens-mid-valley-city-lingkaran-syed-putra-kl

http://ipohwav3.wordpress.com/2007/11/05/birthday-bash-part-1-pre-birthday-celebration-italiannies-the-gardens-mid-valley-city/
http://www.weatethis.com/2007/12/16/italiannies-italian-food-pasta-pizza-and-salads-the-curve/
http://vortrack.net/2007/12/christmas-eve-italiannies/
http://jasonmumbles.com/2007/12/italiannies
http://randomalphabets.com/?p=89
http://blog.benghan.com/2007/08/italiannies-1-utama/
http://www.kennysia.com/archives/2007/05/cheesies_birthd.php
http://cheeserland.com/2007/04/my-best-birthday-in-italiannies/
http://klpeopleklfood.blogspot.com/2007/03/italiannies-one-utama.html
http://www.malaysianbabes.net/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t11900.html

http://www.celineyap.com/notebookv2/2006/11/08/dinner-at-italiannies/
http://3meals.wordpress.com/2006/11/05/italiannies-pasta-pizza-vino/
http://cheeserland.com/2006/09/italiannies/
http://limmeiyen.blogspot.com/2006/07/italiannies-da-curve.html
http://danielyc.com/?p=145
http://kucailiah.fotopages.com/?entry=812164
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wanderinggourmet/3009643875

http://www.dinemalaysia.com/rest_italiannies_thecurve.html
http://forum.fooxion.com/index.php?showtopic=58
http://www.friedchillies.com/fc/forum/threads.php?id=1306_0_2_0_C
http://www.waisikkai.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=105&Itemid=48
http://wp.peachjon.com/edition_2004_06/2005/02/italiannies-pasta-pizza-and-wine.html
http://asmafood.fotopages.com/?entry=434515

and many more....

Halal restaurants in Brisbane / Gold Coast

2008-12-24T21:57:00.004+08:00

Image from http://www.freekoalapictures.com/wallpaper/3.html

G'day mate!! Did you guys watch Food Safari on channel 707 (Astro)? Amazing isn’t it? I mean the varieties of food/restaurants that Australia has to offer.

I guess Australia is one of the ‘western’ countries my parents do not mind visiting – not that far and halal food is easily accessible.

Now, with Air Asia…..so much better :-) Say, you book now for travel plan to Brisbane/Gold Coast in May 2009, the fare (rtn) is RM1,867.00 nett per pax. Hotel? Hmm depends on where you want to stay…cheapest USD82? Look around for bargains online. I used http://www.asiarooms.com/australia/brisbane/cbd-area.html?sort=rates&extraSortRate=80-120%20US$ for my travel before and their price can be quite decent (depends on when u book).

Gold Coast – Brisbane not that far about 45min-1hr drive (80km).

What can muslims eat in Brisbane? Well your choice - indonesian, malaysian, indian, turkish, middle eastern, mediterranean, portuguese fast food (Nando) etc.

If you wish to cook, plenty of butcheries selling halal meat around.

Excerpt from http://www.qut.edu.au/about/lifebris/lifebrisint/intfood.jsp :
“…Off-campus Brisbane has many cafes, restaurants and food outlets providing food from all over the world. Halal food can be purchased in many grocery shops and butchers around Brisbane. Chinatown in Fortitude Valley is only a short distance from the Gardens Point campus. Here you can find grocery stores that sell Indian, Fijian, Chinese, Korean, Indonesian, Malaysian, Japanese, Filipino and Thai goods.”

Excerpt from http://www.wayn.com/travel/guide/Australia/t2014318-Brisbane_hotels_restaurants_photos_reviews_nightlife_clubs_flights.html
“Brisbane is a nice place. hope to be there again. but things is as a Muslim it's so hard to get the Muslim halal food. I couldn't accept the Kebab and falafel all the ways. But overall Brisbane has lots of interesting and good spot of sight seeing compare to Perth, Darwin or Adelaide...”

Excerpt from http://syafisafiya.blogspot.com/2008/12/halal-food-options-while-having-fun.html
“Since we had lots of fun during our trip to Gold Coast recently, we would like to now share some information regarding halal or Muslim dining options available. In Australia, getting halal food is not difficult, and almost every shopping centre or area provides this option, but the menu is usually confined to kebabs, Indian food and Nando's. Thankfully though, these options are tasty and delicious to eat!

Amazingly, both Sea World and Movie World have restaurants which are halal certified. The menu ranges from fast food (imagine eating a halal chicken burger in Australia) to a la carte dining. Both the theme parks offers international menu including Asian selections. Really good news for Muslim Asians like us!”

Excerpt from http://www.qibt.qld.edu.au/index.php/about-us/testimonials.html
“The lifestyle in Brisbane is friendly, the shopping hours are different and I tried lots of new food. There is plenty of Halal food available for Muslims in Brisbane.”

Excerpt from http://emilahud.wordpress.com/2008/12/07/hanya-ada-satu-merek-roti-halal-di-australia/
“….Roti putih yang seluruh kandungan bahan tambahan pangan dan bahan utamanya diyakini kehalalannya itu adalah roti putih merek “Coles Smart Buy” (White Bread). Demikian hasil survei mahasiswa program doktor bidang sains pangan Universitas Queensland (UQ), Hoerudin (Dede).”

Excerpt from http://www.adsafrica.com.au/institutions/GriffithUniversity.cfm
“Most types of food are available in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast, including Halal food. There are plenty of places to shop for food or eat out.

For example, Queen Street Mall in the city offers a diverse cluster of restaurants that offer modern Asian, Australian and European menus. The Mall's eateries are open very late and are licensed. The large indoor/outdoor dining areas promote a vibrant cosmopolitan vibe having everyday prices and niche bars and pubs.”

image from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Street_Mall,_Brisbane

Excerpt from http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/668672
“staying 4 nites in GC is a waste of time...i would advise you to stay 2 nites in Gc, 2 nites in Brissy, 1 nite in Outback ( out site of Brisbane ) and 1 nite in Sunshine Coast. GC, brissy and SC is within 100 miles radius so getting a car is useless....and might land into trouble...aussie is very strcit abt the road....take public transport instead..it's very very very convienent and very punctual...they even have GPS install in the busses to tell the exact time of arrival and delay.”

Good choice for revising your plan...but actually no point taking car in Brissy....just take the train from GC to Brisbane...and wahlaaa!..u in the city centre already.....

my recomendation for places of visit?

GC

- Habour Town ( ultimate shopping paradise...nike is so cheap here an still in fashion for malaysia )
- Dream World / Movie World ( u can't finish both in one day, so i were u i dont bother to go )
- Surfer paradise
- ripley's Believe it Or NOT
-Redcliff
- Jupiter casino ( if u need some pocket $$$ )

Brissy

- OUTBACK ( never go never been to Sunshine State )
- brisbane Bronco Stadium ( Rugby way of life in aussie )
- Lone Pine ( world largest Koala Santuary )
- Queen Street mall ( shopping shopping )
- SouthBank ( nice park )
- Mount Cootha ( nice place to over look brissy )
- City Cat ( Nice Boat ride along the river, and it;s cheap to ride along )
- Treasury Casino ( nice to lose some $$$ here, u will know what i mean )
- Sunshine Coast

Images from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_meat_pie and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamington

Halal food in Brisbane (Queensland)
http://www.halalfoodbrisbane.com/
http://www.eatability.com.au/au/brisbane/cuisine_features/halal_food.htm
http://www.ourbrisbane.com/food-and-drink/cuisine/Halal%2BRestaurants
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/1430/halal.html
http://www.queensland.com.sg/iss/singapore/experiences/food-&-wine/halal.cfm
http://www.qguide.com/story/brisbane/Mecca-Bah.php
http://www.menulog.com.au/browse/halal/brisbane_qld/brisbane_qld_2
http://thelocaltourist.com.au/seq/Dining_Out/Middle_Eastern.htm
http://ausis.org/v3/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=48
http://www.aussiemuslims.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26203
Bombay Dhaba(West End) (Indian) - www.bombaydhaba.com.au
Bombay bliss - http://www.totaltravel.com.au/travel/qld/brisbanearea/brisbanenorthernsuburbs/directory/restaurants-cafes
Halim’s Indian Taj http://www.vervah.com.au/Brisbane/Restaurants/Restaurant/347/Halims-Indian-Taj-Restaurant.html
Little Malaysia http://www.bestrestaurants.com.au/restaurants/QLD-Brisbane-littlemalaysia.aspx
http://www.qldmuslims.org.au/modules/xdirectory/singlelink.php?cid=179&lid=1545 – this diner has a very bad experience with Shahi Thali

Halal butcheries in Brisbane (Queensland)
http://www.startlocal.com.au/retailfood/halal/qld_brisbane/
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080601043737AAZ5vNH
http://www.aussieweb.com.au/directory/directory.aspx?cid=3989&lid=60002
http://www.crescentsofbrisbane.org/the_good_caterers_guide.htm
http://uk.holidaysguide.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-82458-halal_butcher_poultry_brisbane-i

Madrasah / Mosques in Brisbane (Queensland)
http://www.qldmuslims.org.au/

Halal food Gold Coast
http://www.eatability.com.au/au/gold_coast/cuisine_features/halal_food.htm
http://www.gcfoodguide.com.au/index.cfm/page/restaurant_detail/id/335
http://www.gchalal.com/Default.aspx?tabid=173&action=cat&parentID=10 – restaurants certified halal by Gold Coast Halal Certification Services

Tips
Australia halal info http://www.islamicport.com/australia.html
Halal thread http://muslimvillage.com/forums/index.php?s=f6db3fba7c53de67a0a25e9f7a56315f&showtopic=38338&pid=764161&st=0&#entry764161

Brisbane Tips
http://www.synergylyn.com/2007/11/my-brisbane-and-gold-coast-experience.html
http://www.ourbrisbane.com/see-and-do
http://www.brisbane-australia.com/things-to-do.html
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g255068-Activities-Brisbane_Queensland.html
http://www.queenslandholidays.com.au/destinations/brisbane/things-to-see-and-do/things-to-see-and-do_home.cfm

Image from http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/p/m/3a6127/

Gold Coast tips
http://www.goldcoast.com.au/holiday/top-10-gold-coast-activities.html
http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Australia_and_Oceania/Australia/State_of_Queensland/Gold_Coast-1875847/Things_To_Do-Gold_Coast-TG-C-1.html
http://www.verygoldcoast.com.au/
http://www.gold-coast-australia-travel-tips.com/best-time-to-visit-gold-coast.html

List of halal eating places in Queensland
http://www.visit-queensland.com/iss/emerging-markets/travel-info/mosques-and-halal-restaurants.cfm
http://www.zabihah.com/ls.php?id=171
http://www.pakoz.com.au/Default.aspx?tabid=138

**Bonus links - while surfing for halal places for Brisbane/Gold Coast, I stumbled onto these sites:

List of halal eating places in Sydney (New South Wales) & Melbourne (Victoria)
http://www.studentservicesdirect.com.au/halal.aspx

Halal food in Sydney (New South Wales)
http://www.yourrestaurants.com.au/cuisine_suburb/?action=home&url_landing=cuisines&url_region=sydney&url_criteria=halal

Halal eating places in Melbourne (Victoria)
http://www.mycen.com.my/malaysia/restaurant_overseas.html
http://yourrestaurants.com.au/cuisines/melbourne/halal/

Halal eating places in Canberra
http://canberra.citysearch.com.au/restaurants/1137463436760/yarralumla+halal,turkish+pide+house

List of halal eating places in Australia
http://www.afic.com.au/Halal%20Outlets.htm

If you don't fancy any of the restaurants listed above, you can try vegetarian restaurants:

Vegetarian
http://www.yourrestaurants.com.au/cuisines/brisbane/vegetarian/
http://www.vegsoc.org.au/restaurants_category.asp?RestaurantsCategory=Brisbane&vegetarian=False
http://www.happycow.net/australia/queensland/brisbane/index.html
http://www.brisbanecitylife.com.au/bcl/wand-vegetarian.htm
http://www.brisbanegovindas.com.au/
http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-2748712-pu_kwong_vegetarian_restaurant_brisbane-i
http://www.vegetarian-restaurants.net/Australia-Vegetarian-Restaurants/Brisbane-Vegetarian-Restaurants.htm
http://www.veggieplaces.co.uk/vegetarian_restaurant_brisbane_au.html
http://www.vegguide.org/region/199
http://www.vegetarian-restaurants.net/Australia-Vegetarian-Restaurants/Gold-Coast-Vegetarian-Restaurants.htm

Seafood Stall Jalan Imbi

2008-12-24T13:27:00.011+08:00

Yesterday I took leave to go to Ting clinic at Jalan Imbi. Nothing serious, I just had this irritating bump on my cheek which I hope Dr Ting can fixed. Guess what? Reached the clinic at 12 noon, my number was 80. The receptionist told me to call at 5pm just to check if my turn is almost there or not (but she mentioned most slightly you'll be attended to at about 7pm). Anyway, took my number and went to my bro's house at Jalan U-Thant to wait there.

Reached his house and film crews were busy shooting at his house (outside the house)..ha ha he's a happy man now, he has been earning side income for allowing film crews to use his house as their studio of sort.....I think so far 5 films (tv drama) used his house........and counting, more are making enquiries and arrangement....

Anyway, I had free lunch yesterday since the crews had their own caterer and provided food for the house owner too. I always thought (from tv shows), that the actors and crews will enjoy lavish food - buffet style.....but their lunch actually was quite simple - yeterday they served sambal tumis sotong (squid in spicy sauce), gulai ikan kering (salted fish curry - Kedah specialty, I guess special request from the crews because I heard lots of them conversing in Kedah dialect), kangkung belacan (water convolvulus with shrimp paste) and rice! A simple fare (according to my nephew, that's how they eat everytime shooting is in progress). Taste? Quite delicious actually.....:-)

Images from http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/dd183/ixora_xr/masakan/100_3360.jpg and http://bestfoodnetwork.com/blog/clay-pot-loh-shu-fun-mama-kitchen-restaurant-ttdi

Anyway, back to Dr Ting story, I called the clinic again at 6.30pm and told them I'll be there around 7.30pm. Guess what? Went there at 7.30pm and I still have to wait a while, my turn was at 8pm. I asked the nurse "do you close at 9pm?", she said "no, we closed at 6pm but if we couldn't attend to everyone on time, we'll close after we finished with everyone." My consultation and procedure only took me like less than 10 minutes! Cost me RM90.00.

After the clinic, I remembered a great seafood stall just behind the clinic (food court opposite Bintang Palace night club, not right in front, the other one, the one you've to walk in slightly (if you remember one case about travel agent who ran off with their clients money? opposite their office - Wisma Excellence, 28 & 30 Jalan Padang Walter Grenier, Off Jalan Imbi, 55100 Kuala Lumpur).

This place is one of our fav places (my bf and I), we always have their garlic prawns, lala and sometimes siput sedut or crab (that's all that the stall has to offer - you just order prawn or whatever but they only serve same style of cooking - you can't be asking I want prawn cooked in A style or B style or whatever, you eat what the cook serves you). To accompany the dishes, normally we'll order fried rice and drinks from other stalls. Ohh the operator is actually a husband (cook) and wife (waitress) team (they've indon helper too)...it must be the heat...every time I visited the place, the couple will never fail to provide 'entertainment' to diners....they shout to each other, sounded like fighting (and nagging) but I guess that's how they communicate with each other....:-)

Anyway, last night I ordered prawns (garlic prawn) and siput to tapau (pack) back. Not cheap, both dishes cost me RM50.00. Actually, wanted to let my sis, bro and nephew to try the food. They love it. But for those who hate garlic (vampires?) this is not the place for you.

I didn't take pictures, but here are pictures from http://beloudandheard.blogspot.com/2007_09_01_archive.html.

Suzy's Corner Ampang

2008-12-24T01:26:00.008+08:00

Hi and salam all. Been very busy with tender exercise for the past weeks and blogging was sidelined.....oops sorry. My sis complained why didn't I feature any new place to eat...hmmm

Well last night went with my bf to Suzy's Corner in Ampang. Not a bad place at all. The concept is something like chinese coffee shops with lots of individual stalls selling various types of food - western food (steak, pasta etc), chicken porridge, satay, chi kut teh etc.

We've been there before few times...last night I had fried meehoon and my bf ordered chicken satay. I prefer my meehoon to be hotter (I achieved that by asking for chopped cili padi) but my bf said the meehoon was alright...the satay was nice too though I found the sauce to be a bit too sweet.

Lots of diners there and quite a number of tables were filled up with expats(?) well... non-malaysian residing around Ampang. Other bloggers mentioned that Suzy offers shisha too but I've never noticed anyone smoking the stuff whenever I was there...

My previous visits I tried pasta and chicken chop...not bad at all, I guess that's why Suzy managed to attract expat crowds. Quite decent food and reasonable price.

Sorry no pictures, try blogs below for pictures.......ha ha meehoon is just meehoon right? that's why I didn't bother with picture......ha ha.

Hmm..on second thoughts, for benefits of non-malaysian readers, here are pictures of fried meehoon and satay..

Images from http://www.melayu.com/v2/sembang2/mesej.php?thread=1981 and http://www.awhiffoflemongrass.com/

Other bloggers take on Suzy's:

http://masak-masak.blogspot.com/2007/05/dinner-suzis-corner-ampang-kuala-lumpur.html

http://surayaanuar.blogspot.com/2008/04/jom-makan-hawker-stalls-suzis-corner.html

http://kevineu.blogspot.com/2005/01/suzis-corner.html

http://bernsy.blogspot.com/2007/08/steak-suzis-corner.html

http://www.cosmotourist.com/travel-tip/59097/kuantan/suzi-s-corner/suzi-s-corner-great-local-and-western-food/

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g298570-d1020388-Reviews-Suzy_s_Corner-Kuala_Lumpur_Wilayah_Persekutuan.html

http://www.friedchillies.com/fc/forum/threads.php?id=1720_0_2_0_C

http://www.photomalaysia.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12468&page=3

http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/722864

http://www.theskinnycook.com/2007-06-12/tandoori-chicken-recipe.html

http://www.kosmo.com.my/kosmo/content.asp?y=2008&dt=0807&pub=Kosmo&sec=Rencana_Utama&pg=ru_01.htm

http://www.mesra.net/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t72982.html