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Colonial KFC and Royale Hotel Penang

2014-01-02T12:26:00.002+08:00

Continuing from my previous page, I went on a short trip from Kuala Lumpur to Penang Island and went to see what I could see.

But first upon arrival, we went to check into the hotel. After the 5 hour drive up from KL I thoroughly was done with sitting down and the slight slip disk injury earlier didnt help.

A month before the trip we decided to make a reservation as December was school holiday season in Malaysia and that means all the hotels would be filling up pretty quickly. So we hopped on over to Agoda and managed to secure a cheap enough hotel and pounced.

The hotel we finally decided on was called Royal Penang Hotel and while the name is all glitzy and glamoury, it was slightly on the ok side. Sorry for the pics of the unkept room, but I forgot to take pics of the room beforehand.

The room itself was spacious enough and had all the normal necessary facilities like a tub and shower and amenities. It did not however make me feel like it was trying hard to please people to think it was a good hotel. But I guess they werent trying hard to promote themselves that way too. So maybe we just had high expectations. For me I had some issues trying to get 3G coverage in the room and there was no wifi in the hotel. So I had to make do with the sketchy connection. For those who brought a laptop, they did have a dedicated network cable that you can attach at the study table in the room. The tv in the room was a 21 inch CRT TV with very limited channels.

Anyhow the views from the room were quite ok. We managed to have a view of part city and part sea and after looking down, we managed to see that there was a funny looking KFC across the road.

Messy room

View of Room

KFC!

The funny thing about this KFC is that its actually housed in an old colonial home. So in a sense, you can call it Colonel's Colonial Home.

It was interesting to see that they had actually gutted the whole building and replaced the rooms with a KFC inside. We did try to ask for access to see how the kitchen was but they were a bit hesitant on granting us permission. But anyhow from what we could see, they did keep most of the original design in place.

Check out the place below :

Cheap Malaysian Comfort Food : Nasi Kandar Line Clear in Penang

2013-12-31T03:17:00.002+08:00

So what to do in Penang? ... Well generally you ask anyone from Malaysia whats good about Penang, they would definitely start telling you about the FOOD! and I dont know about you guys, but I LOVE FOOD!

hehe... So if you continue on that conversation above and ask what sort, then you'll get the list of foods which form Malaysia's staple or favorites like Char Kway Teow, Cendol, Nasi Kandar, Passembor, and if you go another step further, they will start listing down the stalls and shops which are their favourite.. haha (tried at a mamak shop with my frends once.. almost an hour gone by plotting the best shops for the above).. but beyond all that is told, irregardless of whom you ask or where you check, they will come back and mention Line Clear in Penang.

So with such a notoriety and legendary status amongst Malaysians, I decided to create that stop as a NOT TO BE MISSED portion of the trip and shortly after arrival and resting up, my appetite was ready to go and find this legend.

For something sooo legendary, Line Clear does not seem flashy or pretentious. It is literally situated at an alley in between a row of shops along Jalan Penang and basically thats it. Expect a literal alley and thats what you will get.

Alley tucked between buildings

So as I said above, the place isnt pretentious but it isnt bad either... I mean i've seen worst establishments and yet I wouldnt call this place very clean or great, i've dined at worst... So check out the place in the pics below :

Line Clear

Tables to eat

Not bad right? Now lets get to the good stuff.. THE FOOD! So whats served at Line Clear? Well nasi kandar of course.. What nasi kandar is is basically rice with some gravy and possibly a choice of chicken, mutton, fish, fish head, fish eggs or prawns with some choices for veggies. Check out the selection below :

Fish Eggs (Taken from some curried fish I think thus the yellow colour) and the ayam goreng or fried chicken

Other selections include egg, lady fingers, other types of curries

So as most of my readers are foreigners, I would like to teach you how to order nasi kandar. Generally in most nasi kandar places, people tend to choose for 1 main dish and 1 veggie dish and then the gravy types. Here's how :

Step One :

Inform him you want to eat there or take away (say bungkus).

Step two:

Choose to have a main dish (Ie. Chicken (Ayam) or Fish (Ikan) or Mutton(Kambing) )

Step three :

Decide how you want the main dish to be (ie. In Curry form, fried, or some other sort of gravy)

Step four:

Add any other dish or veggie

Step five :

inform the person if you want gravy. If you dont, tell him no curry (say tak mahu kari/kuah), or if you want a little (say kari/ kuah sikit) or if you really want to go all out (say banjir which means flood in Malay) and when doing this, you can also inform them if you want mixed gravy (say campur which means mixed) or any type of curry of your choice (usually chicken curry, fish curry, lamb curry, dark gravy or kuruma)

Lastly:

Pick up the payment receipt and go pay or keep it later for payment in case you wish to add anything else.

and if all else fails, just point at what you want and you will get it...

So.. this is what we ended up getting:

Our dinner!

basically we all almost ordered the same thing, but in my case I had the banjir gravy campur (which is the mixed gravy flooded) and some veggie and extra lady fingers... :D

So whats the verdict? In my humble honest opinion, I think i over did it with the gravy thus dulling certain flavours, but I must say the ayam goreng is the best, its HUGE and crispy and yummy. As for ambience wise, it is slightly ok.. but not great.. or bad either but I guess it can repel some people. I was told about the half an hour waiting line but when we got there it was quite brisk and cool... and as for the price, all of the above and a few extra drinks totalled to RM 24 which is damn cheap...

I would definitely come back to this place but I think I would try other places too as everyone seems to have a recommendation for me..

Lastly, this uncle will out of the blue blow his whistle and then shout out "Line Clear!"

oooo yeah dont forget this:

Anthony Bourdain was here

My FIRST Penang Trip

2013-12-30T23:36:00.000+08:00

Phewh.. I just woke up after almost a 5 hour drive down from Penang and boy was traffic heavy.... at some points went to a standstill and it RAINED all the way..

Anyhow, as seen above, it was my first trip really to Penang... I am not trying to lie to you but prior to this trip, I have only been to Penang twice to pick up someone and leave all within a span of less than 2 hours... so I dont really count those as times having been to Penang.

So.. the story goes that my interest in going to Penang started in 2006 or 2007 when I met up with this RAF officer on one of my trips to Phuket who used to be stationed in Penang. So lo and behold, he told me stories about Penang only for me to go err... I havent been there... haha yes a shocker but true enough, I wont lie.. I havent been to Penang...Anyhow add to that and listening to people jabber on and on about Penang, I definitely told myself I have to go to Penang!

So.. on 28th Dec we took to the road and made the 4 hour plus journey and drove up and tada! I made it..

Here's some views upon arrival

Penang Bridge


Penang Bridge

Penang from Penang Bridge

So I went for a short trip.. only 2D 1 N but it was all good. I will be sharing the blog in several posts and you can refer to the links here later.

Day 1 : Royal Penang Hotel
Day 1: Nasi Kandar Line Clear
Day 2: Penang Mural Hunting
Day 2: Fort Cornwallis

[26.12.2013] Merry X Mas

2013-12-26T02:02:00.001+08:00

Hellow all!

I havent blogged in awhile and its christmas! Anyhow.. Wishing all of you a wonderful holiday and be safe! Will update more soon. I think I have missed out on the following :

Hanoi (1st and 2nd trip)

Hong Kong

and all I can say is.. err.. oops.. haha.. My pc sucks and most of the tech I have for updating this is pretty laggy so I am kinda deterred from making new posts. Lets see if I have the energy to do it tomorrow... As for now.. Happy Holidays!

5/11/2013 Hong Kong!

2013-11-05T02:11:00.001+08:00

Reporting live from HK! Another trip.. and another round of aching feet.... Will definitely be blogging abt it... but for now... some pics!

[27.10.2013] Fail

2013-10-27T18:27:00.001+08:00

Hmmmm i have failed to update my travels.. things have just go sooo hectic recently and constantly from one event or obligation to another that whenever i get time i tend to just try to sleep.

Anyhow am chilling out now accompanying madamme do work and seems like a good place to do my blog....I like to blog but it just gets very time consuming...

Anyhow am going to HK next week!!!! :) cant wait... been reading sooo many of my friend's posts and blogs about their travels to HK that I wana try it out myself... :)

I hope I would get some time to chillax and blog again when I am there... Plus it will also be my first time on the A380! :) Till then!

[7-10.9.2013] Laguna Redang / Dive Trip

2013-09-11T22:15:00.001+08:00

Heylo... Just came back from a dive trip to Redang with the Lyn Divers. Sorry saying that does not cover the fact that I have been MIA for the past few months... Anyhow work is depressing and sometimes really annoying that I totally get why ppl choose to end it sometimes.

Anyhow. Lets go on to the trip..

A few months ago the discussion with the Lyn Divers on whatsapp resulted in us making reservations at Laguna Redang Resort. It was totally a spurr of the moment decision but I dont think any of us regretted on that decision at all. What started out with only 16 divers ended up with 19 as suddenly there was a lot of interest in us going there.

I have been diving regularly with the Lyn Divers recently and I really like the crazy bunch of people.

So how does Laguna Redang look like u ask? Check below :

As you can see the place looks awesome... I never thought I would be able to go to a resort like this.. EVER.. but turns out that paradise was really affordable with the right group...

So when we departed, there were different groups who went.. One group left the day before and stayed in Merang and another group went by air the next morning and my group which left by car. Driving there isnt really bad except the stretch from Jabor tol to Bukit Besi which is frankly a 100km stretch of potholes and dangerous roads.. This stretch is such a pain on your butt and on the car... From what I hear the entire highway will open next year.. I hope at least by the next dive season the road is open as the whole stretch is such a dangerous stretch of road that it slightly falls on the level of craziness.

So to get to Redang you must first get your butt to Merang and the Merang jetty is located at where you will find a set of wodden jetty's. I think each resort has their own Jetty and ours looked like this..

So here we waited for the rest of the group who arrived on that morning's flight. Take note that there are two ferry's per day to and fro and if you miss one, you will need to catch the mid day one. We managed to delay the ferry long enough to allow the other members to arrive.. hehe..

After the ferry ride which takes for about 1 hour to reach the island, you will be brought to the arrival hall for a briefing on how to check in and how to go for snorkelling trips and get food.

After we got settled in, we went to get Lunch. The thing about Laguna Redang is that most of the people who go there go with packages. So included in the package is the buffet meals and when they say buffet meals, they really meant on feeding you. Check out the yummy foods I ate over the course of the whole trip.. hahaha

Well the food looks good right. Anyhow.. the food is served at the upstairs restaurant. You give your voucher to the lady manning the counter and she will give you a table number to sit at. This is good if you go in a big group. We always have the first group book 3 tables and slowly bit by bit the group arrive and then they are assigned to the same table... The place is wonderful. If you get the right place you could have your meals facing the sea....and its such a wonderful sight...

After eating well we all suited up and went for our dives! Here's some pics I managed to take

Oh yeah.. a big attraction here at Laguna Redang is this place..

I think this place was the set of a chinese movie which was really popular amongst the visitors.

All in all, I think that a trip to Laguna Redang is totally worth it... The food the activities and the corals is just wonderful...

[2.9.2013] Whats up

2013-09-02T15:52:00.000+08:00

I dont know what I am doing anymore.. I havent updated this in awhile.. Anyhow will update soon.

[4.6.2013] Whats Happening

2013-06-04T23:20:00.000+08:00

Hellow!

I wonder if there are any readers here... hahaha.. I havent posted anything in a few mths... I know I promised alot.. but its difficult.. I still havent updated the PC and its still difficult for me to upload pics..
and with my new job thats very demanding on my time.. I dont know how I will get on with things. Anyhow.. I promised i'll finish most of the travels.. and mayb just post pictures instead after this... we'll see.. thats all for now... :)

[27.4.2013] End of Holidays

2013-04-27T08:56:00.001+08:00

The title conveys what I feel now.. haha end of my holidays..

I havent been blogging much since my PC cant handle uploads and all of pics and hangs quite often... I need to get a new PC...

Anyhow as I said.. End of holidays.. I will officially be back working in a lawfirm and giving out legal advice... Despite all other offers and last minute headhunters coming in I think I am choosing the most comfortable place I can work in and hopefully grow old there haha.

I have failled to write the following

a) Hanoi trips
b) Perhentian Trip
C) Bali trip
D) Singapore NATAS
E) Kuching Trip
F) Phuket and AOWD Certification

I will try to finish the last 3 asap before I get to work.. but today I am heading down to pagoh for a counsins wedding.. So tata till then!

Updates

2013-04-04T12:17:00.000+08:00

Hi! I havent blogged for soo long.. Sorry. I am busy trying to get a job and worrying about too many things that I dunt really have the mood to write.. I have lots of things to write about but I will again soon... Just give me a bit..

I have been making plans to dive and just bought my underwater housing for my g12.. Life is moving on though.. hehe.

Till then k?

[18.3.2013] Seriously?

2013-03-18T22:26:00.002+08:00

Hey guys.. no posts for now.. been extremely busy driving around people the past few days and helping out for this forum. Interesting to hang out with renowned speakers from all over the world and discuss issues with them in the car...

Anyhow have to wake up at 4 tomorrow for airport duty.. I'll continue with some interesting posts after I get back and have enough sleep...

BTW.. How are you readers? Are you guys really from all of the following?

Entry	Pageviews
Malaysia	2313
United States	951
Singapore	418
Russia	381
United Kingdom	128
Philippines	97
Germany	73
Indonesia	65
South Korea	60
Australia	56

Leave a message or something... Would really like to hear from u.

[13.3.2013] Django Unchained

2013-03-14T07:48:00.002+08:00

Got a chance to catch Django Unchained yesterday night and I feel that I should write this up quickly to thank the people at Nuffnang for the special invite to catch this movie.

Anyhow.. to those who dont know, this movie is written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. Who is this guy you ask? Well hes the guy who made all the cult favourites like Pulp Fiction , Resevoir Dogs, Kill Bill and the Inglorious Basterds. So now he has made a new movie called Django Unchained. Check out the trailer

So the movie is set in the 1850's and around the wild west prior to the civil war. This bounty hunter Dr.Schultz (played by Christoph Waltz previously as Col. Hans Landa from Inglorious Basterds) buys and frees this slave called Django (played by Jamie Foxx) and trains him to be a badass bounty hunter to assist him to get this bounty that he has been chasing and also with a promise to help free his wife.

So from the above, it might sound like any typical movie right? But with Tarantino's magic, he manages to twist the movie into a whole lotta blood and gore and cheesy tacky music and witty satirically funny lines.

Expect performances from Leonardo Dicaprio and Samuel L. Jackson too in this movie who brings forth other wonderful performances.

So what do I rate this movie? I think i'll give it an 8.5 out of 10.. Its extremely bloody and loud and tacky and sometimes draggy that I dont know if I want to watch again and I really dont recommend this movie for the squemish.. but overall, I think this movie played out really well and was the darkhorse of movies compared to Argo and Zero Dark Thirty when it came to the oscars. Do go and catch this movie if you are a fan of action and bloody scenes and profanity (N*gger was said more than 100 times throughout the whole movie) and just a fan of Tarantino's work. Till then!

[28.2.2012] Hanoi Day 1 Pt 2

2013-03-13T15:48:00.002+08:00

So when we left off the other day, we had just checked in the hotel and made arrangements for the cruise on Ha Lon Bay.

So whats next for us to do? Well we decided to walk around Hanoi and see whats up.

We were given a map by the hotel and located some of the nearby attractions (involved alotttt of walking)

and decided to walk along to see the lake nearby. Along the way there are lots and lots of shops selling shirts and other knock-off stuff.. But we just kept on walking.. I was eyeing the jackets but thought its not that bad... its cold but manageable..

The lake is called Hoan Kiem Lake and legend has it that

"emperor Lê Lợi was boating on the lake when his magic sword, Heaven's Will, was grabbed by a turtle who quickly disappeared into the depths. All attempts to find either the sword or the turtle failed. Lợi concluded that the Golden Turtle God (Kim Qui) had come to reclaim the sword that it had given Lợi some time earlier, during his revolt against the Chinese Ming Dynasty. Lợi renamed the lake to commemorate this event, it was formerly known as Luc Thuy meaning "Green Water"). The Turtle Tower (Thap Rùa) standing on a small island near the centre of lake is linked to the legend."

The travel mates being touristy and IN JACKETS!

So nearby the lake is the famous water puppet show. We decided to catch the show after we got back from the Ha Lon Bay cruise... The timings werent right when we were there.

Apparently Running Men from the show went there recently when they did their asian race.

Heres a picture of me. No jacket... Cool right?

In the middle of the lake there was a temple which had some touristy things.. You have to pay to get in but I cant recall how much it was but it wasnt that much...

Hellow there...

After we visited the lake we decided to go walk around and have lunch.... The lunch was pretty 'meh'.. nothing to talk about as I didnt really feel like squatting down and having Pho and with all the halal issue I just ate something simple...

However.... After sitting down for lunch in the open air... and you sit and chat.. slowly the feeling of coldness started to creep in.. I was feeling like WHAT THE HELL ITS FREAKING COLD HERE... haha..

and being me.. I am HUGE for vietnam. hahaha finding something was difficult. So struggle struggle struggle I managed to find something for myself and despite it being totally un-planned, I decided to go for it..

So we had decided to go visit uncle Ho Chi Min at his mausoleum.

We took a cab since it was kind of far from where we were and it dropped us across the square from where the mausoleum was.

It was closed by the time we arrived but we took some pics...

Nearby was some of Ho Chi Minh's museum and then a single pillar pagoda was there too. The place had lots of honour guards in all their regallia and also some soldiers practising their marches.

Now i feel warm...

The museum

We didnt feel like going to a museum about a guy and just took some pics outside.. We then proceeded to the Hanoi Military Museum and decided to see what was there.

It costs about 30,000 dong (about RM 5) to enter and about another 20,000 dong (about RM 3.5) to bring in a camera.. But when we entered the guy didnt really care about the camera fees so.. I took pics but was slightly worried about it.. haha.. I dont understand the language and all...

What to expect in the museums? Well as I recalled from my Ho Chi Minh trip, there will always always always be a lot of propaganda about the war and how they won and how badly they were treated and such. So... please expect a lot of it.

Me outside of Malaysian Embassador's residence which we saw along the way.

The citadel inside the compound of the Military Museum

After the museum stint, we decided to get some coffee before calling it quits and go back and rest. I couldnt resist having the chocalate brownies (they give you hot melted choc syrup to pour on top of it) and some of the coffee in vietnam.(You should always always always try the coffee in vietnam)

So basically thats it for the day... after we got back to the room, we went off to dreamland and slept.... later on we walked around the old quarter again and found some dinner and packed for Day 2! The Ha Lon Bay trip!

[29.1.2013] Istana Bamboo

2013-03-08T03:11:00.000+08:00

Mom invited me to join her and her friends for lunch the other day. It was supposed to be a buffet lunch at the Istana Bamboo (Translates to be Bamboo Palace) along MRR2 and for me that sounded just fine.

When we arrived, we arrived a bit earlier than everyone else.

The place looks nice with its bamboo huts and a small paddy pond placed nearby the huts...

so since we were going for a buffet lunch, I was thinking ok lets really enjoy the food... So when we arrived all that was prepared was the Asam Pedas, Veggie, Rice and some ikan bakar. The lady said that more will come later as it just started.. This was weird to me as it was 1215 already and i thought ok.. Malaysian timing, mayb it will come later... Also available was ABC which is air batu campur and also some drinks and kuih..

I piled on my rice with the asam pedas and took the ikan bakar... and then thats it..

It turns out that the food wasnt really that replenished and then there was no additional food... What the lady had promised was not there but fair enough for RM9.90 who else would allow you to eat that much right?

But about half an hour later my mom's friends arrived all 9 of them and seriously food was scarce.. and the remaining food was soo little.. It ticks me off to be lied to by some restauranters and seriously how hard is it to be honest about what you are offerring.

The asam pedas was good but seriously, I dont recommend for people to come here for lunch.. or at all for that matter. I have been here for dinner with friends and the service was LOUSY.. The food is ok.. but the service was bad.. I had finised eating and they didnt think to clear the plates.. and the thatched table is sticky and seriously apart from the ambiance and look of the place, there is nothing to be offered.

I TOTALLY DONT RECOMMEND THIS PLACE.

Istana Bambu,

Lot 841, Jalan Hulu Kelang,

Ampang.

Tel: 4251-4717

[2.3.2012] Baby Birthday

2013-03-03T14:52:00.001+08:00

Hey guys! Hows it happening.. I've been sick for the past few days and it wasnt the typical sickness but the painful one.. so sooryy that I havent been posting up stuff..

Anyhow attended a friend's daughter's birthday party.. The birthday girl herself turned 1 and the parents are old lawschool friends of mine.. The best part about attending these sort of events is that you get to catch up with the old school friends and then also.. since its made for kids... there's the dessert table!!! haha.. I ended up taking a few pics only as I was still feeling slight pain and a bit too engrossed with the food and company.

Just wanted to show some pics.. its soo colourful and nice not to share.. hahaha..

Mmmm donuts

Chocalate Elephant and Ladybugs

The birthday girl and the uncle

Decorations!

Some Char Kuey Teow action going on too!

[27.1.2013] Secret Recipe : Beyond Veggie

2013-03-01T12:05:00.000+08:00

Went to this restaurant the other day to meet up with madamme and go for a movie. Before that though, I had an earlier meeting so we just sat down for some dessert..

We've been eyeing this restaurant in Tropicana City Mall thats actually Secret Recipee but a vegetarian version of it...

It has a good selection for a vegetarian. But since we were full, we ordered the Bruschetta and the Pistachio Cake.

When we got the bruschetta, it tasted soo good. The cheese was soft and tender, the bread was soft.. it is the perfect snack with some special herbs... hehe

The Bruschetta

And then we had the cake... This cake wasnt as lovely as the Cheesecakes thats under Secret Recipee but it was still light and soft and wonderful to eat... and I can recommend that.

Secret Recipe beyond Veggie

Tropicana City Mall

G-37 Ground Floor, No, 3, Jalan SS20/27,

47400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor,

Tel: 03 7722 1680

[28.2.2012] Hanoi Day 1 Pt 1

2013-02-26T11:32:00.003+08:00

Finally we made it to the Hanoi Blog... haha.. I've been meaning to get to it but i've been oh so busy..

Anyhow, I at least want to start it before officially its passed 1 year since my trip there...

So the story is that at the end of 2010, I went to Ho Chi Minh City.. all by myself and totally fell in love with the place despite the fact that

a) I was alone

b) It was a whole other language speaking country

c) Vietnamese traffic...

But despite all that I totally fell in love with vietnam and it became the catalyst for wanderlusting and travelling to countries where I could immerse myself.. So I came back and told my law school travel buddies Fadli and Sheba (we went to Phuket and Bali together) and then after my persistent selling to them and then after that we saw pics of Ha Lon Bay (one of the new 7 wonders of the world) .. I got a call from Sheba one day saying lets go to Hanoi!

So Hanoi it is... We booked for flights almost a year earlier and then by my sheer luck I had fixed a trial the day after the date I was supposed to come back from Hanoi... For months I had cold sweats thinking about having to go to court the day after I got back from holiday from another country... If its the last thing I do, I would like to say.. DO NOT EVER EVER EVER go on holiday before a court matter... hehe coz before court the few weeks before it is left making sure all documents are ready, submissions are ready, clients are in the country, clients know about a proceeding that they are supposed to attend and bosses are briefed and have made any necessary ammendments..bluergh...

Anyhow.. Despite all that, I survived that ordeal due to the fact that the other lawyer choked up and then there was all this drama in my life .. I wont go into anything else and lets just say I got to go to Hanoi with a clear conscience..

So off I wen to the airport at 3AM! Cause the flight out was at 650....For some reason we needed to rush there and off we went....

As I arrived at LCCT airport, I met up with Fadli and Sheba and made all the necessary preparations (activating all credit cards, atm cards for overseas usage ) and had a light breakfast at the Old Town White Coffee shop there and it kind of pissed me off as not all of our orders were delivered.. I think there was a drink and side order left...

Anyhow afterwards we got on the flight and took the 3 and half hour flight to Hanoi.... and came out in Hanoi Airport...

One thing I forgot to mention was that I was dumb... D. U. M. B... DUMB! I saw that Fadli and Sheba were wearing their jackets but I assumed that it was cause it was 3 am at the airport and they were cold... Then when we were all lining up at passport control after arriving in Vietnam, I realised hey everyone else was wearing jackets... I asked Fadli who went eh you dont know that they have mild cold weather here? ... hahaha I totally forgot that Vietnam South and Vietnam North is two different places at different times of the year and all I brought was shirts and jeans and shorts.. (I EVEN HAD SHORTS!)... I remembered as we were waiting for our bags at the carrousel, the ground crew kept on opening and closing the doors to let in big items like golf clubs which couldnt come in through the carroussel... and the gusts of wind kept on hitting me hard!Suddenly I was worried.. a sudden Oh Sh*t moment was for me there.. hehe but then as we went outside looking for the driver who was supposed to pick us up, I didnt feel that bad.. it wasnt that cold, just mildly so..Little did I know...

view from airport arrival/pick up

Afterwards, the driver from the hotel picked us up and took us to the hotel.. We checked into the Holiday Diamond Hotel and according to Sheba, this was the friendliest hotel as reported by Tripadvisor and true enough they were really helpful... (I have learned over the years from our numerous travels together that always trust Sheba's travel planning.. she will plan everything for you and all you have to do is just go with the flow... ) As we had arrived very early, they invited us to have breakfast... and lesson number one about vietnam is that it was a former french colony.. and being a former french colony, they have great pastry skills and the thing you should savour on is the BREAD.....

In Malaysia, you get those almost yard long breads which are hard as hell and not that tasty (unless eaten with a stew)... but in Vietnam, you get those types of bread but which are damn soft and pleasant to eat...

After enjoying the breads and eggs and jam (only things I dared to eat due to halal issue), we were led into our room..

One thing I love about Vietnamese hotels is that they are friendly, the rooms are always cozy and quite clean and then theres always a PC in the rooms.. This is actually to help foreigners who are used to social media and the interned as certain social media like Facebook were banned so some hotels have changed their IP address to allow people to use their facebook accounts and what nots...

I remembered when I was in Ho Chi Minh I couldnt access most of the things I wanted to access cause it was blocked but my hotel rooms were allowed access... It was only after my friend who is working there told me about it that I understood why... Anyhow.. this going around thing also caused soo much problems for my facebook, gmail and other accounts that they insisted I change my passwords and until now I have problems trying to log in cause I cant remember which password is which..

Afterwards, we went looking for our first necessary thing there... which was to book the cruise for the Ha Lon Bay tours...

Sheba had done the research and found out some reputable names for cruises and also some of the scams that were run by the people there...

Some of the scams come in the form of nice glossy pictures of the Junks (the boats) and when they pick u up, its a total shi*t hole..

Anyhow we asked our Hotel reception for help and they gave us the three different cruises that they recommended and we set about haggling and negotiating and ended up with A-Class cruises..

After that was settled, all we had to do was to visit the town and wait for the bus the next day.. hehe...

That will be in part 2. Till then!

[23.2.2012] Raju's and Breakfast with the Chambies

2013-02-25T22:15:00.002+08:00

I had breakfast with the old crew on Saturday.. The old crew I am referring to is the chambies from the firm I did my pupillage in.

Anyhow its been awhile since we had met each other and things have.... changed... for me that is.. Anyhow, since some of us wanted to go jogging before we went, it became a breakfast meeting and I was a bit late as I got lost and ended up in Kanna Curry House instead of Raju's.

Raju's is well known for its Roti Canai ( A local delicacy here which is made from dough and fried on a pan) and being me, I couldnt resist any good roti canai.. So off I went and had a great time catching up with everyone.

What do I think of the place? Well to be frank its ok.. the roti canai wasnt crispy (my favourite kind) and parking was horrible...and add to that the MPSJ were there in full force ready to tow away any illegally parked cars though I dont blame them..

The place was ok as we sat under trees and I had my roticanai with teh tarik (as it should be ordered in any mamak stall) and it was really cool.. :)

The roti canai is a bit expensive though.. RM 1.50 for one piece of roti canai.. Yikes... Times have changed... Boon Seong was telling me.. this is the only place where you can add everything up for roti canai and end up having a bill of RM70 bucks! haha..

Check out the pics!

Roti Canai Served on real banana leaves

My style of roti canai... all banjir (flooded) with gravy and some coconut sauce..

Raju Restaurant

27, Jalan Chantek 5/13

Off Jalan Gasing

Petaling Jaya

[20.2.2013] Die Hard, A Good Day To Die Hard and IMAX Cinema's

2013-02-24T21:57:00.001+08:00

Went out the other day to do some work and then headed off to see the new die hard movie... I've always been a fan of Bruce Willis's Die Hard movies ever since I saw the Die Hard With A Vengence with Samuel L. Jackson... Here's the trailer for that movie.

Basically in all the Die Hard Movies, Bruce Wills plays John McClain a cop who just happens to be at the wrong place at the wrong time and ends up saving everyone and being really really really bloody at the end.

Also, since I also saw that the TGV had opened up with a new IMAX Cinema in One Utama, I decided to go there and try it out....Here's the trailer of the new movie and just some pics of the cinema.

So after booking tickets online, we went and watched the movie...

What I think of the movie? Well its a typical die hard movie... Lots of guns blazing and destruction and Bruce Willis's puns... hehe This time the movie has another McClain in the form of his son John McClain Jr. His son is a CIA officer with a mission in Russia and he was tasked to complete his mission using some non-traditional means which resulted in John McClain Sr. going there to check up on him... turns out that again hes at the wrong place at the wrong time....

Would I recommend the movie? Sure why not? Its great... just dont come with too much of an expectation for realism... but then its quite ok ... no ridiculus taking down a helicopter with a car in this one... I think Bruce Willis is getting old.. he fits this role quite fine but he's gotta get moving on...

I liked the cinema though... As it was during the day, mostly everyone was at work and we almost had the cinema to ourselves... The screeen was HUGEEE and clear and crisp but the sound was too loud especially for an action movie...But seriously I believe that IMAX is the way to go to watch a movie... Totally recommended...

Till then!

[24.2.2012] New Layout

2013-02-24T20:54:00.001+08:00

Hellow everybody! How are things... If you are checking things from the PC you may realise that I have made some changes to the blog layout. Hope its not too drastic of a change and hope all of you like it.

Anyhow I was tinkering with it almost the entire day and I think it looks more or less how I want it to look like. So do let me know if you think that there are some changes which need to be made. Till then! :D

Tickling My Tastebuds

2013-02-23T18:57:00.000+08:00

Hey guys! I am a big foodie.. I love food and I am big.. so lets just say I have all the qualifications to call myself a BIG FOODIE... Anyhow I want to share something i'm craving at the moment.. Lets just say I've been having quite a lot of this the past few days and i'll do a proper write up soon.. but here's a pic of it..

I present to you a man's dish.. Its banana leaf rice... Its purely a no nonsense food.. its a banana leaf topped with rice and the famous fried bitter gourd and two other vegetable side dishes all covered with dhal gravy. This is a savoury and satisfying dish and with every bite makes you anticipate the next one..and the best part is that its purely vegetarian and can be shared with even the vegetable lovers out there. Now looking at the pic above makes me look at my watch and wonder if I have time to run out for a quick bite.. haha. Looks like I do.. Till then!

[19.2.2013] How are things?

2013-02-19T14:04:00.003+08:00

Hellow peeps..

How was your CNY holidays? For some reason i'm still in holiday mood.. haha.. Anyhow been busy with things and gaming... LOTS AND LOTS of gaming.. Been on Modern Warfare 3 (i know there's blackops 2 now) but most of the buds are on MW3 so have to play there..

I've been trying to get the business off the ground but the mind and will power to push me isnt there and theres too many changes in life now and worries about things thats making me feel demotivated. So I might be a lawyer again.. who knows. Will have to start dusting out those CV's again. and then may be I can go on that dive holiday... :)

I'm thinking of creating some sort of story book.. Ideas keep popping into my head.. But I dont know.. May be some sort of epistolary version of the books... who knows.

As for now I will try to give you guys the blog on Hanoi! I dont really remember much from those holidays but i'll do my best to get you guys the scoop on it.

Here's a sneak peak of some of the pics you will see from my Hanoi trip!

[9.10.2013] Happy Chinese New Year

2013-02-09T02:04:00.000+08:00

Happy CNY to everyone and especially to that someone!

I dont know that much about CNY but its a big deal here. Its very festive everywhere you go in Malaysia around this time, anyhow... I want to share some of the decorations that i've managed to catch at the malls in Malaysia.

KLCC

Cheras Leisure Mall

Sunway Pyramid Mall

This is the best amongst the malls... Very extravagant!

the ice skating rink

I love shots like this

Bangsar Village II

This one is the worst.. as if no effort was really made..

anddd.. thats it..

hehe.. Gong Xi Fa Cai everyone!

[28.10.2012] Kuala Lumpur Bird Park

2013-02-08T01:02:00.000+08:00

Ok.. ok.. finally I have gotten to writing about this.. I apologise for making everyone wait for this for soo long and I really really really want to write and share about this trip..

Why? Cause I didnt expect much from it. I dont know about you guys.. but I dont expect much from Malaysian tourist destinations, they always seem to please the tourists but never seem to please me.. BUT THIS TIME I WAS WRONG...

THIS PLACE IS AWESOME!hahaha when you enter here and see the birds, you get a sense that yes the birds are happy...

Anyhow Larina gave the invite and on a nice sunny saturday morning, we went!

This is the view at the entrance to the bird park

When you enter you will enter into a huge bird cage which allows for lots of the birds to roam free.. check out some of the pics of the birds that I managed to get.. and I admit now that I have no ideas what the names of the birds are.. haha.. mainly cause its flying everywhere..

Doesnt this bird look happy?

Such a majestic bird

Showoff

and for some reason there were lots of these birds which look soo clean and white!

I love this bird!

together with that there were a lot of fowls walking around and peacocks!

and not to forget this bird too...

ahaha and inside the bird park there are lots of shows, so be early and try to catch them.. Its quite fun.. Here's the schedules.

I had taken some videos of the shows but as we arrived late i didnt manage to get most of it on video and I forgot to delete the other pics on the camera.. So I had to delete manually.. ended up just me staring at my camera throughout most of the show.

Then they had some birds which were kept in enclosures.. Sorry couldnt take good pics..

and inside the park itself there are lots and lots of ponds and water features.. Lots of birds graze around there and thats where some of the pretty pics came out too!

the whole group

as we were walking around, we found this building which houses the birds which you can feed.. this is truly an up close and personal experience but truly, the birds are soo many and cute!

this is how close we got to them

happy birds feeding.. mind my tummy

arent they cute.. anyhow.. the main highlight at the bird park are the peacocks.. THEY ARE EVERYWHERE.... at first i got pretty disappointed as they didnt spread their feathers.. but before we left most of them were strutting their stuff trying to one up each other..

hehehe and here's a video i managed to get of one where it spreads and closes it...

Anyhow.. thats part of the pics I took of the birds in the birdpark.. I do recommend for everyone to go... its really really really worth it and I do recommend a cap to protect from the heat, water for you to drink as it gets pretty warm inside and also some antiseptic wipes if you want to get upclose and personal with them...

Till then! :)