Hyatt House KL - Gallery Kitchen & Ten37 Sky Bar

It's nice to chill and spend time with the hubs in a quiet place with view, especially during the pandemic. Located in Mont Kiara, right beside 163 Retail Park, is Hyatt House, an extended-stay concept hotel. 

Gallery Kitchen is located right next to the hotel lobby and this is where hotel guest will have their complimentary breakfast. 

We had our dinner at Ten37 Sky Bar, while enjoying the beautiful Kuala Lumpur Skyline. We were told, if we came in the evening, we will be able to witness the colourful and beautiful sunset. But nevertheless, we did enjoy our dinner under the star with a beautiful night view and cool breeze, as it just rained moments before we reached.

Some mocktails to quench our thirst, from L-R: The HH Signature (RM 15), Blueberry Mojito (RM15), Apple Spritz (RM15).

The HH Signature is my favourite as it was sweet with a tad of sourness as it contains rambutan (one of my favourite fruits), kiwi & calamansi. As for the hubs, he loved the Apple Spritz. If you prefer your drink to be on the sweet side, you could opt for Blueberry mojito.

A complimentary alcohol wet wipes to ensure the safety of all their patrons.

First up, we had the Mee Siam (RM19), which came with a side of sambal prawn. We both loved the flavourful & authentic taste of the bee hoon especially after a squeeze of the lime juice.

Ayam Percik with Briyani Rice (RM26) came with a huge drumstick together with prawn crackers and vegetable pickle.

Lamb Varuval with Briyani Rice (RM28) was my favourite dish that night. The meat was tender and flavourful and it fell easily out from the bone. The lamb shoulder was slow-cooked to perfection and was served together with poppadum and dhal.

Last but not least was the Ayam Rendang (RM28), served with white rice, ulam & vegetable pickle. The chicken meat was so soft & tender, again slow-cooked like the Lamb Varuval.

We spent a great night with delicious food accompanied by a beautiful night view. And we might return, as we heard you could also organized a private party with a small group in Ten37 Sky Bar. If we have any celebration next, this would definitely be on our list.

Hyatt House Kuala Lumpur, Mont Kiara

G-2 Arcoris, Kuala Lumpur

Jucy Snooze Christchurch, Wilderness Campervan & Castle Hill New Zealand

On our 1st day, we reached Christchurch around 8pm local time and we stayed at Jucy Snooze Christchurch which is about 10mins walk from the domestic terminal. It is a hostel but we opted for the double bedroom with private bathroom.

The hotel is clean and check-in was a breeze. There is a huge common space whereby you can cook & chill.

Happy faces albeit tired from the long travelling

The double room is small, but enough to rest our tired body from the long flight + domestic flight.

There is a supermarket just opposite the hostel and within 5 mins walk there is KFC & Mcdonalds. this place is perfect if you touched down at night and wanted a convenient place to sleep in. 

We paid about RM285 a night for double room with private bath.

The next day, Wilderness sent a van over to pick us up to their office to collect our home for the next 13 days. The process took us about 40mins, whereby they will brief you on the how-tos and what-nots.

We were so excited and off we went to our 1st destination : Castle Hill. The place is a location for the movie 'The Chronicles of Narnia'.

Us with the Castle Hill & snowy mountain backdrop

Along the drive from Christchurch to Castle Hill, we were awed by the scenery and the snowy mountains. and after a while, we got used to the views as it was quite identical all around New Zealand #firstworldproblem

We then drove over to Arthur's Pass and stayed the night at a Freedom Campsite. Do take note that only self-contained vehicle can park at Freedom Campsite. Self-contained meaning there's toilet & bath in the campervan or vehicle. 

We were quite afraid when we stayed overnight as there is no other vehicle and it was pitch black. But after awhile, it was alright and we fell asleep instantly from all the driving.

If you need to find a place to overnight, you can try  Jackson Retreat & Holiday Park (NZD 26 +/-) or Mt.White Bridge Freedom Campsite (we wanted to stay here, but we could not find it from our GPS) I got to know about the amazing and beautiful campsite from polkadotpassport.com, the photos she took from here roadtripping in NZ is amazing.

Lake Tekapo - Shoreline Freedom Campsite (source: polkadotpassport)

Lake Wanaka - Lake Outlet Holiday Park (source: polkadotpassport)

Queenstown - Remarkable Road Freedom Campsite  (source: polkadotpassport)

Queenstown - Lake View Holiday Park (source: polkadotpassport)

New Zealand - Self Drive 14 Days Itinerary (North & South Island)

If you are planning to visit New Zealand, you have made the right choice. It is a beautiful country with endless scenery and nice people. To enjoy both island you will need at least a 3-4 weeks to enjoy both island at the fullest.

As for us, we had only 2 weeks  to tour both North & South Island in New Zealand. But, we had to, as we flew into Auckland via Airasia (back in 2018), fyi: Airasia no longer fly NZ as of now.

We had a bittersweet experience during our New Zealand trip.

1. We flew our 1st transit (stop at Gold Coast)
2. Our 1st camper van experience

3. We got robbed in a safe country like NZ (more on that later)
4. 1st time eating the yummy Bluff Oyster

5. Witnessed the Milky Way & managed to get a picture of it with our humble mobile phone (HuaWei), of course cannot compare with those taken with professional cameras ya, this is taken with mobile phone and a simple mini tripod.

6. I fell down twice at camp site, due to my own careless-ness, luckily my backbone is still alright
7. We rode the Sky Swing at Rotorua, North Island

Before I go into the details for our NZ Winter trip, below is the itinerary for our 14 days New Zealand North & Island winter trip:

Total Spent for 1 person: RM 7,100

Cost breakdown (2 person):
Flight to KL-Auckland                                 = RM 2,800+  [2x30kg & quiet zone seats]
Domestic Flight Auckland-Christchurch)    = RM    752
Hotel (Jucy Snooze Christchurch - 1 night) = RM    285
Camper van 13-days (5 seater)                     = RM 4,100*
Camp sites, grocery, petrol, etc                    = RM 6,100

Camper van costs include full excess & ship from Christchurch-Auckland

Our 14 days self-drive itinerary

We missed the Milford Sound & most of the hiking trails, as we are not fit & lazy. Also, our itinerary is quite packed as we covered both islands in the span of 14 days. Some of the travellers we met, spent 14 days touring only the South Island.

Day 1: Reached Auckland in the evening & stayed at Jucy Snooze Christchurch Hotel
Day 2: Take Camper van (Wilderness Christchurch) - Castle Hill- Arthur Pass
Day 3: Arthur's Pass - Fox Glacier - walk to Lake Matheson (1.5 hours walk)
Day 4: Fox Glacier - Wanaka - Rippon Vineyard (wine tasting)
Day 5: Wanaka - Queenstown
Day 6: Wanaka Snow Farm - Lake Tekapo
Day 7: Lake Tekapo - The Church of the Good Shepherd - Astro Café - Christchurch
Day 8: Christchurch - Hanmer Springs
Day 9: Hanmer Springs - Picton
Day 10: Picton - Wellington
Day 11: Wellington - Taupo
Day 12: Taupo - Hobitton (Matamata) - Rotorua
Day 13: Skyline Rotorua
Day 14: Auckland - KL

What to do for your mum on Mother's Day?

Mother's Day is approaching and for those who did not know when it is, it falls on the 13th May 2018 this year. Mother's Day is celebrated on the 2nd Sunday of May, and this time, let us list down what can we do for our special women on this Mother's Day.

1. Send her flowers

Women's of all ages loves flowers. If your mum thinks that flowers are expensive and not practical, get her an organic vegetable bouquet. With this, she can show off to her friends on FB and you can have a yummy homecooked meal the next day. One stone kill 2 birds..

Image from myfave.com

2. Prepare a yummy breakfast for her

A simple breakfast will make sure she starts her day right. Why not try making her an American breakfast.

Image from lmeichil.blogspot.my

3. Clean the house 

Ensure the house is clean & tidy, but if you're too lazy to do it yourself, hire a cleaner to do it for you. You can easily get cleaner/maid services from kaodim.com or get a younger siblings to do it for you, with a little bit of fees of course.

4. Treat her to a Mother's Day dinner at The Art Coffee

A special sharing menu for 6 pax, you can even bring your grand mother along for this sumptuous meal. With a total of 20+ dishes from the sharing menu, guaranteed to leave your mum's tummy satisfied on her special day.

1st up, Fresh Garden Salad

Nachos with Cheese Sauce

Brocolli Soup with Garlic Bread

Aglio Olio Pasta

Nasi Hujan Panas with Ayam Masak Merah

A cup of Latte

Bonus: Popcorn Latte (RM16) *NEW*

You can follow The Art Coffee for more upcoming promotions or new menu: https://www.facebook.com/theartcoffeemalaysia/

And remember to treat your mum like a queen everyday and not just on Mother's Day. Wishing all mummies a Happy Mother's Day!

Bali 2017 - Water Blow, Pandawa & Padang Padang Beach & Uluwatu Temple

Our 1st location for 2nd day is Nusa Dua's Water Blow. Did not managed to captured a good picture of the blow, but you have to see it to believe it.

It was when a strong waves hit in between the limestone edges which created a powerful burst/blow of water.

You can google 'water blow bali' to get a feel of how it looks like.

Nusa Dua Water Blow Semenanjung Nusa Dua, Nusa Dua, Bali 80517, Indonesia Entrance fee: Free
Next, our driver drove us to Pandawa beach with clear blue sea.

We also went kayak-ing at Pandawa Beach, we reached around noon and the sun was shining brightly.

There were a lot of stalls at Pandawa beach, and we settled at one random stall for lunch. They were all selling the same types of foods - Bakso, Nasi Campur, Mie Goreng, Nasi Goreng & Gado Gado.

Pandawa Beach Jl. Pantai Pandawa, Nusa Dua, Kutuh, South Kuta, Badung Regency, Bali 80361, Indonesia
We moved to Padang Padang Beach with a full tummy. And according to the BIL, the sate babi (pork satay) at Padang Padang parking lot is yums, but our tummy were too full. 
So, off we go to the beach to chill. We have to go down a flight of narrow stairs in between the limestone cliff face to reach the beach area. The beach is famous or surfing, but we ended up just lying around under the shade snapping photos (typical Malaysians).

Padang Padang Beach

Padang Padang Beach, Pecatu, South Kuta, Badung Regency, Bali, Indonesia

Our final location is Uluwatu Temple, we went there around 5-is, so we did not managed to catch the sunset. But we took tonnes of poser shots.

The traffic was bad on our way back to Kuta, so our driver stopped by one of the street stall, to get one of the famous Indonesian street food - Martabak (it is similar to our Murtabak here, but it is wrapped with a thin layer of fried dough with generous savoury fillings). 

The picture is not doing the Martabak any justice, but I swear it was so good, crunchy on the inside with the right amount of savoury filling inside. We did not get the Terang Bulan (sweet version, similar to our thick apam balik, but alot more guilty, as the outer layer is coated with a generous amount of butter/margerine).
For dinner, we walked to a street located at the back of Legian for local food, Nasi Tempong at the famous Ibu Sri. The sambal was so good but spicy at the same time, the hubby was sweating a river of water.

Good food with affordable prices. If you are there, do remember to try the tempe, it was so good. Tip: try to go with a local, as the place is frequented mostly by locals only, to ease communication.
Ibu Sri Jl. Mataram No.48, Kuta, Kabupaten Badung, Bali 80361, Indonesia

Bali 2017 - Ubud Day Trip

Just got back from a 8-days long trip to Bali. It was my 2nd time to Bali and I am still loving the place alot.

Photo taken at the lobby of our Kuta accomodation, Bounty Hotel. The hotel is located at Legian, Kuta. A party hotel with good location, whereby they host the Rasa Sayang Party every Friday, we missed it during our stay.

If you love parties and drinking, this will be the right place for you, but if you are looking at comfort and nice hotel, you may want to look else where.

A double room per night costed about MYR 120+, comes with buffet breakfast (everyday) and buffet dinner (on certain days only).

We had some Pork Satay (Sate Babi Bawah Pohon), recommended by a local friend. And it was very good, served with rice cakes (lemang in our language). You can also opt for white rice. The sate was very meaty and the charcoal bits and meat is just nice.

Location:Jl. Patih Jelantik, Legian, Kuta, Kabupaten Badung, Bali 80361, Indonesia

Opening hours: 0900-1700

Price range: 20k Indonesian Rupiah (about MYR6, depending on exchange rate)

Source: http://www.wheretoeat-bali.com/2015/06/sate-babi-bawah-pohon.html

Some snacks we bought from Beachwalk Bali, an open concept shopping mall located less than 5 mins from Bounty Hotel. There is a supermarket, located on the lower ground floor of the mall.

A picture of us with Tegenungan Waterfall at Ubud

After taking tons of pictures, we went to fill our hungry tummy with Bebek at Warung Dewa Malen, recommended by our tour guide.  

The view from the restaurant.

A table full of food. We had Bebek Goreng & Bebek Betutu and a Hawaiian Pizza and we ordered some drinks, and the bill came up to about 600k INR (about MYR180) for 4 pax.

The service was slow and the food was just okay but our tummy is filled though.

Location: Kemenuh, Sukawati, Gianyar, Bali 80582, Indonesia

To our next destination, Pura Tirta Empul, simply translates to 'holy water spring', according to source, it's best to inform your tour guide if you are interested to participate in the bathing ritual. 

At the entrance to the temple, with 'kamen' wrapped plus a sash.

We did not get wet but we managed to took tons of pictures again...

People performing the bathing ritual, it was crowded the day we went.

Clear holy spring water, and the Koi fish was huge~ee!

We went to Kintamani, inactive volcano, to take in some cool air, as it is located in the highland area.

Last but not least, we went to Tegallalang Rice Terrace, and took some pictures again before we went back to our hotel for the complimentary buffet dinner. No pictures as they served simple rice and noodle with some local dishes.

Anniversary foodie trip PENANG

We travelled up-north for our 12th anniversary. Although we are legally married for 3 years now, we still celebrate our dating anniversary.

We booked One Pacific Hotel through Agoda for our 2 nights stay. Total was RM 340 for a standard room, decent size located at Jln Macalister Georgetown (close to Ghee Hiang, about 2mins drive).

Room was clean and new but we have to drive out everytime we need to fill our tummy.

1st meal that we had when we reached, *drums roll*

Lorong Selamat Char Kuey Teow (fried flat noodle) 

Location: 82, Lorong Selamat, George Town, 10400 George Town, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia

Priced at RM12, with 3 huge prawns and chinese sausage (lap cheong). Perfectly seasoned and full of wok hei. We went there at about 1pm, but there isn't any crowd, we got our plate after 5 mins.

We felt thirsty after the flavourful plate of CKT, too much salt/msg, maybe.

We also had the Fried Oyster Egg, RM 14 or was it 16?

It was from a kopitiam nearby, they came and asked if we want a plate, being oyster-lover, we can't say no. Plenty of oysters but the egg was a bit dry. The one in Muar - wai sek kai is still the best.

We went to Ferringhi Garden for our anniversary dinner. The place serves Western and seafood.

Went there twice and still in love with the garden settings. We went at 5.30pm before the crowd.

Seafood Platter for 2

The platter consists of grilled seafood- 1 lobster, clams, tiger prawn, fish fillet and crab meat. Too much for 2 small eater.

We ordered a glass of house wine and total bill came up to RM440!! Gotta work harder to earn back!

Location: 

34, Jalan Batu Ferringhi, Kampung Batu Feringgi, 11050 Batu Ferringhi, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia

Parking is available at the back of the restaurant.

Since we had early dinner, we went for a stroll at Ferringhi beach (located just at the back of the restaurant-a street away) to catch the sunset.

We then drove to Lebuh Chulia for wanton mee. Hubs favourite.

We tapau-ed and ate in the hotel. Just Google
lebuh chulia (or chulia street wanton mee).

The stall is located on Lebuh Chulia around the corner of Lebuh Carnavon. Look out for a queue and you will know you have come to the right place. The stall is usually open around 6 pm.

Other than wanton mee, there is also curry mee, penang lobak and Satay.

The next day, we went to another wanton mee place, recommended by Henry's colleagues.

The noodles is smooth as theu added Cantonese style (wat tan hor) gravy over the noodles. With generous serving of fried wanton, shredded chicken and mushroom, it was priced at RM9 for a large plate.

The place is quite famous among locals.

Location: Wanton Mee house Pulau Tikus (located next to Swee Kong Kopitiam)

Opening hours: 7.30am-3pm, closed on Thur

We then went for Air Itam Asam laksa, not a fan but I felt that it was too diluted compared to the last time I was here, about 7 years ago.

Hui Kee At Larut Road for Fish Head Hot Pot

Perfect comfort food to warm the tummy. Fish fillets, yam cubed, white tofu with sourish hot soup to warm the soul. We also ordered a pork rib, and total bill was RM56+

The hotpot was priced at RM30+, perfect for 3 pax.

Location: 1, Larut Road, Georgetown, Penang.

Opens daily, 5.30pm to 10pm.

We were lucky cos they had this when we went there, my bro went there the other day, and they did not have it.

Last meal before we leave Penang was at Joo Hooi cafe Georgetown.

We had the famous trio - char kuey teow, chendol and Asam laksa. The laksa here is way better than the one at air itam.

After that, we ordered another round of chendol and some tidbits, popiah, nyonya kueh and yam cake.

The chendol here is to die for. Glad that we came here on weekday, ordering was a breeze and no problem getting a table. 

Location:475, Jalan Penang, George Town, 10450 George Town, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia

We left Penang with a happy tummy and a few hundreds poorer. We'll definitely meet again, when we have another ckt, laksa and chendol cravings.

All photos taken with huawei p10 plus. Thanks for the annv gift, I loved it very much :3