.....times of refreshing.....

Nothing beats having a steamboat dinner on rainy days. I was at BB Ho's steamboat restaurant in Puchong again and it's great to enjoy the fresh seafood there again as well as fried fish vermicelli. Despite the increased competitions around them, I think they still hold on to their quality.

Fresh seafood from Pulau Ketam

Getting ready ....!

 This will be the last post for 2013!! Happy New Year 2014, folks!!

Nasi Lemak with rendang chicken

Crispy fish fillet cooked in cereals with fries

'Siew Yok'

I had this over the weekend and I now know it's not easy to .... say no to good food. OK la... once a while.. hehehe....

It's been a while since I last dined at Yew's Cafe and I thought it's a great idea to go there for our Christmas dinner. After all, they offered great western cuisines! When we were there, the cafe was very crowded and we have to wait a little while for a table.

Yew's cafe of Taman Molek branch

 It was a special Christmas menu (which means it's also more expensive) and instead of the set menu, we opt for the ala carte. There was a pretty good selection of food there!

Golden Chicken Chop with red wine longan - for my little princess. Of course, my wife and I had the longan while my little princess enjoyed the sweet teriyaki sauce chicken chop. I like the presentation of the food, it was nice! (RM 33)

Golden Salmon with fresh mushroom sauce - for my kid. My kid loves salmon and he truly enjoyed this ! (RM 40)

Golden Turkey Fillet with black pepper. This was what I ordered and the most expensive. I thought since it's Christmas, let's have turkey meat. It was good ! (RM 50)

Golden Prawn Aglio Olio  - Surprisingly, this was the best dish of all. The aglio olio tasted great with the mixture of onion and olive oil. My wifey ordered this.

The prawn was big and it was deliciously marinated and fried. (RM 33)

I thought we had a great time and good meal for this Christmas! The bill comes around RM193 with drinks. :)

Most of the times, whenever we felt down or depressed or frustrated, we will succumbed to our ugly and destructive habits. For example, some of my friends drank excessive cokes or coffees or chain smoked whenever they are stressed! Even for me, whenever I don't feel good, I will indulge in not so healthy behaviour. Some of my ladies' friends anyhow shop for expensive stuffs or stuffs that they may not need. Some munched on unhealthy or junk food excessively and etc ...

Well, I thought to myself, why not talk to God whenever you are not feeling good. Probably it helps to calm down first and then, search some Biblical verses which are suitable to our situation. For example, for money issues, the Bible have a couple of verses for it where we can meditate on it.

I felt God is alway with us but the problem is, we do not acknowledged or accept that. Since this is the birth of the mankind's greatest Gift, let's start acknowledging Him,that He is always with us.



Merry Christmas!!!

Oh .. I discovered a new Japanese restaurant in Permas Jaya. Located at almost the corner of Jalan Permas 10, I thought it's a good idea to give it a try. After all, Permas Jaya is well-known for its Japanese restaurants!

Crispy Rolls - I told my wife it's more like Japanese Popiah

Salmon Sushi

Salmon Shioyaki

Salmon Shioyaki Set with chawanmushi, salad, and miso soup

I love the Salmon Shioyaki Set.... the salmon actually was quite thick and lots of meat. Well, not bad, and I guess I will patronise this place again. The place was also quite pleasant with friendly waitress though thery didn't wore Japanese type of uniform, like in many restaurants.

well, ok, the meal was not that bad except that I have to be a little busy tossing the beef to ensure it's not overly cooked on one side. Together with a miso soup and rice, this cost me S8.70. And, the steak was allright!

After that, I realised Xmas is just around the corner and I thought it's a good idea to shop online and deliver the pressies directly to my home. Afterall, I don't visit malls that often unless weekends. I heard about this Zalora Malaysia and thought of giving it a try. :)

I have been in SG for donkey years but somehow I never been to the zoo. And, the zoo is just a 20 minutes drive from where I stayed...LOL. Anyway, since my kid pestered me to bring him to the zoo while I can used my company's corporate pass (which mean it's free for a family of four), I thought why not?

It was a Saturday and the zoo was expectedly crowded since it's school holidays. I like the concept of the Singapore Zoo, it's very natural and close to nature unlike those zoos which caged the animals. Over here, they intelligently create a barrier between the animals and the visitors, and have viewing galleries.

Polar bear swimming in the cold waters

A great Rhino

oh... I love this fella!

Beautiful giraffes

oh... you know, I guess I irritated this big guy. I was standing there snapping pics of it while it keep on roaring at me. I somehow notice it and i quickly walk away. Of course, there's a gap in between us.

Beautiful and serene Lake of Mandai

Proboscis monkey

My little princess enjoying a pony ride

And, so do my prince

fun time .... Merry go round!

Look what's lurking in the swamp!

oh.... I love this fella... Komodo Dragon. I was kinda fascinated with their story

And, save the best for last - The White Tigers!

Overall, I think it's a great tourist attractions and there were also some good shows! In addition, they served good KFC there .... !!

Somehow I felt the Christmas decor in JB's city square was great this year.I especially love  the little angels holding on a book of music. It looks so pure and delightful!

Lovely decor

Simple decor at City Square with angels 'flying' around

Definitely the decors in JB cannot be comparable with those in Singapore or KL but then, I think they did a good job this year. There were also lots of kiosks and stalls selling Christmas stuffs at the basement. It did whip up a good Christmas ambience!

I always think that pastas goes well with English tea, especially Earl Grey tea. And, that was what I always ordered whenever I had pasta, instead of a freshly brew coffee.

Beef bolognaise

I was at Breeks and have a craving for Italian food. Since I got back from the Italian cruise, I always craved for pizzas or pastas, it's probably due to the effect of having 5 days of Italian delicacies for 7 meal a day.... LOL

The pasta at Breeks are not too bad though I expect it to be better since they specialised in western food. Anyway, that's another dinner. ::)

I think I had increased the intensity of my workouts as well as run longer for the past few months. Anyway, on the other hand, besides working out hard, I also 'makan kuat' (ate a lot). :P Thus, I do see some improvements in terms of muscles but the flabby tummy still remains. *sigh* ...

With that, I think I have to do something with my diet and ended up having sashimi on a beautiful Monday night.

A platter of simple sashimi comprising of tuna, salmon and err... dunno what's the other is call.

With a bowl of rice, chawanmushi and miso soup, it's indeed a nice and hearty dinner. Have a good week, folks!

It seems like Malaysian food stalls are getting popular in Singapore. There was one food court selling Malaysian hawkers' food in Resort World Sentosa (RWS) with nice and nostalgic decors. However, recently, I found out there was another food court in Jurong Point which was called 'Malaysia Boleh'. It was not as big as RWS since JP is a shopping mall  but then, I found that the food there were cheaper, tastier and also had the same type of nostalgic decor.

The entire 'big shop' housed a lot of stalls selling a variety of Malaysian delicacies, mainly Penang food.

Looking out to the shopping mall from the food court

'Ngoh Hiang' or 'Lobak-lobak' ... most importantly is the century egg!

Very old school decor but love the environment. From right is Ipoh Chicken kway Teow and Ipoh Curry Chicken Mee on the left.

Penang food - the char kway teow seems always long queue!

'Klang' Bak Kut Teh

I order the Chicken curry mee ... it tasted good!

Penang Road famous Cendol,,at $2 per bowl.

Here is it .... yummy and refreshing !

They also sell 'Apom' here but it's a bit different from those of Ipoh.

The Apom was just slice open like that unlike those thin ones in Ipoh. I guess this is more like 'tai kau min' (cantonese) with the peanuts and fine sugar on it. Anyway, it's crispy and delicious!

My little girl and her bro (cut off) enjoying the apom.

The food court always seems crowded at any time! We were there at 3pm on a Saturday afternoon and it wad difficult to find a table and seats. They really have good business there!

Somehow I am glad to turn back the clock to an hour late as we were back in Malaysian waters to adjust back to our normal time. However, that also meant we have to woke up an hour early! In Phuket, the breakfast was ready by 7am which means it's 8am Malaysian time but then in Malaysia, it's still 7am! We have to wake up early to catch the buffet breakfast and be on time for the next excursion to Langkawi.

While going out from our cabin to the restaurant, the sun was shining beautifully and brightly and I love these views that welcome us at the Langkawi port. It's so calm, serene and beautiful at 8am.




After breakfast, we were on our half day excursion tour of an island view of Langkawi. Again, since have kids with us, we cannot afford to go for island hopping and water activities. Anyway, this tour was really short and not that as interesting compared to the one we had in Phuket. I guess in Langkawi, you really have to go for the sea and not the town. I believe Langkawi have lots of wonderful beaches around.

A good view of our cruise while coming down to the jetty

Folks walking to their excursion buses

First stop - at Eagle Square with my little princess and missus.  And, that what's Langkawi is known for - Eagles! In fact, there was a place to see lots of eagles feeding. Well, next time.

Some kiosks selling handicrafts at Eagle Square

A selfie  for the three of us

Anyway, I am always fascinated by the myths and legends in Langkawi since I studied history in school. And, finally I got the chance to visit one of the legends of Langkawi - the Mahsuri tomb.

Mahsuri's tomb

A narrative on Mahsuri's tomb.

 As mentioned on  wikipedia, Mahsuri was a young woman who lived in Langkawi, Malaysia either during the 14th or 19th century. According to folklore, she was accused of adultery and executed by stabbing. Her tomb,Makam Mahsuri, has become a tourist attraction on the island. (wikipedia)

Spears on display near her tomb

There was a place called 'Kampung Kedah', where the authorities tried to reenact the type of design during Mahsuri's time. This is the type of malay hut  where she stayed.

Above and below, the inside of the kampung house

Aview of another kampung house at the 'village'

 Another fascinating discovery was her descendants, especially a lady which was her 7th generation, was found in year 2000. She was a Thai and pictures of her marriage was displayed in this tourist attraction. And, she was indeed beautiful where the people believe she looks like Mahsuri. More info can be found here.

Perhaps visiting the Mahsuri's tomb was one of the highlights of the short tour. After that, we were brought around places to shop for handicrafts, chocolates and delicacies. We were back on our cruise for the trip back home later.

Beautiful blue sea of Strait of Malacca  and to spend the final night on the cruise.

Looking back at Langkawi

Overall, the short tour gave me a glimpse of the sleepy, hollow and quiet island of Langkawi as the tour went into the outskirt of the island. There were lots of malay kampungs around town. I guess my next trip is to visit the islands as well as the beautiful beaches around.

It was a great journey!