Sassy Urbanite's Diary

Food For Thought 180 - Betty's Midwest Kitchen

2012-05-21T07:50:00.001-07:00

Earlier this month, my lil girl friend pulled me out for dinner near our place in Aman Suria. She is one of the most Americanized girl I know and since she had this sudden craving for American food, I was happy to go along with her to get some pork, potatoes and cheese. the queue was very long to wait for a table as the restaurant is pretty small, we wait for a good 20-25 minutes before we got a table for two but they have a system to take your food order first before you are seated so that your food will come swiftly after a table is available.

After we were seated after a long long wait, our food was served shortly after with my friend's favourite, the Dog Food which is fries drenched in country gravy, topped with cheese and oven cooked and my cheesy home made mash potato came first. My grilled pork belly was huge in portion and I couldn't finish it after all the cheesy fries and mash potato. I hate to waste food but the portion was just too much for one person and I should have heed the owner's warning of the fattiness that comes with the pork belly. Albeit the tenderness and juiciness of the grilled pork belly, I gave up more than half of it in the end. The lemonade was sour and refreshing, definitely one of the better ones that I'd tried in a long while, but my friend's sausage platter turned out to be a little bland and I wouldn't want to pay RM20+ for that. The winner of the night was indeed my friend's recommendation, the Dog Food which easily get one hooks to it. I will revisit this restaurant for their pork burger next time, as well as to get my craving fixed for the DOG FOOD! Yummy...

Things that I like: Good value for food; Good taste of food; Organized queue for tables

Things that I don't like: Long queue waiting for table; Service was alright but I always have the feeling that they are hoping you to finish quickly and leave quickly (just a feeling)

Address: A-G-40, Jalan PJU 1/43, Aman Suria, Damansara, Petaling Jaya.
Tel: +603-7880 0196
Operating hours: Closed Mondays; Tuesday - Sunday 11:30 am - 3:00 pm, 5:30 pm - 10:00 pm
Official Website: http://midwestkitchen.com.my
Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/midwestkitchen

Restaurant full of people

Lemonade for RM2.50+

Home Made Mash Potato for RM5+

Dog Food for RM9+

Grilled Pork Belly for RM27.50+

Sausage Platter with Bratwurst Sausage and Cheese Sausage for RM10+ each

Stila is back! - Thanks to Sephora @ Malaysia

2012-05-20T10:35:00.001-07:00

I've always been a make-up junkie with tons of make up items that I could never finish. Over the years as I grew wiser (and older) I'd learn a trick or two to put up a pretty face with the help of make-up items and tools. When Sephora first opened its store in Starhill last year's May, I was quite excited to see some of the brands that have been long absent in Malaysia like Urban Decay and Smashbox (but NARS is still missing!).

Last weekend when I popped by the Starhill's store, I was delighted to see one of my old favourite brands, Stila is back in Malaysia through Sephora. I still remember I was sad when Stila decided to pull out of Parkson Malaysia in 2009 and disappeared entirely from our shores for years. Thanks to Sephora Malaysia, Stila is back with my favourite Lip Glaze and Smudge Pot! Also I'm eyeing the Urban Decay's Naked 2 Palette, which I hope to get my hands on it soon... although I already have lots and lots of eyeshadow colours... But a girl is a girl and make-up will never be enough for a girl! Right?

Sephora Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/SephoraMalaysia

Outlets : 1) Sephora Starhill, Starhill Gallery, 181, Jalan Bukit Bintang, 55100 Kuala Lumpur
2) Sephora Suria KLCC, C22, Concourse Floor, Suria KLCC, Kuala Lumpur City Centre

50088 Kuala Lumpur
Opening Hours: 10am - 10pm

Stila Official Website: http://www.stilacosmetics.com/

Urban Decay Official Website: http://www.urbandecay.com/

Stila - Long missing from Malaysia since 2009

Urban Decay - Exclusive at Sephora

Shopping Cart 130 - Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion

2012-05-19T11:57:00.001-07:00

I have to admit I'd been lazy to upload my shopping items to the blog because it takes a little bit more time to organize/take the pictures, and sometimes when I just bought something I'd use it immediately.

But this item that I bought recently from Sephora is one of the best items that I bought for a long time. The Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion (11ml for RM75) is the solution to non crease eyeshadow even after a whole day long wearing of makeup. This product works like a miracle on me and it is easy to apply. With just a sweep of this miracle potion before your favorite shadow will ensure your colour lasts all day without creasing. In my case I could easily pulled off my eyeshadow colour without creasing for 8 hours!
This is the No.1 best selling item of Urban Decay and it is now available exclusively at Sephora. I hope Sephora will open a new outlet at 1 Utama soon instead of just available at Bukit Bintang and KLCC so that I can have frequent access to Sephora.

Urban Decay Official Website: http://www.urbandecay.com/

Texture on my hand

Before and After effect after 8 hours of wearing eyeshadow

Food For Thought 179 - S.Wine Cafe @ Publika

2012-05-18T10:04:00.001-07:00

Part of the BIG Group, S.Wine Cafe is the 'porky' extension of BIG's family of restaurants. The girls and I popped by the restaurant located right inside Ben's Independent Grocer earlier this week for a late dinner as the ramen restaurant that we wanted to go was closed for renovation touch up. The restaurant was packed at 8pm and we had to settle for smoking area table as the non smoking tables were all taken. We ordered a bottle of Chilean white wine for RM70++ and started drinking and dining the night away. The restaurant was a little under staffed I think or maybe it was our table too far off at the corner that we need to wave our hands to get our water refilled and we had to refill our own wine glasses. However, their kitchen was pretty quick on serving our food when our food came swiftly after we placed our orders. The food was good nonetheless, that was according to my girl friends. My Spicy Bacon and Mushroom Pasta was filled with pork bacon and olive oil, and it tasted good although it could do with lesser olive oil. Apart from the Pork Chili Fries which I thought it was overpriced, I still find the place is quite nice and worth revisiting given the quite extensive pork filled menu. The price was okay for most items but they do charge the extra 16% government and service tax which made them more pricier. In short, this small little corner inside a supermarket does offer a different dining experience with their 'swine' factor for those who loves the pork.... ^o^

Address: Ben's Independent Grocer, Publika, Solaris Dutamas, 50480 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: +603 62091716
Business Hour: Open daily til 10pm, starting 11am weekdays and 9am weekends

Cute Piggy Decor

Inside the cafe

Peach Parma Ham and Arugula Salad (RM22++)

Pork Confit Watermelon and Lychee Salad (RM24++)

Pork and Beef Meatballs Pasta (RM26++)

Spicy Bacon and Mushroom Pasta (RM26++)

Pork Chili Fries (RM24++)

Sloppy Piggy Burger (RM26++)

Siem Reap 108 - Phnom Bakheng

2012-05-17T08:27:00.001-07:00

The first temple-mountain constructed in Angkor is extremely popular and crowded for sunsets in this ancient city. We took about half an hour for the hike to the top and the final climb to the top of the temple is quite steep. There was elephant rides available but we didn't bother to check the price.

When we were finally up there at 4 something in the afternoon, crowd was building up for the sunset. However the sun does not set over Angkor if seen from here, only over the jungle far away. The day that we went the sky was quite cloudy so we didn't wait for the sunset and took off early. Our tour guide told us that people are not allowed to climb Phnom Bakheng after 1730, hence make sure you arrive earlier if you ever want to check out this place.

The temple was just alright for me and I didn't really enjoy the long walk up and down the hill on the red sand pathway. Maybe also I didn't enjoy it because I didn't get a nice sunset picture there...

For more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phnom_Bakheng

Over cloudy day without good sunset

Angkor Wat from afar

People waiting for sunset

Temple Structure in HDR

Phnom Bakheng Temple

Steep stairs down

Siem Reap 107 - Victory Gate

2012-05-17T07:53:00.001-07:00

The Victory Gate is one of the 5 entrance gates in Angkor Thom, that leads the Victory Way all the way to the Elephant Terrace. On the two sides of the Victory Gate entrance, there are statues representing the Hindu story of the churning of the milky ocean, which the god is pulling on the serpent's head and tail. We used the gate mainly to exit or cut through Angkor Thom to get to our next destination. I thought the gate would look glorious back in the old days...

Siem Reap 106 - Angkor Thom's Bayon Temple

2012-05-14T08:09:00.000-07:00

After Ta Prohm, we went to this magnificent temple inside Angkor Thom, the Bayon Temple. Built in the late12th century by King Jayavarman VII, Bayon is one of the most widely recognised temples in Cambodia because of the giant stone faces that adorn the towers of Bayon. According to Wikitravel, there are 54 towers of four faces each, totaling 216 faces. There is still a debate as to who is being depicted in the faces. It could be Avalokiteshvara, Mahayana Buddhism's compassionate Bodhisattva, or perhaps a combination of King Jayavarman VII and Buddha, which is still remain in debates.

I personally likde this temple a lot due to the unique face craving all over the temple. It was very different from the other temple and in terms of its craftsmanship, also it was pretty well maintained, although it was not as big as the Angkor Wat temple. The temple was quite flat and not too hard to walk around.

For some reasons some of my pictures are a little over exposed under the bright sun light, partly because I was still new with my Sony NEX 5N then. Still I hope the pictures below did showcase some of the best side of the Bayon temple.

For more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayon

Petronas Twin Towers a.k.a. KLCC Twin Towers

2012-05-07T09:16:00.003-07:00

One weekend in this March, I was hanging out alone at the KLCC area while waiting for my parents and brother to finish with the convocation stuff nearby. I never really got the chance to bring my lovely Sony NEX 5N camera out to shoot some iconic KL structures until that day. It was a perfect blue sky (I wish for big white clouds though) and the Petronas Twin Towers a.k.a. KLCC Twin Towers looked still as stunning as ever before even after so many year since 1998. Well maybe one day I will come back to shoot again when there is deep blue sky and big white clouds....

For more information about the towers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petronas_Towers

The Mighty Twin Towers!

Skyline of KL from KLCC Park

Inside the Shopping Complex

Add caption

Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Race Car (It was a Grand Prix weekend)

Mercedes SLS AMG Roadster Super Car Worth RM1.8m

Food For Thought 178 - Mandi Mandi @ Tamarind Springs Ampang

2012-05-07T08:14:00.001-07:00

Tamarind Springs offer a different dining experience in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, where you can actually find great food right in the middle of a jungle. Thanks to my company, I had the chance to fine dine at this restaurant back in March this year. We booked the entire section to ourselves, with free flow of champagne throughout the night. Best of all, I got myself a bottle of Moet & Chandon Champagne and another bottle of Dom Pérignon Champagne, thanks to my clients which allow the bank to earn enough to award me with the Champagnes!

Well Champagne bubbles aside, the food served for the night were really good (well except for the dessert which I found the taste was too weird to my liking). Everything was spicy which i absolutely loved, especially the super spicy papaya salad and the river lobster with Petai & Santan (coconut milk) cream. Portion wise they were all really small serving but hey it was meant to be a fine dining experience and I had enough bubbly to keep me happy, so I had a really good night! (still dislike the dessert though)...

In short, food was great, but the non air conditioned ambiance with occasional mosquitoes invasion might be a turn off for some. For those who seek adventures in a jungle and don't mind to splurge, this is THE PLACE in Kuala Lumpur to do so.

Address: Jalan 1, Taman TAR Ampang, Kuala Lumpur
Tel: +603 4251 7200
Official Website: http://samadhiretreats.com/index.html

A long walk down to the restaurant (this was taken half way down upwards to the entrance)

Left to Mandi Mandi - Thai Grill and Malay Cuisine
Right to Tamarind Springs - Fine Indochinese Cuisine

Tamarind Springs

Mandi Mandi

Table all set for fine dining dinner

Buddha Statue at Mandi Mandi

Our menu of the night

Crispy Crab Sticks, Chili Basil Mussels and Spicy Papaya Salad

Red Tom Yam Mixed Seafood Soup

Lobster with Petai and Santan Cream, Chicken Pandan Leaf Parcels, Garlic Sauteed Asparagus and Steamed Jasmine Rice

My prices of the night - Moet & Chandon Champagne and Dom Pérignon Champagne

Siem Reap 105 - Ta Prohm Temple

2012-05-06T07:08:00.000-07:00

Ta Prohm temple famous for its scenic surrounding with trees growing out from the ruins and also being a part of the Angelina Jolie's Tomb Raider movie. This is definitely one of my favourite temples alongside Angkor Wat and Bayon Temple. The huge Tetrameles nudiflora trees growing all over the temples are simply magnificent and amazing to see how nature and man made structures survive along with each other.

Built in the late 12th and early 13th centuries, this temple is one unique temple, which is much left with its original state until today, although on-going restoration work continues at site when we were there. It was not a big temple but I really enjoyed the slow walk through the temple with my camera in hand taking lots of beautiful pictures. Also thanks to the many trees in and around the temple, we were shielded from the hot sun for once. Unfortunately we didn't get so lucky with the other temples...

For more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ta_Prohm

I have a thing over these trees - Tetrameles nudiflora

Tuk Tuks outside the temple waiting for their passengers

Siem Reap 104 - Sampho's Khmer Kitchen

2012-05-02T06:15:00.001-07:00

Right in front of Srah Srang lake near Angkor Wat Temple, there is a row full of restaurants and we stopped by the family run restaurant by our tour guide, Sampho's Khmer Kitchen. A quiet small little restaurant that serves the local food, i.e. Khmer food. Since there were only two of us, we only ordered the Amok fish and a chicken dish. The Amok fish is something different that we don't usually get to try in Malaysia. According to Wikipedia, "Amok" refers to the process of steam cooking a curry in banana leaves with thick coconut gravy and galangal. Amok is a major national culinary tradition in Cambodia, which we were quickly fell in love with. The chicken was a bit bland to my taste, but the Amok fish did steal the show for that lunch. Price from USD5 onwards per dish.

The Restaurant

Amok Fish

Lemongrass Chicken with Lime

Food For Thought 177 - The Red Beanbag

2012-05-01T08:59:00.000-07:00

The girls and I went for brunch last month at The Red Beanbag at Solaris Dutamas (the quirky mall that is still very confusing to many but has became my new favourite hangout spot). This Australian inspired cafe/restaurant is one of the most hype about brunch place in KL lately so we decided to give it a try. It was a busy Saturday afternoon at 1pm as the restaurant was filled with hungry people like us. All my friends got lost finding this place and took them a while to arrive but we were happy to see our food being served swiftly without much delay. I ordered the beef burger while the girls had trouty mouth (fresh pieces of smoked salmon on top of avocado), baked eggs (combination of eggs, lamb bratwurst, cheese, potatoes and sundried tomatoes, served in a baking dish), mushroom soup and Tiramisu to share as dessert. The beef burger was alright for me, the home made meat patty could be more flavourful but I loved the beef bacon and the fried egg that came together with it (always love a burger with egg yolk dripping out from it). The Ice Mocha Chocolate Ya Ya (what a cute name) was too much chocolate without much mocha taste to it. All their coffee are being brought over from Australia apparently but I'll never be a coffee lover so I couldn't tell the difference. I did find the Tiramisu quite yummy as I always like the firmer type instead of mushy type (some might not agree with me though).

Overall, the ambiance of the restaurant was definitely cozy and great for girls' brunch gossip session, service was good and attentive too. Food wise was pretty decent value for the price (for now there was no service tax nor government tax), so hopefully it will continue to improve from here on.

Address: Lot A4-1-8, Solaris Dutamas, Jalan Dutamas 1, 50480 Kuala Lumpur (The open courtyard end of Publika)

Tel: +603 6211 5116

Business Hour: 10am (weekdays)/9.30am (weekends) til 10pm (Tuesday - Sunday)/ Closed on Mondays

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/theredbeanbag

Inside the restaurant

Ice Mocha Chocolate Ya Ya for RM11

Latte for RM8

Mushroom Soup for RM15

Tiramisu for RM12.90

Baked Eggs for RM17.90

Beef Burger for RM22

Trouty Mouth for RM18

Siem Reap 103 -Angkor Wat Temple

2012-04-29T06:19:00.002-07:00

This UNESCO World Heritage site since 1992 is stretching over some 400 square kilometers. Famous temples in the Angkor Archaeological Park contains the magnificent remains of several capitals of the Khmer Empire of the 9th to the 15th centuries, including the largest pre-industrial city in the world. The most famous are the Temple of Angkor Wat and, at Angkor Thom, the Bayon Temple with its countless sculptural decorations.

Our first stop was Angkor Wat Temple which is the center piece of Cambodia. That was the only reason we took this trip and we were really excited to be there. We bought ourselves a 3 day ticket for USD40 per person so that we could space out the different temples visit over 3 days. The ticket covered about 90% of the Angkor Archaeological Park except for some further temples which you need to pay extra to get in.
Slowly walking to the entrance of the Angkor Wat Temple, I was amazed by this huge man made landscape surrounded by moat even before approaching the main temple area. It was a really hot sunny late morning when we reached the temple and the crowd was still alright, probably because it was a weekday. With our tour guide tried explaining to us the various part of the temples which I didn't pay much attention to as I was too busy taking pictures with my relatively new camera.
Angkor Wat temple is a very beautiful temple with lots of crafting on its wall, mainly made out of its Hindu roots. As we walked closer to the main temples (the one that appear in every promotional material of Cambodia and also its national flag), the crowd had built up and it took us a while to queue to go up to the Central Tower of Angkor Wat. It was one terrifying climb to the Central Tower and the wooden staircase was way too steep. God bless those who unfortunately slip on this climb as it was really one dangerous climb to go up to the temple. It was quite a small square area up there where we had a good view of the tall Central Tower and the back view of the temple, but that was about it. Soon after we made our way down safely, we swiftly walked to back of the temple and made our way to the next destination.
Overall, Angkor Wat is a beautiful temple and definitely one of its kind in this world. But the huge amount of labour and money that went into the construction and upkeep of the temples might be one of the reasons that led to the downfall of the Angkor dynasty.

For more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor_Wat
http://wikitravel.org/en/Angkor_Wat

Angkor Wat from afar

Entrance leading to Angkor Wat Temple

Inside the temple

Hindu Statue in the temple

Crafting of Apsara goddess

Uncle resting in the temple

Wall of Craftinng

I love this picture

The Central Courtyard

More side temples

Upper level of the temple

Central Temple

Central Tower of Angkor Wat

The main Angkor Wat Temple

Staircase leading up to the main tower

Central Tower

Me in the middle of Angkor Wat

View of the back of the temple

Buddha Statue

People climbing up to the main temple

Angkor Wat Temple - View from the back

Siem Reap 102 - Lili Restaurant

2012-04-28T05:58:00.004-07:00

Before we entered the Angkor Wat Temple after checking into our hotel, we stopped by this little restaurant across the Prince D'Angkor Hotel to get a quick breakfast. This local Khmer restaurant is mostly filled with locals, with quite some selections of local food on the menu. The price is cheap ranging from USD0.50 to USD2.00. We got our stomachs filled with a bowl of hot yellow noodle soup with meatballs for only USD1.25 and some local snacks. All turned out quite delicious and that was our first taste of local food. Definitely good taste and good value for your USD. ;-)

Address: 67 Sivatha Road, Siem Reap, Cambodia (Across Prince D'Angkor Hotel)

Fried Dough

Local Snack

Local Snacks

Yellow Noodle Soup with Meatballs for USD1.25

Yellow Noodle Soup with Meatballs

Siem Reap 101 - Cheathata Angkor Hotel

2012-04-22T08:01:00.002-07:00

Last December, I took an impromptu trip to Siem Reap with a friend, since both of us had not been there before. With about 2 hours flight from KL, we landed safely in Siem Reap International Airport on a sunny Wednesday morning. There was not so many people at the airport so we got ourselves cleared by the immigration counter quickly. Our tour guide had already waited for us outside the airport and took us straight to the hotel that we booked on Agoda. For USD209.25 (about MYR645), we got ourselves a huge room with 2 queen beds for 3 nights stay. Quite newly opened in late 2010, this hotel is strategically located in the city center, a short 5 minutes walking distance to the Pub Street and the Angkor Night Market. The room was good and clean, and comes with free WIFI (a must for tech geek like me!). The bathroom could be bigger but it was still alright for me. Some might also complain about the tiny swimming pool which is more like a jacuzzi pool than swimming pool. But most importantly the service had exceeded our expectation for a 3.5 star hotel, where we were promptly greeted with a welcoming drink, fresh fruits were made available everyday in our room and also breakfast being packed for our day two 4am trip to the Angkor Wat Temple.

In short, we were quite satisfied with our stay at Cheathata Angkor Hotel and would definitely recommend it to people who are visiting Siem Reap.

Official website: http://www.ctaangkorhotel.com/
Address: Soksan Road, Steung Thmey Village, Svaydangkum Coomune, Siem Reao, Cambodia.
Tel: +855 63966565

Blue Sky White Clouds View From Airplane

At Siem Reap International Airport waiting for luggage

Siem Reap International Airport

Siem Reap Cheathata Angkor Hotel

Cozy queen sized beds

Bathroom

Shower and Bathtub

Inside the hotel room

Inside the room

Tiny Swimming Pool

Siem Reap Cheathata Angkor Hotel at night

Food For Thought 176 - Hokkaido Santouka Ramen

2012-04-09T08:34:00.000-07:00

This Ramen restaurant located at Tokyo Street of KL Pavilion is definitely the best restaurant in Tokyo Street. Started out in Hokkaido in 1988 and then expanded to other parts of Japan, USA, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, and finally now, Malaysia. My girlfriend and I decided to pamper our stomach with hot ramen on a rainy Friday afternoon. We were lucky to get ourselves a table upon walking into the restaurant, and the food came quickly soon after we ordered. The menu selection is not as wide but I believe a good restaurant doesn't need to be have lots of food but instead be good at the few that they serve. So when our Kara Miso Ramen came out smoking hot and spicy, we were overjoyed. It's been a long time since I had ramen with pork. The pork were tender and juicy, blended well with hot spicy miso soup. I finished everything in the bowl cause it was so good! We also ordered 2 side dishes, the famous Toroniku (Simmered Pork Cheeks) and Chicken Gyoza (I was hoping for a pork version). The Toroniku has been the hot selling dish in the restaurant with limited supply everyday. Some said it always sold out before end day. Although I found the taste is a little salty, but still they were really tender and tasty for meat lover like myself, so I think I'll still come back for it. Well now that I'm typing this blog is making me really hungry and miss the taste of the ramen. I should really get back there soon...

Address: Tokyo Street, Lot 6.24.03, Level 6, Pavilion KL, 168 Jalan Bukit Bintang, 55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Tel: +603 2143 8878

Official website: http://www.santouka.co.jp/en/

Chicken Gyoza for RM10++

Toroniku (Simmered Pork Cheeks) for RM15++

Kara Miso Ramen (Spicy Miso Ramen) Regular size for RM27++

Food For Thought 175 - Kindori Japanese Ice Cream

2012-04-08T08:37:00.001-07:00

"100% fresh milk and 100% fresh fruit! Every scoop of Kindori Ice Cream is made of fully natural ingredients, with zero preservatives, no colouring and not a single drop of water!" That's was what the shop proclaimed too served so I decided to give it a try after my cravings for ice cream kicked in after lunch in KL Pavilion. I ordered the Macha (green tea) ice cream for RM9.90. The ice cream turned out to be surprisingly good! The good blend of milk and green tea (with no water) made it absolutely creamy and smooth, and of course addictive. The serving is okay, not too small nor too big, quite good value for money for the price with the crunchy cone.

The Malaysian franchise has been around for 3 years (sorry I just came back to the country last year so I was a little outdated), but according to their website it has been around in Japan for some 10-15 years ago.

They have all the other fruit flavours but I'm not particularly big on fruity flavoured ice creams. I might just stick to the original vanila, chocolate or macha all the time. Overall, I'd love to have it again!

Official website: http://www.kindori.com.my/home.html
Outlet available at Tokyo Street, KL Pavilion; Jusco 1 Utama; Sunway Pyramid.

Food For Thought 174 - Lot 10 Hutong Heritage Food Village (十号胡同)

2012-04-01T09:20:00.002-07:00

Lot 10 Hutong is the best food court in Kuala Lumpur where you can get the most best hawker food all under one roof. From Imbi Road Original Pork Noodles (燕美路正庄豬肉粉) to Soong Kee Beef Noodle (颂记牛肉面), to Kim Lian Kee Hokkien Mee (金莲记) and to many more, one will always be spoiled with choices here. My favourites are the 3 stalls named above. The Imbi Road Original Pork Noodles, which I like the minced pork that has a smoky caramel flavour going along perfectly with their bowl of smooth and springy noodle. The Soong Kee Beef Noodle is another of my favourite with its Hakka styled dry noodle topped with minced beef and served with bouncy beef balls at side. As for Kim Lian Kee Hokkien Mee which is the pride of Malaysian hawker food, it is a family business that has been passed down through four generations. The queue is usually long but during odd hours we usually have no problem getting our favourite Hokkien noodle fast. They still cooked it using the coal fire instead of gas fire, hence the noodle has a very nice smoky taste intensified by its pork lards over the noodles.

Well there are over 25 food stalls available in this food court but until today I haven't even tried half of them. Maybe I should not always order the same food every time I come here. ^o^

Address: Lot 10 Hutong, LG Floor, Lot 10 Shopping Centre, 50 Jalan Sultan Ismail, 50250 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Tel: +60 (3) 27823591
Business Hours: Monday - Sunday 10.00am – 10:00pm
Official Website: www.lot10hutong.com

Lot 10 Hutong Heritage Food Village

Inside the food court

Imbi Road Original Pork Noodles Since 1943

Imbi Road Original Pork Noodles Since 1943 - Pork Meat Balls

Imbi Road Original Pork Noodles Since 1943 - Yummy Noodle (RM7.90++)

Soong Kee Beef Noodles Since 1945 (RM 6.50++ for small; RM7.50++ for large)

You Tiao

Kim Lian Kee Hokkien Mee Since 1927

Kim Lian Kee Hokkien Mee Since 1927(RM8.90++)

Mr. Siew Bao

Table Full of Yummy Food

Sunway Resort Hotel & Spa

2012-03-31T10:40:00.001-07:00

Last September we had our company's annual dinner & dance at Sunway Resort Hotel & Spa. I got 2 nights stay at the resort so i pretty much used it to the fullest (except for the swimming pool). The hotel room was alright and spacious, comfortable enough but design was a little dated to my taste, with a tiny 32 inch LCD TV. Breakfast at Fuzion was actually quite good but maybe because it was newly revamped.

The grand ballroom is one of the biggest in town, and our party was great. Everyone (almost) were dressed in Cabaret themed outfits and partied the night away. It was so much fun. Hopefully we could do it again this year under the company's expense... ^o^

Official website: http://kualalumpur.sunwayhotels.com/

Outdoor Swimming Pool

Inside the hotel room

Bathroom

The Grand Ball Room

Making an entrance at the cabaret themed night

Looking pretty

Bali 115 - Legian Beach Sunset

2012-03-25T04:53:00.001-07:00

Legian Beach is just a stone throw away from our hotel so the last evening when we were in Bali, we took some time to enjoy the Bali beach. Legian beach is much more less crowded than the Kuta beach where the surfers are all flocking around, this beach is more for those who just want to chill and lay around the beach doing little thing or nothing at all. We took a kite my friend bought at Tanah Lot the day before and went playing with it around the beach. The sky was clear and we had a clear view of the beautiful sun set upon the Indian Ocean which was extremely beautiful. I wish I'd have a better camera then to capture of beautiful sunset...

Less crowded with sun bathing chairs and umbrellas

Beautiful Ship Shaped Kite...

Kite fllying

But that's about the max the kite could go....

Sunset

Beautiful sunset of Bali

Bali 114 - Tanah Lot

2012-03-25T04:45:00.000-07:00

Located in Tabanan, about 20 km from Denpasar, Tanah Lot is famous for its sunset and its temple by the sea, and we went there hoping to see the beautiful sunset. It was a nice walk to the beach with lots of shops and stalls selling lots of Indonesian and Balinese made items from paintings, clothes, accessories and many more along the walkway to the beach. We took a bit more time to get to beach distracted by the good stuff selling at the market. When we reached the beach, it was not all sandy white beach, instead it was all cover with moldy rocks and water. The temple sits on a large offshore rock which has been shaped continuously over the years by the ocean tide.We didn't manage to get into the temple, just took some pictures around the beach and temple. Unfortunately the weather was cloudy that day so we didn't get to see the sun set. My happiest moment at Tanah Lot was I picked up a piece of abstract painting at the market. (Details here at http://urbanite-diary.blogspot.com/2011/11/my-abstract-painting-from-bali.html).

Maybe one day I will come back to this beach and hopefully get to see the beautiful sunset...

Entering Tanah lot

Sun about to set

Huge waves

Beautiful rock and beach

Tanah Lot Temple

Aldo Clearance Sales @ Bargain Corner 1 Utama

2012-03-22T08:39:00.001-07:00

Last night I went over to 1 Utama's Bargain Corner after learning there's a Aldo clearance sales going on. Aldo has always been the first love for shoes as I can't seem to afford any Jimmy Choo, Christian Louboutin no matter how much I love super sky high stilettos. I was disappointed to see the limited stock on sales when I stepped into the room, and the designs on sales were not entirely my taste, i.e. short heels and flats. However the price were pretty cheap (RM88-RM99 plus additional 10% discount for One Card Member) for a pair of proper Aldo leather shoes. So I forced myself to buy one pair of shoes and after much browsing of the limited choices and few let downs with those out of sizes, I'd settled with the metallic gold gladiator stiletto for RM79.20 (RM88 less 10% discount) in my size 35! But I was sad seeing one of my heels which I bought at RM160 (50% discount then) was going at RM99 with my size available. :-( Well sometimes we get some good buys some times we don't, that's just life. So long there are discounts and shopping, life will still be filled with happiness... ^o^

My new Aldo gladiator heels~!

* Pictures taken with my iPhone 4S with HDR FX app for HDR effects and frames.

Bali 113 - Buyan & Tamblingan Lake

2012-03-19T07:46:00.000-07:00

Buyan and Tamblingan Lakes are two lakes in Bali located just a next right next to each other, separated by a small trail of rain forrest in between. They are located in the highland area with hill, rain forest and cool weather surrounds the lakes. Since the location in the highland area, the fog is usually covering the area, like my photos below.

Lake Tamblingan

Lake Buyan

Rain forest in the middle

Lake Buyan

Bali 112 - Bali Pura Ulun Danu Bratan

2012-03-19T07:15:00.000-07:00

Pura Ulun Danu Bratan is a famous water temple in Bali,Balinese water, lake and river goddess, Dewi Danu. Located on the shores of Lake Bratan in the mountains near Bedugul and 1200m above sea level, this temple has a long history since it was built in 1663. We had a long car ride up the mountain before we reach the lake, and it was quite cold and misty when we arrived at our destination. The temple structure is actually quite small, but the compound is huge with lots of trees and greens. I enjoyed walking around the temple just because the weather was cooling and the air was breezy, but the temple just didn't excite me much. Maybe I just went there on a not so good day...

For more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pura_Ulun_Danu_Bratan

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/indonesia/bali/sights/architecture/pura-ulun-danu

Food For Thought 173 - Putien (莆田) @ 1 Utama

2012-03-18T10:24:00.001-07:00

Putien restaurant (莆田) serves Heng Hwa (or Xing Hua) cuisine, a regional specialty that has its roots traced to Putian, a beautiful coastal town located in the Fujian province of China. Still pretty new to Malaysia, Putien's outlet in 1Utama opened its door on 5th January 2012. I took my family for dinner over the last weekend to celebrate my brother's graduation. We were there at 7pm but waited half an hour for a table. The dinner crowd for a Saturday night was extremely packed. However, service was still okay as they have dedicated waiter to serve each different section. We ordered quite a fair bit of dishes as I wanted to let my family try some good food that they don't usually get in Kuantan. Unfortunately some of the famous starters had sold out.

Still we enjoyed our dinner very much with all the dishes came out great. We loved the Fried Oyster Omelet for its crispness, the Salt & Pepper Pork Trotters for it's crisp skin and fatty but not overly greasy flesh, the Stir Fried Chili Lala Clams for its fresh yet spicy taste, the Deep-Fried Boneless Mandarin Fish for its delicious sweet and sour sauce, the Fried Heng Hwa Mee Hoon for its extra fine noodles, the Putien Lor Mee for its pot full of pork belly, prawn & clams all braised in creamy pork broth.

Overall, great food, service can be further improved, good value for money, definitely worth visiting again.

Address: G213A Ground Floor, Promenade, 1 Utama Shopping Centre (Old Wing), Bandar Utama, 47800 Petaling Jaya, Malaysia
Tel: 03-77221539
Official website: http://www.putien.com and http://www.facebook.com/putien.my

Putien @ 1Utama

Premium Tieguanyin Tea (铁观音茶) for RM7.90+ each

In House Home Made Chili

Braised Pork Intestines (九转小肠) for RM12.90+

XO Cold Jelly Fish (XO酱海蜇) for RM8.90+

Fried Oyster Omelet for RM16.90+

Salt & Pepper Pork Trotters (椒盐猪手) for RM7.90+ each

Stir Fried Chili Lala Clams for RM14.90+

Deep-Fried Boneless Mandarin Fish (松鼠桂鱼) for RM69.90+

Fried Heng Hwa Mee Hoon (兴化米粉) for RM15.90+

Putien Lor Mee (莆田卤面) for RM15.90+