Nutcow the traveller

Hadyai, Thailand 2012

2012-02-14T11:14:00.000+08:00

We left KL at 4.45am and arrived to Ipoh at 7am. We had breakfast at one of the coffee shop while waiting for the driver to pick us up. We arrange our private tour for 8 pax, pickup from Ipoh to Hadyai.
We reached Sadao, immigration border at 12pm and it was long queue. There is no queue system in the immigration, very messy. Finally after 1 hour, we got our passport stamp.

We had our lunch near Sadao before entering to Hadyai. We had aunthentic thai food.

We stopped by at Municipal Park Hadyai (View Point) where you can view entire Hadyai. It is not well-maintained. Overall is a nice place to visit. They even have cable car service. The park closed at 7pm. Therefore you can't see night view of Hadyai.

Our next stop is to visit Klong Hae Floating Market. It is a small floating market and most of the boat are stagnant. You just need to walk on the platform. They sell all types of thai food and snacks. Worth visiting to this place. Due to the hot weather, we drank coconut water and is only RM2 each. We also bought longan which is RM7 per kilogram, the longan is so fresh and sweet where you could hardly find this in KL.

We stayed at Centara Hotel previously known as Novotel. The room is very clean. The location is superb, below of the hotel is the well known departmental store - "Central". Outside of the hotel is all the hawkers store. Even the chinese medicine shop is just around the corner where you can purchase the famous "Seong Pure Oil" for only RM9 per bottle.

Foot reflexology only cost RM20 for an hour. Really cheap!

We had our dinner at Log Terrace. We had roast pork knuckles, tom yam, thai steam fish, deep fried donut stuff with fish and mix vegetables. The restaurant is located next to the riverside. Quite nice surrounding.

We had our international buffet breakfast at the hotel. The varieties are quite good. We depart to Patthalung which is one and half hour from Hadyai to visit Haad Thong Crystal Island via long tail boat.This is a fresh water lake and the depth is only 2m. In the month of july, you can actually walk across to the island.
We walk around the island and the five main attractions of the Crystal island are :-
1. crystal rock where you can see the shape of a dragon, tour guide said touch the crystal for good luck
2. reflexion of the cave from the lake
3. bodhi trees - the tree trunk which is in gold and silver color
4. foot print of the famous thai monk
5. 12 zodiac sign - throw a coin in the box and ring the bell for good luck

I do recommend you to visit Haad Thong Crystal Island .

After lunch at Patthalung, we depart to Hadyai. We went for massage and shopping at Central and Odean. Did not have the time to visit the big market.

We check out at 10am, Thai time and reach Sadao at 12pm. Luckily not long queue at the custom.

We arrange our private tour with :
Winson Cheah,

FEI YANG TRAVEL & TOURS SDN BHD
TROPICAL HOLIDAY VAN SERVICE
H/P: +6012-233 5301

Highly recommended tour agent. Agent is based at Sungai Petani and specialised in organising thailand tours. Their services is excellent.

Happy Valentine's Day

2012-02-14T11:12:00.000+08:00

Wishing everyone a Happy Valentine's Day!! Do cherish your love ones...

Get Pamper by your love ones today!!

Have a Majestic Dragon Year

2012-01-20T15:15:00.001+08:00

Famous Pan Fried Pao at Sungai Buloh, Selangor

2011-12-13T10:10:00.000+08:00

After watching Ho Chak from AXN channel, we went to look for this pan fried pao at Sungai Buloh.
The show states only RM0.70 cents each and when we arrived the cost per pao is RM0.80. Guess the Ho Chak series is quite old.

The pao store is infront of the Prayer Shop name Sin San Loong.

We started to queue for the pao. Got three types of pao either stuffed with peanut fillings or coconut fillings or red bean fillings. So we bought the peanut and coconut fillings. One thing good of the pao is that there is no oil , they do not use any oil to fried the pao. Therefore is very healthy. You must eat the pao when it is hot. They also sell turnip dumplings @ kao chi, the white color dumplings stuffed with turnips. The dumplings are very nice and each dumpling is selling at RM0.80 each.

Overall, the pan fried pao is ok but I still prefer the dumplings.

Address : No. 345A, Jalan Besar, Kampung Baru, Sungai Buloh, Selangor

Pan Fried Pao

Red bean stuffing

The store outside the Prayer shop known as Sin Sang Long

Fried Porridge(Bubur Goreng) at Klang

2011-12-07T15:46:00.000+08:00

1st time eating fried porridge or well known as Bubur Goreng at Taman Berkeley, Klang. Have you ever imagined that you can fried porridge instead of rice. The taste kinda funny but overall is ok. The ingredients consist of fried bean curb, pork, pork lard, yam, squid and spring onions.

In future if you ever boil porridge until burn, maybe you can try to fried it...Who knows what the dish will turn out to be...it might end up as your specialty.Ha!Ha!

This restaurant is famous for their fried porridge and crabs. You need to order the crabs in advanced. Overall is ok, if you never tried fried porridge before, no harm trying.

Famous Fried Porridge, it looks like marmite mix with rice...

Salted Egg Fried Crab

Fried Crab Mee Hoon

Steamed Fish

Steam Mantis Prawn with Egg

Lala Soup

Restorant Bubur Goreng

(Old Berkeley Cinema)

Lot 6932, Lebuh Bangau Taman Berkeley,

41150 Klang, Selangor Darul Ehsan

GPS: 3.06005,101.464974

Tel: 016-6868 579

Kasih Charity Fair- Products and Tickets on Sale

2011-10-05T15:46:00.000+08:00

Kasih Hospice Care Society (KHC) is a charitable organization which seeks to bring a fresh and mindful approach to care-giving for patients facing life-endangering illnesses and to their families too. In conjunction with Kasih Charity Fair which will be held on 20th November 2011 at SMK Sg Way, we are currently selling Angry Birds items, Smurf Notepads and etc to raise fund for the charity.

At the same time, do drop by on 20th Nov at SMK Sg Way School to visit the charity bazaar from 9am - 3pm.

If you wish to view the products, kindly email kaynutcow@yahoo.com and will forward the product brochures to you.
Thank you for your support!!

Hong Kong heaven for food

2011-09-23T19:30:00.058+08:00

Visited Hong Kong again and flew via Cathay Pacific. Staying at Royal Plaza Hotel which is very convenient for food , shopping and transportation. The nearest MRT station is at Prince Edward.
This time is more on sightseeing rather on a shopping spree.

We had basin meals @ pun choy at Ping Shan Traditional Basin Meal Restaurant at Tin Shui Wai. You must make reservation. This is really aunthentic pun choy thanks to my friend who did the booking for us. 14 of us can't even finish the meal. Inside the pun choy got mushroom, stewed pork, fish balls, fried fish, chickens, pig skin, prawns, radish and many more.

This place was visited by the well know celebrity such as Chow Yuen Fatt, Martin Yan, Choy Lan, To To and many more.

Ping Shan Traditional Basin Meal Restaurant
GF, 36 Tong Fong Tsuen, Ping Shan, Yuen Long
(next to Ping Shan Heritage Trail)
Take west rail to Tin Shui Wai and then take light rail to Hang Mei Tsuen Station. Walk towards Heritage Trail for about 5 mins.

Ocean Park
Ocean Park tickets has increased to HKD280. We got our tickets for only HKD260 inclusive free shuttle bus service. Once you arrived to Admiralty Station and walk towards Exit B, you can see travel agent approaching you on the entrance tickets. You can see Panda - Ann Ann and Jia Jia, sea lion and dolphins performance, jelly fish, sea world.
No food allowed to the park but you can bring water. There is no water cooler available in the park not like in Disney land.
We went for ride known as Eagle and ended most of us vomitted after the ride. It was really 360 degrees spin.
You can take bus 629 back to MTR Admiralty Station or another bus to Central which stops at Exchange Square, Hong Kong Station. Actually is connected to Central station.

Lamma Island
Take a ferry to Yung Shue Wan about 30 minutes ferry ride from Central Pier 4 (MTR Hong Kong station exit E1 and walk through IFC mall)
You can find alot of snacks at Lamma Island such as grilled pork satay, grilled beef satay, grilled sausage, "kei tan chai"@ egg biscuiuts, famous ah poh tau foo fah @ beancurd, "cheh chai mee@ noodles" and desserts. Beers and coke are cheap at Lamma Island. You really eat all the way at Lamma Island. We walk all the way to the beach to relax.

View of Lamma Island

Grandma Tau Foo Fah at Lamma Island

Tau Foo Fah either cold or hot

You can enjoy macau food in HK especially their famous pork bun. It is really nice.
Macau Restaurant (http://www.macaurestaurant.hk/)
Shop A&B, G/F Lokville Comm. Building, 25-27 Lock Road, Tsim Tsa Tsui, Tel : 23668148

We went to Yung Kee Restaurant to try their roast goose, this is second time i'm there. This time i'm really dissapointed with the food and service. We order each individual plate of roast goose leg, waited for more than 15 minutes and another waiter came and said sorry we sold out, are you ok with just normal roast goose meat. They gave us with our roast goose and most of it is bones and can't even find goose breast meat. Really dissapointed with their service. You just pay for the brand and not quality. Eating at normal coffee shop is much more nicer and cheaper. No more Yung Kee. Yung Kee is only for tourist and locals don't dine there.

Yung Kee Goose rice

After our lunch at Yung Kee Restaurant, we drop by to Helis & Tang Shop which offers fine european antiques such as Meissen Porcelain, Silverware and crystal. We met the owner Peter Helis and Simon Tang. The shop was well decorated and the pieces are beautiful. You can see there is a frame that states "The best antique is like an old friend", I love this tag line.

You should stop by there when you are at Aberdeen Street, Central. Let Peter and Simon explain to you on their collection. This is the only store in Hong Kong that specialise in fine european antiques.

Helis & Tang is located at 38, Aberdeen Street, Central. (http://www.helistang.com/)
Take exit D2, follow Queens Road Central till you reach the escalator and then take the escalator to Staunton Street. Walk along Staunton Street untol you reach Aberdeen Street on the right, then walk 20m down.

Watch Helis & Tang interview at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmazPw0tn8c&feature=colike

Yuen Long
You can eat fresh wife biscuits @ wife cakes at Wing Wah. Each piece of wife cake cost HKD10 and the fresh wife cakes can only last for 3 days. The texture is so soft and smells good. We also bought wife biscuits at Hang Heung which lasted for 10 days. We compared both wife cakes and majority felt that Wing Wah cakes are better, the texture softer and got vanilla flavour. This is because we ate fresh wife cakes and not those that last for months. So that is a big difference.

I had a great birthday celebration at my friend house at Yuen Long. We had bbq and lovely home made cakes - carrot cake and german pie. Even bbq, we had amazing roast pork, chicken wings, german potatoes salad, grilled fish with lemon grass, home made beef burger, grilled squid and many more. It was a memorable birthday, thanks to my friends and family who celebrated with me.

German Potatoes Salad

Salad

Fish stuffed with Lemon grass

Home made Beef patties...delicious after grilled!!

Yummy homemade german pie

Delicious homemade carrot cake

Information all about Hong Kong

Hong Kong Eateries

Shanghai Xiao Nan Guo Cuisine
Upper ground, TST centre, 66 Mody Road, Tsim Tsa Tsui, Kowloon
Business hours : 11.30am - 3pm, 6pm -11pm
Tel : 22582238

email : enquiry@xiaonanguo.com
- shanghainese food and something different. Worth trying. Their dessert are very nice. Famous for siew lung pau @ dumplings.

Tao Heong 88
http://www.taoheong.com.hk/
- we had cheesy noodle with lobsters, hokkien fried rice with scallop, roast goose and etc and the bill only came up to RM300. Highly recommend. The restaurant also serve steamboat.

Gong Cha (Bubble Tea)
Fa Yuen Street, Mongkok
- come down from royal plaza hotel/grand century plaza, take escalator to Fa Yuen Street, 2nd shop from your right. Must try their bubble tea, most of the time long queue.

Porridge, Hot Soya Bean
Just opposite Gong Cha
- come down from royal plaza hotel/grand century plaza, take escalator to Fa Yuen Street, Shop is at the left hand site. You can see them selling cold soya bean, yau chow kwai and steam cake. Must try their hot soya bean and only HKD8. 2 person can share for hot soya bean.

Kam Wah Cafe and Bakery
G/F 47 Bute Street, Mongkok
(Prince Edward MTR B2 Exit)
- famous for "poh lau bau" @ bun. Their bun is so soft. You can order bun with egg with ham, bun with char siew or just the bun with butter. Highly recommend!!! It seems this is a famous store in Mongkok.

Where to eat Dim Sum?
Jumbo Kingdom
Dragon Court
Shum Wan Pier Drive, Wong Chuk Hang, Aberdeen, Hong Kong
Tel : 25539111
Website : http://www.jumbokingdom.com
Dim sum and other Chinese dishes

If you are visiting Victoria Peak in the morning, after that take cab to Aberdeen. Tell the cab driver you want to go to Jumbo Restaurant. The boat ride is FREE to Jumbo.

Federal restaurant (Dim Sum) at Plaza Hollywood
Shop 353, Plaza Hollywood, 3 Lung Poon Street, Diamond Hill
Plaza Hollywood is a shopping mall. The Restaurant is inside the mall.
Just take MTR to Diamond Hill. From there you can also visit the Chi Lin Nunnery.
Tel : +852 26260011

Tanyoto Steamboat
Try their tomatoes soup based.
http://www.tanyoto.com.hk/
2/F, 26 Kimberly Street, Tsim Tsa Tsui, Hong Kong, +852 81200033
OR
129 Johnston Road (O’brien and Johnston Road)
+852 2893 9268
Transit Wan Chai MTR

Yung Kee Restaurant
http://www.yungkee.com.hk/
Tel: (852) 2522 1624
Address: 32-40 Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong
Famous for roast duck and goose

Famous Wan Ton Noodles Shop (both shop just opposite each other)

Tsim Tsai Kee Restaurant (majority locals go there)
Shop B, G/F Jade Centre, 98 Wellington Street, Central, Hong

Mak’s Noodle Restaurant (tourist spot)
77 Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong

Vegetarian at Po Lin Monastery, Lantau Island
Go to Po Lin Monastery, there is a vegetarian store. Right outside the VIP room, is the open air seating area. This is the place for regular meal lunch. Known as “Delicate Vegetarian Dessert and Snacks”. You can try their tau foo fa, desserts and vegetarian food. Very nice and cheap. Variety of desserts.

Shopping
Citygate Outlet – Branded Store
At Tung Chung MTR, walk out from the MTR station and you can see citigate. This stop can lead you to Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car and to Big Buddha

Directions to famous sightseeing or attractions :

Airbus CityFlyer line A (Pictured above right) costs less than the Airport Express,

• For example, A11 to Hong Kong Island's Central, Wanchai, Causeway Bay or North Point costs only HK$40 (about 50 minutes to Central)

• A21 to Kowloon's Mongkok, Tsim Sha Tsui or Hung Hom Station costs only HK$33 (about 45 minutes to Tsim Sha Tsui)

• Line A operates from about 06:00 to midnight daily, departs every 15 to 20 minutes.

For MTR Airport Express:

• The Airport Express provide services from 05:50 to 00:50 daily, and departs every 12 minutes.

• To Hong Kong Island's Central, adult fare is HK$100 (about 23 minutes)

• To Kowloon, adult fare is HK$90 (about 20 minutes)

• To Tsing Yi, adult fare is HK$60 (about 12 minutes)

• For more information on Airport Express, please refer to our introduction to Hong Kong Station

Ocean Park
Visitors can purchase general admission tickets for the theme park from:
- Ocean Park Main Entrance
- Citybus No. 629 Terminal near MTR Admiralty Station Exit B
- Opening hours : 10am – 7pm
Ticket : Adult : HKD280

Street Market

Tung Choi Street, Mong Kok, Kowloon
(MTR Mongkok Station Exit E2), noon – 11:30pm

Temple Street
Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon (MTR Jordan Station Exit A. Turn right into Jordan Road, then right into Temple Street), 4pm – midnight

Stanley Market Road
Hong Kong Island (MTR Hong Kong Station Exit D and take bus 6, 6A, 6X, 66 or 260 from Exchange Square Bus terminus, Central), 10:30am – 6:30pm

Jardine's Crescent
Causway Bay, Hong Kong Island (MTR Causeway Bay Station Exit F) ,11am – 9:30pm

Li Yuen Street East and West
Central, Hong Kong Island (MTR Central Station Exit C then walk along Des Voeux Road Central towards Sheung Wan),10am – 7pm

Lan Kwai Fong
MTR Central Station Exit D2. Walk along Theatre Lane and uphill to D'Aguilar Street. About 5 minutes walk to Lan Kwai Fong.

SoHo
MTR Central Station Exit D2, and turn right to Theatre Lane. Walk along Queen's Road Central towards The Center. Then take the Central-Mid-Levels Escalator.

The Peak Hong Kong
1. Take the Peak Tram from the Lower Peak Tram Terminus on Garden Road (Bus 15C from the lay-by outside Star Ferry in Central or walk from MTR Central Station Exit J2).

2. Bus 15 from Exchange Square Bus Terminus (MTR Hong Kong Station Exit D)

3. Green minibus 1 from MTR Hong Kong Station Public Transport Interchange.

Lamma Island
Take a ferry to Yung Shue Wan or Sok Kwu Wan (about a 30-minute trip) from Central Pier 4 (MTR Hong Kong Station Exit E1. Walk through ifc mall).

Wong Tai Sin Temple
MTR Wong Tai Sin Station exit B2

Sky 100
MTR Kowloon Station Exits C1 or D1, via Elements – Metal Zone 2/F

Sai Kung
Bus 92 from MTR Diamond Hill Station Exit C2
MTR Choi Hung Station Exit C2 and take green minibus 1A to the Sai Kung town terminus
MTR Hang Hau Station Exit B1 and take green minibus 101M to the Sai Kung town terminus

Stanley Market
MTR Hong Kong Station Exit D and take bus 6, 6A, 6X, 66 or 260 at Exchange Square Bus Terminus
MTR Causeway Bay station Exit B, walk to Tang Lung Street then take green minibus 40
Bus 973 from Canton Road in Tsim Tsa Tsui outside Silvercord Centre

Jumbo Kingdom
Bus 70 from Exchange Square bus terminal(MTR Hong Kong Station Exit D) to Aberdeen terminal. Cross highway via subway(pedestrian tunnel), turn right, walk to dock for free boat ride to floating restaurant or take bus 75 from Exchange Square bus terminal to Shum Wan Shuttle Ferry Pier for the free boat ride

Yuen Long
Take West Rail Line to Hung Hom.

What types of food you can find in Yuen Long :
Traditional Treats Pun Choi or ‘Big Bowl Feast’ is a type of food served in wooden basins rather than traditional porcelain or metal. The tradition dates back to the late Sung dynasty. Many people visit the New Territories just to try this age-old delicacy. Tai Wing Wah Restaurant（大榮華酒樓）is one of the few restaurants serving this kind of meal.
Hong Kong people love to eat, and are known to go to great lengths to enjoy their favourite dishes!
The Ho To Tai Noodle Shop（好到底麵家）has customers who go out of their way just to savour its shrimp roe loe min (noodle).

At Victory Beef Ball（勝利牛丸）, the owner, Mr Liu, learned to make beef balls at age 15, and 20 years on, his outlets sell 200–300 kilos of handmade beef balls every day!

One of the most popular is the unusually named ‘B Chai Grass Jelly’! It’s a colourful melange of jelly mixed with different fruits and can be shared between three or four people. Kai Kee Dessert（佳記甜品）in Yuen Long serves this local favourite with more than 10 kinds of fruit! Similar kinds of desserts can also be found in downtown dessert shops.

Of cos the famous Wife Biscuits also at Yuen Long. You can visit Wing Wah Bakery for fresh wife biscuits or Hang Heung Bakery.

Horrorwood at Sunway Lagoon, 19th August 2011

2011-08-23T17:06:00.001+08:00

Attended the launch of Horrorwood at Scream Park, one of the attraction at Sunway Lagoon Multi-park.
During the launch, you will see Zombies walking around to scared you....hope is not the "real zombies" since this month is the ghost festival. ha!ha!

We are invitied to experience the Horrorwood. Each round, only 9 people are allowed to enter. It takes about 10-20 mins depends on individual. You will experience different zombies in each section.

You will be brief on the rules and regulations, most important rules is do not touch anything.
You will be invitied to watch a video about Horrorwood thereafter journey to hell begans.
You can hear people screaming non-stop, the more you scared the zombies will come after you.
There is one section that you will feel dizzy is the 3D-Tunnel, what you need to do is to closed your eyes and walk across. Try to hold on to each other and walk across. If you open your eyes, you can hardly walk. All these are illusions.

The secret is that you just walk and shout all the way...and hopefully you will be SAVE. Suggest you go in as a group, you will have more fun. Maybe you would not scream but laugh at your friends.....hee!hee!

It was a great experience, one way for us to release our tension by shouting and screaming..hee!hee!

See the terror live at http://www.sunwaylagoon.com/horrorwoodTeaser.asp

For more information, you can visit to Sunway Lagoon web site at http://www.sunwaylagoon.com/

Nature Park at Kuala Selangor and Padi field at Sekinchan

2011-05-22T10:45:00.000+08:00

10 Visited the Nature Park at Kuala Selangor on 21st May 2011. Arrived the nature park around 8.45am. The first thing we noticed is that the nature's park is lack of maintenance. The signages to the park was broken and even the wooden bridge can't be use anymore. We had picnic at one of the booth. We packed nasi lemak, eggs, steamed cocktails and fruits. Luckily the monjkeTook us two and half hours to complete entire walk. We saw wild monkeys along the way. Visited the mangroves area and saw the male and female crabs and mudskipper. I don't recommend to visit the nature's park as nothing much to see and alot of mosquitoes even we use the insect repellent is useless.

Female Crab which is red in color.

Male crab which is blue in color.

Watch tower.

They don't even have notice to inform the maximum number of people that are allowed to go up.

View from the watch tower.

Wild monkeys everywhere. They would not snatch your things or disturb you. Therefore no need to be scared.

We completed entire walk at 11.30am and then we head to Kuala Selangor Fishing Village for lunch. We ate at Restaurant Jeti. Eight of us ate and the bill came up to RM192. We had 2 kgs of crabs which cost us RM45 per kg. We had steam crabs and another is salty egg fried crabs. We had salt and pepper deep fried squid, two vegetables, fried kam heong mantis prawn, lala fried mee hoon and lala soup. The lala soup was dissapointing. Overall the food was not great. Overall rating 2/5.

After lunch, we head up to Sekinchan which is 45 minutes away from Kuala Selangor to visit the padi fields. Alot of couples come here to take their wedding pictures. The scenery was beautiful.

We drove around Sekinchan Fishing Village.

We head to Ijok for beggar chicken at New Beggar's Delicious Restaurant. You got to order the beggar chicken in advanced. We had beggar chicken which cost RM42, one plate of vegetable at RM10, sweet and sour crab at RM36 per kg( cheaper than Kuala Selangor and alot nicer), Fish soup at RM32, Steam Telapia with Thai Style at RM20. Total bill came up to RM155. Overall this place is alot better than Kuala Selangor.

Beggar Chicken - overall rating 3/5

Sweet and Sour Crab

Fish Soup - overall rating 2/5(too much starch on the fish)

New Beggar's Delicious Restaurant
Ijok, Selangor Darul Ehsan
Tel: 03-3279 1936 or 019 317 3687

Overall we had a great time and visited three fishing village at Kuala Selangor, Sekinchan and Sg Besar near Sabak Bernam.

The Banjaran, Wellness Spa and Retreat, Tambun, Ipoh

2011-04-25T17:15:00.000+08:00

The Banjaran Hotsprings Retreat is only 15 mins away from Ipoh. Less than 5 minutes drive from Lost World of Tambun. Am glad that I was invited for a tour at The Banjaran Hotsprings. You could not imagine we had such a beautiful limestones, natural landscapes, surrounded by bodies of geothermal hot springs around the villas. You does not need to go overseas to enjoy such a magnificient view.

No words can describe this place. Pictures worth a thousand words. For more information of the banjaran, do visit their web site at http://www.thebanjaran.com/

Inside the villa

Jeff's cellar - must visit. You cannot imagine that a limestone cave can transform into a wine cellar. Jeff's cellar is open to resort guest.

Lost World of Tambun Hotel and Water Park at Tambun, Perak

2011-04-25T16:54:00.000+08:00

The new opening of Lost World of Tambun Hotel, Tambun, Ipoh, Perak situated next to Lost World of Tambun Water Park. The hotel room is clean and very convenient if you wish to spend time at Lost World of Tambun. At night you get to have a dip at the hot springs park at Lost World of Tambun which opens till 10pm.

Lost World of Tambun, back of the house tiger valley. Get up close and personal with the tiger cub. You need to make advance booking in order to touch the tiger cub.

You can visit their web site at http://www.sunwaylostworldoftambun.com/

Bangkok, Thailand April 2011

2011-04-05T19:06:00.000+08:00

Went to Bangkok via MAS, got really great deal from MAS. My flight ticket only RM515 inclusive of insurance. Stayed at Novotel Fenix Ploenchit, 4 star hotel. The hotel room is huge and clean. This hotel only open early Jan 2011. The location is very convenient, outside is the BTS station (train). The hotel is located at Ploenchit which is one stop to Chilom where the Central World Mall, Pratunam Market is situated. The Erawan Shrine is also there. Siam Centre, Siam Paragon, MBK is only 2 stations away from Ploenchit. That's why is very convenient. The staff are very helpful and nice. I will defintely return to Novotel.

When you landed to the airport, I will advise you to charter the airport limousine at AOT Counter. Airport transfer to and flo for 4 pax is only 2100 baht which is equivalent to RM50 per pax. It is a Van therefore you do not need to worry about baggage space.

We went on 31st March till 3rd April and it is their sales. Most of the shopping malls are having their midnite sales, therefore you can really shop till drop.

Places to visit are :-
1. Cruise cum buffet dinner cum pick up to Chaophraya Cruise for only RM140 per pax. Ask the concierge to book for you. When you reach the river city, you can also shop for thai silk which is RM50 per meter.
We got a very nice table in front of the stage. We enjoyed the performance by the singers and dancers and at the same time we get to burn our calories after our buffet dinner by dancing. Very nice ambient and also able to see the grand palace, RAMA IV bridges lit up and night view of Bangkok.

2. Chatuchak Market only opens on weekend. You can take the BTS from Ploenchit directly to Mochit. The BTS leads directly to Chatuchak's entrance. This is where you can find souvenirs, home deco items, whole saler for swaroski crystal, clothings and etc.

3. Patpong Road for night market. You can also walk pass the entertainment centre.

4. Grand Palace - to go there, take the BTS from Ploenchit to Saphan Taksin. Walk out from the BTS and you will see the pier, purchase the tickets to go to Tha Chang / Maharaj pier where grand palace is located. The ticket only cost you RM2 and you can cruise the river to see the grand palace and other temples. No need to join their canal cruise and tour which cost RM130 per pax. The actual floating market is 20KM out of bangkok. The old city floating market only opens on weekend which you can see few boats selling things.

Places to Shop :-
1. Siam Paragon at Siam BTS station
2. MBK at National Stadium BTS station, actually you can walk across to Siam Paragon, it is all link.
3. Central World at Chilom BTS station, opens from 10am onwards.
4. Central Departmental Store at Chiloms station
5. Platinum Mall at Pratunam, whole sale. You need to buy at least 3 pcs in order to get wholesale discount. No trying for clothes.
6. King Power is duty free shop near Victory Monument BTS station. You can get pick up outside Century The Movie Plaza which is free of charge. When you purchase the cosmetics or certain items, they will send your products to the airport and you got to pick it up from the king power counter next to the VAT counter. Only food stuff you are allow to take away when you purchase from King Power.
7. The Emporium Shopping Centre

Places to eat :-
1. Siam Paragon food court
2. Foodloft at Central World Departmental Store, Chilom BTS Station. Tried their duck noodle soup.
3. Kum Poon for aunthentic thai at Central World, Chilom BTS station. Must try their grill cat fish, chicken wings and fish salad. We ordered at least 6 dishes and the bills only came up to RM110.00. Kum Poon is situated 7th floor of central world, near the Sizzler and Supermarket.

4. Ping Shark Fin Restaurant (http://www.pingsharkfin.com/) located at Asoke BTS station, you need to walk around 10-15 minutes. Famous for sharkfin but then you can eat their fish maw and goose web special. You can also have seafood. At their wall of fame, we saw lots of HK celebrity patronise at the restaurant such as Edison Chen, Leon Lai, Eric Tsang, Anthony Wong, Jay Chou and even RAIN from Korea. The food was great and good quality.

We did not have time to go to SPA and also the spa are fully booked. Suggest to visit Urban Retreat (http://www.urbanretreatspa.net/) which situated near Asoke BTS as recommended by hotel staff.

Bae Yong Jin, Top Actor in Korea - Wax statue at Madam Tussaud at Siam Paragon.

The Moon Speaks for My Heart - Charity Event

2011-03-25T15:03:00.000+08:00

Kasih Foundation is organising an charity event "The Moon Speaks For My Heart", in mandarin known s "yuet liang tai piao wo de sin". Everyone from age 3- 80 would know how to sing this song which is sang byTeresa Tang. Time to contribute to the society. Kindly read the synopsis of the charity event!!!

Message from Pearl Thor, General Manager ,Kasih Foundation
Need your support for this foundation fund raising. This concert is at KLPAC on Sunday afternoon and the songs are from Teresa Tang album. Definitely you will enjoy the performance besides your valued contribution to this organization.
Details as follows :
Stage production entitled : The Moon Speaks for My Heart
Date : Sunday 15th May 2011
Time : 3.00pm to 5pm
Venue: KL PAC , off Jalan Ipoh , KL

Ticket Price
RM80 / RM115 / RM150 / RM185 / RM220 / RM255

Synopsis Dama’s production “The Moon Speaks For My Heart” pays tribute to the world acclaimed Chinese songbird of the 1970s-1980s –the legendary Teresa Teng, who despite her early demise remains truly an international icon. Teng’s fame extended across the boundaries of Asia – China, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and others – to the Western world. In commemorating Teresa Teng’s musical contribution to the world of entertainment, Dama’s latest concert The Moon Speaks For My Heart showcases her captivating evergreens.

There will be Mandarin, English, Japanese and Indonesian Songs. There will be 3 singers in the programme with Tan Soo Suan heading the cast .

Tel: 03 - 7960 7424
Fax:03 - 7956 6442
Website: http://www.kasihfoundation.org/

Kindly contact Kasih Foundation or visit their web site for more information and to purchase the tickets.

Penang

2011-02-22T16:18:00.000+08:00

I have not been to Penang for 2 years. The hawker food price has increased to RM3.50 per plate, even the famous assam laksa at Ayer Hitam. Quite a number of new shopping mall such as Times Square, One Avenue, Straits Quay.

Visited Straits Quay developed by E&O, very huge township comprises shopping mall, commercial and residences. The price for residences is not cheap as it states luxury living. :)
You turn in after Island Plaza and go all the way straight you will come to Straits Quay.

You can enjoy a nice walk at the sea front. Quite a number of restaurants, bistros and cafe in this area.
We ate at Aqua which serves Mediteranean food and it was superb. We had a great meal!!

Tapas top with mushroom

Greek pita with beef

Fish with cream sauce

Seafood Paella for 2 pax at RM95

Night View at Gek Lok Si Temple. It only lit up during chinese new year. We got to walk up the hill in order to see the Kuan Yin statue. Not easy to walk up all the way...:)

We stayed at B-Suite hotel at Bayan Lepas. The room is clean and huge. Per nite is only RM160.

Taiwan - Round island trip

2011-02-22T15:47:00.000+08:00

Joined Nan Fang Holidays to Taiwan. Travel via China Airlines on 15th January 2011. Arrived to Tao Yuan Airport approximate 7.00pm.Weather was cold. It was drizzling. We took bus to Taoyuan Night Market before we check in to Tao Yuan Hotel. The night market got nothing much to eat there, they are selling mostly winter clothing.

Itinery are :
day 1
Taoyuan night market and staying at Tao Yuan hotel.
My comment : Nothing much to eat at the night market. Ended eating grill pork chop at one of the coffee shop.

day 2
take high speed rail from taoyuan to taipei, take MRT, visit to chiang kai shek memorial hall, marty's shrine , national palace museum, handicraft centre, 101 shopping mall, Wufenpu Fashion District and feng chia night market- staying at In One Hotel
My comment : the high speed rail is same as the bullet train in Japan. Saw the changing of guards similar to Birmingham palace. The guard are not allow to blink their eyes and believe me, they are trained. I still don't understand how can you not blink your eyes for 1 hour.

Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall

Changing of Guard

Guard on Duty - not allow to blink the eye

We were lucky that when we went to National Museum it was not alot of people and able to see the famous treasures.

The "Jadeite Cabbage": A piece of jadeite carved into the shape of a cabbage head, and with a large and a small grasshopper camouflaged in the leaves. The ruffled semi-translucent leaves attached is due to the masterful combination of various natural colour of the jade to recreate the color variations of a real cabbage

The "Meat-shaped Stone" @ tung poh meat. A piece of jasper, a form of agate, the strata of which are cleverly used to create a likeness of a piece of pork cooked in soy sauce. The dyed and textured surface makes the layers of skin, lean meat, and fat materialized incredibly lifelike.

The "Carved Olive-stone Boat": A tiny boat carved from an olive seed. The incredibly fully-equipped skilled piece is carved with a covered deck and moveable windows and people inside. The bottom is carved in minute character the entire 300+ character text with the date and the artist's name.

You can see how talented are those artise. Today with our new technology, I don't think we can do it.

101 taipei is similar to IFC mall in Hong Kong, most of the top brands are there. Adjacent to 101 taipei is Grand Hyatt Hotel. Please visit this hotel. It is a must!! Once you visit the hotel then you will understand why so special of this hotel. Look at the interior design properly at their main lobby.

101 Taipei

Interior design in Grand Hyatt Hotel

Inside Grand Hyatt Hotel - Main lobby

Feng Chia night market, you can find sausage wrapping in glutin rice and many more. Even their drinks got alot of flavours and very cheap. A lot of shops for you to shop.

Sausage wrapping in the glutinuous rice

day 3 - tai chung/nan tou -sun moon lake, peacock garden, wenwu temple, formosan aboriginal culture village and staying at Goya Hotel and also can enjoy hotspring in the room or at the outdoor hot spring pool.
My comment : When you visit the wenwu temple, dont stand infront of the red lions to take pictures, it is no good. According to the tour guide, it seems the lion is eating you @ so called bad luck. Opposite the temple you can buy souvenirs e.g. key chains, fridge magnet and etc. Key chains which feature sun moon lake.

Wen Wu Temple, Sun Moon Lake -- this is the red lion i'm referring to

Wen Wu Temple, Sun Moon Lake

Sun Moon Lake

Must try to eat their tea eggs cos is different from Malaysia. They boil using ling zhi. Also must eat their sour sop and apple custard. Very sweet.

Apple Custard - must eat!!Make sure you bring swimsuit and swimming cap when you go for hot spring. The swimming cap applies to man and women. You are not allow to enter the hot spring area without swimming cap. Anyway you can get the swimming cap at feng jia market but you got to look out for nike / addidas shop.

day 4 - tai chung /kao shiung - meinong hakka village, fo guong shan temple, take boat ride along love river, new jyuejiang business district and stay at hotel sunshine
My comment : Nothing much in meinong hakka village, is a small theme park. You can take cable car for sight seeing,
Fo Guong Shan temple is really huge, they got their own television broadcast station and radio station. We spend 2-3 hours there.
I like Kao Shiong better than Taipei. I felt Kao Shiong got more things to shop. Must try their famous banana milk drink.

Fan Guong Zhan Temple

Store that is famous for papaya milk

Famous for white bittergourd with honey drink

Deep fried squid - not really nice..very chewy

day 5 - hualien - taroko national park administration, ling zhi tea art house, chinsing tan, eternal spring shrine and marble rock factory, stay at shin kong chao feng ranch and resort. You can enjoy hot spring in this resort
My comment : Hualien is very beautiful, a great place for sightseeing. When you visit the ling zhi tea art house, those ling zhi are wild ling zhi that's why it is so expensive. You can alo purchase royal jelly here. Small bottle cost RM150. For me i can't stand the taste therefore i got to mix it with honey to eat.
We stayed at Shin Kong Chao Feng ranch and resort, we need to rent buggy to move around the resort as their zoo is too huge to walk. The chalet is very nice and room are huge with four single beds.

famous for its bamboo rice in hualian

Hualian

Taroko Gorge

Shin Kong Chao Fen Ranch

Shin Kong Chao Feng Ranch - cow ranch

day 6 - take train from hualien to taipei, visit to jiu fen and yeh liu. Night visit Shilin Night market.Stay New Continental Hotel
My comment : Visited jiu fen where you can shop for your souvenirs and snacks. You can also eat their local food such as beef noodles, fish balls, yam and sweet potatoes dessert all at jiu fen. It was raining heavily therefore we are unable to shop. If you like to drink almond tea, you can purchase the almond tea powder at jiu fen.

Yehliu is a cape on the north coast of Taiwan in the town of Wanli between Taipei and Keelung.
A distinctive feature of the cape is the hoodoo stones that dot its surface. A number of rock formations have been given imaginative names based on their shapes. The most well-known is the "The Queen's Head", other formations include "The Fairy Shoe", "The Bee Hive", "The Ginger Rocks" and "The Sea Candles.".

Yeh Liu

The Queen's head at yeh liu

Yeh Liu

Shilin night market - i felt that the food are oily. The famous shilin fried chicken was long queue therefore did not try. You can drink the white bittergourd with honey drink. A lot of shops where you could shop for food and clothes.

The tour guide took us to Vigor Kobo, one of taiwan's premier bakeries. Famous for its pineapple cake. One box for 10pcs cost RM35. Where you can get it at jiu fen at RM10 for one box. The cakes stuffings are made with fine ingredients. It also taste different in terms of the texture. Vigor Kobo can help you to pack into a box where you could check in at the airport.

day 7 - leave hotel at 5.30am to airport

Overall Taiwan is ok but not so much on shopping. I prefer to shop in Hong Kong rather than Taiwan. Facial mask in Taiwan is really cheap. Their bamboo rice is very nice where you could eat it at Hualien. I will visit Kao Shiong rather Taipei. I felt Kao Shiong more happening.

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR 2011

2011-01-25T16:31:00.000+08:00

WISHING YOU GOOD HEALTH, PROSPERITY AND HAPPINESS !!!

GONG XI FATT CAI!!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

2010-12-06T12:26:00.001+08:00

Paint Ball Game at MAPACC

2010-11-29T12:07:00.000+08:00

27th November 2010, Saturday, 9.30am arrived to MAPACC (Malaysian Paint Ball Academy) at Petaling Jaya. Enter via Tun Hussein Onn Eye Specialist. The place is located at ASTAKA Sports building. Quite difficult to find a parking bay. You can view the location at :-
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=100707176877641090913.000467bbad96b32171c7f&source=embed&ll=3.104456,101.646473&spn=0.01112,0.019205&z=16

Suprised to see so many teenagers playing paint ball and was shock that they were not wearing any vest for protection. Looking the way they shoot each other with near distance, it was scary and painful. I questioned Wei, why they teenagers are not wearing any protection gear, well their paint ball pressure is very low therefore the gear mask is sufficient. Is up to the individual to wear the vest .

Our briefing starts at 10.30am by Wei. First we got to sign a form to declare that anything happens to us we would not make MAPACC liable for it..some sort of death liability.

Then follow on the protection gear - we should wear the gear mask all the time and also the vest. Most of the guys tried to be HERO and not to wear the vest.ha!ha! After one game, you will know how important is the VEST. We refer the gun as MARKER. We need to ensure the safety button is off when we finish the game and before we enter to the war zone.

We divided ourself into 4 teams since we got 20 people. Each team got 5 person. The rule to win is that one of the team mate got to run to the opposite gate and touches it. Is very difficult and dangerous task to do.

We entered to the wall zone and the referee gave us another briefing. We got to test our marker by shooting few palettes. Then we get in to our ready position and run to the nearest sheild and start shooting.

I got shot on the head and leg, it was painful. Guess paint ball is not my cup of tea. It is an experience and make sure you can endure the pain.

If you keen to have a paint ball game among your frens, you can contact the following person :-

WY Wei @ +6016-332 3372 or +6012-337 0775

Sofian @ +6016-332 3337

YP Wong @ +6016-332 3370 or +6019-983 3370

KK @ +6019-318 7266

Visit mapacc web site at http://my-npl.org/mapaac/?author=1

Prawn Fishing

2010-11-19T15:32:00.000+08:00

Prawn fishing is back again after so many years. This time is not in the shop lots.
You can fish prawns or cat fish. They served food and you can also do your own bbq. Surrounded with landscape and greeneries. Per hour is only RM15 and normally we will spend at least two hours there and it cost you RM27.

Tried fishing at night but did not get any prawns....so sad!! Even told the owner to replenish prawns in to the pond. Guess is just my luck. A 3 year old boy also able to catch few prawns. Is really not easy as it looks. Got tactic to it. The lady who sat opposite me kept getting prawns every 10 minutes. Really embarrassed.
Well, at the end the boss gave me 5 prawns to bring home....ha!ha!

This place is not even outskirt. Is located in Klang Valley. This place is known as Tropicana Prawn Fishing, is the row of nursery near Tropicana. Is behind Jaya Groccers and Water Lily.

There are golden rules when comes to prawn fishing - never be late and never bring a jinx with you .ha!ha! This rules are from the PRAWN LOSERS....ha!ha! Paid RM27 and FISH 0 prawns...sob...sob....

No worries will try again......this time will try to fish in the morning.....at 10-11am onwards according to the regulars...ha!ha!

After 1 week - the result is the same....
Well tried at 11am, also did not able to catch one prawn. The boss is very nice, he thought us the technique and help us to fish for prawn. The technique is that you got to move your bait cos you can't wait for the prawn to look for you, you got to look for prawns by moving the bait.

Shanghai and Hangzhou - Sept 2010

2010-10-01T19:10:00.000+08:00

Shanghai at night

Took MAS to Shanghai. The flight was delay for half an hour due to 17 passengers yet to board the plane. Well, I guess this people got to catch the next flight as I don't see any of them boarding the plane. MAS standard has drop tremendously, the food is horrible. Is it because I took the morning flight, food either nasi lemak or omelette with potatoes top with cheese. No words can describe.

We also took the morning flight back to KL and the flight was delay for 1 hour and 15 mins after everyone boarded the plane, this is due to the air traffic congestion. The food is even worst, you either have chicken with spicy sauce or deep fried fish with noodles. Gosh the food combination is horrible. The appetizer is some sort of cold chicken, no ones dare to eat. One look at it, you want to puke.

We drove to Hang Zhou and stayed at Marco Polo Hotel which is 15 mins walk from West Lake. The hotel room is clean and spacious. Please take note that tourist attractions closes at 5pm.

We went to watch Impression of West Lake directed by Zhang Yi Mou and music composed by Kitaro. Highly recommended. Really impresss on the show, they actually perform on the west lake. They built the platform and raise it at night for performance. In the morning the boats can still go through. The shows is about love story how the couple met at the west lake, fall in love, married and then separated. Refer to the pictures shown below under Impression of West Lake.

You should tried foot reflexology in Hangzhou, totally differnt. At the end of the massage, they place the fire in the cups to push the wind out from your leg. You can't find this in other places. The centre opens till 4am.

We visited Wu Zhen, Water Village, 2 hours drive from Hang Zhou. Highly recommend this place. You can walk around the village and then take the boat ride. The entire boat can fit for 8 pax only cost RM40 per boat. 300 families still leave in this village.

Wu Zhen is famous for chrysanthemun tea.

Pictures of Wu Zhen Water Village

We visited West Lake, took a boat ride to one of the island in West Lake. West Lake is very huge and they have different island on it. You need to spend at least 1 day to tour entire West Lake. A lot of walking to do.

West Lake

One of the famous pagoda at West Lake. You need to walk up all the way. We did not go up...

Temple at Hang Zhou

We had dinner at Wu Ji Hotspot at Shanghai. They are famous for fresh fish head to cook in the hot pot. You can either choose ma lat or herbs as the soup base. We tried both.

Fish head weights 3.8kg

Soup based - herbs and ma lat

We went to Yu Garden @ Cheng Huang Temple which is famous for steam dumplings @ siu loong pau at Nan Xiang Restaurant. This is the so called famous restaurant. People mountain people sea. They have different rates depends where you dine in the restaurant. If you order take away, it will be much cheaper. If you go up to the first floor and wait for tables then is also another rate. If you queue up and to have a table reserve for you, your rate is also different. If you choose to order set meals then will be another rate. Lucky my cousin took us there otherwise I will be very confuse on their system.

Look at the number of siu loong bao orders

steam dumplings @ siu loong bao

This bao cost RM11 just to drink the soup. Was dissapointed with the soup cos too much pepper. They did refund us for this bao after we complain. The soup supposed to be very sweet and tasty. Dissapointed!!

The so called famous "Tung Poh Pork Meat" at Hangzhou. It cost RM7.50 per bowl at Zhi Wei Guan Restaurant. I find it too oily.

Tong Poh Pork Meat

Stinky Tau Foo

Visited Shanghai World Expo.It was 35 degrees. We went in to the expo at 2pm where the crowd are minimum. We do not need to queue at the security check. We visited Taiwan and China Pavillion thank to a friend who got us the fast pass. We spend 1 hour queuing in to Taiwan Pavillion cos each time they only allow 25 people to enter. When we first enter to taiwan pavillion, you enter to 4D and 720 degrees. What do you mean by 4D? 4D means that you can feel and smell. You can smell the flowers fragrance when it shows the flower animation. Then you could feel water splashing on you when you see the dolphins splashing. It was amazing. Then the next section is to talk about Taiwan Sky Lantern. You can make your wish by choosing the wish list from the touch screen. Then stand backwards to see your sky lantern written with your wish from the LCD. You can also feel the heat.

electronic taiwan sky lantern

You being serve taiwan chinese tea and at the same time enjoy a performance. At the end of the visit, you are given taiwan pavillion recycle bag, the cup which you drank the tea from, hand sanitizer, one packet of drinks. The tour is only less than 20 minutes.

We visited China Pavillion and we got to queue for almost 1 hour. Unfortunately my camera is not good when taking dark environment. I must said China Pavillion really feature better life better city. They featured water villlage, national treasures, children inspirations, the land of flowers, enerygy and wind, the structural from the past and present. I understand that after the expo ends in October, China Pavillion will still be there therefore I suggest you should pay a visit. The organisers should consider providing a special lane for foreigners as we travel so far just to visit this expo unfortunately we are not given any privileges. Majority of the people entering to the world expo are mostly mainland chinese. Guess no foreigners would like to queue for hours for each pavillion. That's why some of the friend will enter to the expo after 3pm where most of the tour groups already left. Total got more than 100 pavillions and is impossible to visit 15% of the pavillion unless you spend few days.

We get culture shock in Shanghai, there is no such things as Zebra Crossing. The cars, motobikers, cyclist don't give way. It is worst than Vietnam. No Taxi stand available and very difficult to get a cab.
I don't think any malaysians can drive in China, those cars don't give way either and they seldom use signal. When the driver is driving, we are shouting. Therefore my cousin advise all of us to close our eyes and pretend to sleep. ha!ha!

Pictures of Shanghai World Expo

China Pavillion

Macau Pavillion

China Pavillion

Hong Kong and Macau Pavillon

The wall is cover with animation featuring water village inside China Pavillion

inside china pavillion featuring wind and energy

inside china pavillion featuring energy

inside china pavillion featuring garden lotus, this is the exit to china pavillion

inside china pavillion featuring wind and energy

Future car display at china pavillion

People queuing to enter to china pavillion, this is only one section of the queue which is below the pavillion

Taiwan pavillion at night

China pavillion

Shanghai World Expo night view

Night view where you could see led lights display

Oriental Pearl night view, took this picture when we are at the boat

Shanghai bund night view

Pictures for Impression of West Lake Performance

Impression of West Lake

The stage rising from the lake

Hokaido, Japan, August 2010

2010-08-17T13:32:00.000+08:00

My dreams finally came true, always wish to go to Hokaido. Took Japan Airlines night flight to Narita. Arrived Narita in the morning and then took 2 hours bus jouney to Haneda, domestic airport. Landed on Hakodate which is of one of the most beautiful port cities of Japan and one of the first three ports in Japan opened for foreign trade in 1859.

Visited the Motomachi Roman Catholic Church and the white Russian Orthodox Church is Japan's first Greek Orthodox Church. (renovating when we were there).

On the way we bought melon and mix ice cream and grilled squid to eat.

We visited Mt. Hakodate and took the cable car to have a panoroma view of the city and the fine natural harbour. Great view!!

We stay in tatame and the bathroom are really small. Weather is really hot and hokaido people don't practice switching on air-conditioned. This year the weather changed and it was 35C. Normally summer in hokkaido the weather is between 17-26C. We booked a private room for hotspring and the cost for 1 hour is only RM37.

Next day, we visited the Assaichi Hakodate Morning Market, Japan's biggest seafood wholesale market.
We had grilled scallop and abalone. It was ok, nothing spectacular. It is really fresh.

Sea Unchin

Then on our way to Lake Toya we stopped by at Seaweed Museum to buy seaweed and biscuits. The journey took us 3 hours to reach Lake Toya for lunch.

Our lunch are steamboat with prawns, scallops, salmons, chinese cabbage and pork. Very healthy food and no oil.

Visit to Mt. Uzuzan and took a ropeway to view the active volcano rising from the valley.

At the same time, visited the Bear Ranch which has 102m long brown bears. The bears are so adorable, waiting to be feed with biscuits. You can purchase the biscuits from the vending machine, each packet cost 100 yen which is RM3.70.The bear will do all kinds of action just to get the biscuits. Make sure you save the biscuits for the last group of bears which are cage at the end of the ranch.

After that we visited Jigokudani (Hell Valley) at Noboribetsu. Jigokudani is a part of an old crater. We did not walk all the way in to see the crater and the hot water bubbles. The sulfur smells are too strong.

We check in to our hotel and the guide advise us to wear Yakuta for dinner. gosh, it was so hot and no air-conditioned in the restaurant. Some more we are eating hot pot. It is buffet style therefore you can eat fresh salmon, squid, scallops and etc.

We are so lucky that we are able to see the Ghost Festival where there are fire crackers and ghost performance. The shows starts at 8.30pm and is just walking distance from our hotel. The guide ask us to wear Yakuta to join the festival unfortunately weather is too hot, so all of us change into our tshirts and shorts. On our way back, we stopped by at Panchinko outlet to check out the place and see how to play. Panchinko is a japanese gaming device use in the amusement and gambling area, similar to pinball machines.

The guide took us to cherry plucking. Have you ever eat cherry from the tree? It was fresh and yummy. We had cherry feast..ha!ha!

We stopped by at Furano Cheese Factory and we tried their milk and it was so nice. Must try their milk!!.We stopped by at one of the restaurant for lunch and we were given one slice of melon. Melon are very expensive in Hokaido, one melon can cost RM129. After lunch we visited lavender shop where you can buy lots of lavender product such as pillow, lavender skin lotions, soap and etc. The driver and guide took us to additional farm so that we could see different views and flowers. The flowers are so beautiful and the view are magnificient, exactly what you see in the emails or postcards.

Then we reached Tomita Farm and we saw lavender and the smell are so nice.Tomita farm is one of the famous lavender farm in Furano. It started to rain heavily therefore we left the place and went to Biei, another magnificient view of the hill where you can see wheats, an ingredient for SOBA.

Magnifient view from the tower -golden wheat at Biei

We reached Sounkyo and stay over night, The hotel is build behind the ravine. After breakfast, visited Sounkyo Gorge, is a giant gorge consisting of 100m cliffs formed by the erosion of tuff, and forms the center of the Daisetsuzan National park. Saw Ryusei-no-taki Falls (shooting star falls) and Ginga-no-taki Falls (milky way falls), great view and must see it.

We travel to Otaru. Otaru renown as "foreign country in the north". Visited Otari Canal, Ishiya Chocolate Factory famous for its white chocolcate. Visited the Otaru Handicraft Street where famous for glass handicraft and musical box. Bought a cow musical box to add in to my cow collections.

Most Expensive Musical Box in the world

We drove to Sapporo where is the capital of Hokaido.We had our King Crab Buffet in Sapporo. All you can eat long leg crab and hairy crab. The hairy crab really not nice, not much meat. The long leg crab is salty. This is because there is no fresh long leg crab during this period. The fishermen catches the long leg crab in October, and then cooked the crab and freeze it. That's why the crab is salty. We also order Kobe beed and the cost is RM300++ which is 9000 yen for 200gm. The Kobe beef really melt in your mouth. Must try!! Shops closes at 8pm. Rush to Daimaru Departmental store to shop for toys unfortunately can't find any toy shop.

Beef, Lamb, Hairy Crab, Long Leg Crab - unlimited refew

Long Leg Crab

Hairy Crab

After breakfast, visited Hokaido Shrine to make pray and make wishes. Then went to Tanukikoji Underground Shopping Street and were given only 1 hour. Therefore very rush and also cannot find toys like Gundam here.

Lunch we had RAMEN, no words can describe the bowl of ramen. It was so delicious. Consist of 3 big scallops, 2 pieces of pork meat and also we are given 3 pieces of Gyoza to eat. I could not finish the bowl of ramen cos too big bowl. Really wasted...but this ramen is alot better than those we ate in Tokyo.

Went to Sapporo Factory Outlet to shop, we only given 2 hours here and the outlets are huge. Nike, Addidas, Rockport are really cheap.

Time to said goodbye to Sapporo and we headed to Narita by flight. Stay overnight and after breakfast we flew back to Malaysia. So sad and now back in to reality. Overall Hokaido is good for sightseeing and hotspring. Yeap I miss out the hot spring section, i did try the hot springs....it was nice and really an experience. We did went for the private and the public hot springs. Both experience are different.

I highly recommend you to book your tour with Ming Ming Travel Services Sdn Bhd from Kuching.

Tel : 082-419953 or email to mingtrvl@tm.net.my

My local guide name is Felicia. She is really good and also a great friend of us. Our japanese tour guide known as Polly. She is really great and she got everything in her bag and we told her tat she owns an doreamon bag. She teaches us how to use the lavender skin lotion and highly recommend you to buy it cos you can't get this in Malaysia. The most important thing that i left out, Polly took us to cherry plucking which is not in our itinery. We pluck cherry and ate on the spot. Really cherry feast. In KL, one cherry cost 90 cents.

Hokaido is famous for hot springs, melon, scallops, long leg crabs and sightseeing. Tokyo and Hokaido are two different world.

Kasih Hospice Charity Fair on 4th July 2010

2010-07-08T18:07:00.000+08:00

We participated the Kasih Charity Bazaar on 4th July 2010 at SMK Sg Way to raised funds for the charity organisation. We got 3 booths there to sell cookies, otaka-otak from Muar, chee cheong fun, fish balls from Tanjung Sepat, home made pai tees, hot dog, ear rings, hot coffee, hot tea and mineral water. Thanks to friends who came to support and help.

As for our team, the dress code of the day is red or blue color t-shirt.

KHC invited quite a number of old folks and orphanage homes to shop and eat at the fair.

Those people who purchase the coupons and unable to come, all the coupons will be given to the homes.

Volunteers at work

Chee Cheong Fun Team

Ear Rings - made by Ping Ping and selling below cost at only RM10.00 per pair.

Kids voluntering to sell cookies

Visits from Old Folks - coupons given to them enjoy themself

Orphanage - to enjoy themself at the fair

Volunteers selling pai tee and hot dog

Japan VISA Application

2010-06-23T12:47:00.000+08:00

Just want to share what are the things that you need to prepare when applying for japan visa. This is merely a guideline and if you are not clear, you can contact Japan Embassy. All of them are very helpful.

To apply for japan visa, you need to know the following :-

Photo background must be white and size of photo is 2" x 2"
Bank statement/FD statement must be in A4 size, get bank to stamp certify true copy and bank chop
Company letter and must stamp with company name and must attach with name cards
3 working days to process the visa application
If you been to Japan before, please state the departure date and length of stay. If you forgot the exact date, you can put the approx date and Japan Embassy can check at their system
If you are ex-airline crew and can't remember the date, just state last entry date and ex-airline cabin crew from XXX
Covering letter from your travel agent - to be submitted together with other documents
Flight tickets from your travel agent-to be submitted together with other documents
Japan Tour Itinery from your travel agent-to be submitted together with other documents

Procedures for your HOLIDAY and what are the documents that you need to provide to the travel agent or japan embassy besides covering letter from travel agent, flight tickets and japan tour itinery :-

Sponsoring mom/dad
a. if you are sponsoring your mom or dad, you need to draft a letter that states you are sponsoring your parents to Japan. You need to photostat a copy of your birth cert to prove your relationship. Submit your bank statement. You need to photostat your bank statement in A4 size paper and then go to the bank to request to stamp and certify true copy. The value in your bank statement need to be more than your value of your trip.

List to provide :
a. visa application form with photo
b.certify true copy of bank statement
c. company letter that state your position, length of service, departure date and make sure you get your company to stamp on your letter even though is printed on letter head.
d. Attach your name card.
e. Birth cert to prove your relationship.
f. sponsorship letter that state all expenses is borne by you

On your own
a. visa application form with photo
b. company letter that state your position, length of service, departure date and make sure you get your company to stamp on your letter even though is printed on letter head.
c. Attach your name card.
d. certify true copy of bank statement

Husband and Wife (Husband sponsoring wife)
a. visa application form with photo
b. company letter that state your position, length of service, departure date and make sure you get your company to stamp on your letter even though is printed on letter head.
c. Attach your name card.
d. certify true copy of bank statement
e. Photostat copy of Marriage cert
f. sponsorship letter that states you are travelling with your wife and all expenses will be borne by you.

Company Sponsor - meaning all expenses borne by your company. You need to make sure those travelling under company, the person travelling the name must appear in the FORM 49. Else you can't use as company sponsor
a. visa application form with photo
b. company letter that state your position, length of service, departure date and make sure you get your company to stamp on your letter even though is printed on letter head. Must state all expenses borne by the company.
c. Attach your name card.
d. certify true copy of bank statement (company bank statement)
e. Photostat copy of FORM 49 (company registration form)

Parents going with Children
a. visa application form with photo
b. company letter that state your position, length of service, departure date and make sure you get your company stamp on your letter.
c. attach your name card
d. certify true copy of bank statement
e. birth certificate
f. marriage certificate to prove relationship
g. sponsorship letter that states all expenses born by you and state those names and passport that you are sponsoring

Housewife going with children
a. visa application form with photo
b. certify true copy of bank statement
c. birth certificate
d. sponsorship letter that states all expenses born by you and state those names and passport that you are sponsoring

List given by Japan Embassy Website - http://www.my.emb-japan.go.jp/
HOLIDAY
1. Original passport
2. One (1) visa application form (downloadable)
3. One (1) photo (4.5cm x 4.5cm) with white background which is taken within 6 month from the visa
application and must be pasted on the application form
4. IItinerary in Japan (downloadable) and for transit purpose, copy of visa to the main destination
(USA, CANADA, etc)
5. Employment certificate stating your position, department in the company and length of service
(using the company letterhead)

*If you are a sole proprietor/partner/owner of the company, you need to submit a copy of your
business registration

*For those who are not working: a self explanatory letter stating how expenses will be borne, name

and relationship of person(s) accompanying (if any)
6. Personal savings, latest current account statement, fixed deposit, Tabung Haji or Amanah
Saham Berhad (ASB) (original certified true copy by the bank) (need to show the applicant’s
name as the account owner, account number and current balance) – must be A4 size.
7. Copy of marriage certificate (spouse) or birth certificate (children) to show proof of relationship
between the main applicant and the person(s) accompanying

NOTES

1. Please arrange all the documents according to the sequence. Documents submitted will not be returned.
2. All photocopies must be on A4 size paper.
3. Collection of passport will be three (3) working days for Malaysian (subject to approval).
*THE EMBASSY OF JAPAN HAS THE RIGHT TO REQUEST FOR ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS OR CALL THEAPPLICANT FOR AN INTERVIEW*

EMBASSY OF JAPAN
CONSULAR SECTION
11, PERSIARAN STONOR
OFF JALAN TUN RAZAK
50450 KUALA LUMPUR
http://www.my.emb-japan.go.jp/

OFFICE HOURS

MONDAY - FRIDAY
8.30 a.m. - 12.00 noon
2.00 p.m. – 4.00 p.m.
TEL: 603-2177 2600
FAX: 603-2143 1739
EMAIL: ryo@kl.mofa.go.jp

____________________________________________________________________________
Sample Letter

Company letter head

Date

The Consular
Visa Section
Embassy of Japan
No.11 Persiaran Stoner
Off Jalan Tun Razak
50450 Kuala Lumpur

Dear Sir

Re: Japan Tourist Visa Application

This is to certify that Name, passport no XXXXXX is a designation of company name. She is joining a Japan tour from dd-mm-yyyy until dd-mm-yyyy for a holiday and all expenses will be borne by her. She will return home to Malaysia after the holiday.

I sincerely thank you for your kind attention & approval to her application for visa into JAPAN.

Thank you.

Yours sincerely

_______________

Company stamp & sign

Koh Samui, Thailand

2010-05-07T17:12:00.000+08:00

Took Fireflyz to Koh Samui. Ticket was costly - RM820.90. If you would like to get cheap ticket therefore you must plan few months ahead. Even 2 months earlier the ticket is also costly. Always select your seat and select 2nd row onwards else behind will be noisy and stuffy. Fireflyz do serve snacks e.g. muffins or peanuts and one cup of juice or coffee/tea. You don't need to walk that far to the airplane compare to Airasia. Good news is that there is no flight delay!!! The flight from Subang to Koh Samui takes 2 hours. As for time difference,Thailand is one hour behind KL.

When we arrived Koh Samui, the mini train will pick us up from the runaway therefore no need to walk.

We booked the airport pick up directly from the hotel. Therefore our driver known as CHIN picked us and we stayed at MARYOO Hotel. The hotel is only 5 mins from the airport. We were so happy when we first saw the hotel, the hotel looks lovely and beautiful, better than the picture in the web site.

Picture taken outside our room

We checked in and when we stepped in to our room, we were stunned. Our room located at the Ground Floor and when we open the balcony door, there is the swimming pool with jacuzzi. Is so convenient and we like staying in the villa. The room is spacious, with LCD TV and the living room and mini pantry.

The bathroom was huge and we love the shower. The bed was so comfortable. Everything looks perfect and cozy. Really feel at home.

We ate at the hotel restaurant cos we are so hungry. The clear tom yam and glass noodle soup was great and in fact this is our favourite dish. Chin took us to Cha Weng Beach and we spend few hours walking around. We went around the shops and we spend time on the beach area. Shopping in Cha Weng is very expensive and they don't bother reducing the price.

We saw The Library which is a hotel at Cha Weng Beach. Per nite is RM1,600. Very nice concept but quite pricey.

We went for massage for 1 hour for RM25. The place was clean.

We realised that there is no garbage bin around the area. The streets are clean. Cha Weng Beach area similar to Patong, Phuket.

Cha Weng Beach Area

After few hours of walking is time for dinner. Unfortunately we only got half an hour before Chin pick us up. We bought MCD nuggets and chicken wings from burger king. We also bought the pork satay, fish balls and sticky rice on the road side stall. My friend said YUMMY!!! I did not dare to try cos i have sensitive stomach.

Grill pork satay

Tom Yam Soup

Clear Tom Yam Soup

Green Curry

2nd day - we book day trip to Ang Thong Marine Park for ThaiB 1800 per pax (RM180) inclusive snorkelling, kayaking, lunch and pick up.The van pick us at 7.30am.

Reach the jetty and waited for everyone to be on board. The board serve banana, muffins and coffee for breakfast.

The boat ride took 2 hours. We arrive to our destination where we can kayak and snorkell. 3 of us on one kayak and another 2 friend on another kayak. Well, this is my second time kayaking but previously is lead by an experience person. Now my friend got to lead us, so that our co-ordination follows exactly her instruction in order not to fall. The kayaking took us 40 minutes. It was fun but tiring and people kept bump in to our kayak.

We sat down and drank coconut water. Too lazy to go snorkelling and furthermore alot of dead corals.
We had lunch on the boat and then visit to next island. You either choose to snorkell or walk up the hill to see the lagoon. We split into two groups where i chose to walk up the hill to see the lagoon. The view was great.

We had our dinner at the hotel as we are too tired to go out.

Day 3- free and easy

We rented Honda Jazz for 5 pax to drive around the island. Our first destination was to visit Big Buddha. Unfortunately we never reach our destination cos there is no signages. We visited TESCO to buy our thai noodles and stuff and tried the local food at their food court. We able to found our hotel driver while he was ferrying other customer to attractions area. So we just drove our car and follow him behind. We able to find Hin Tai Hin Yai @ grandfather/grandmother rock, ancient temple, mumiffied monk and big buddha. Without our hotel van, we would not able to visit all this attraction and guess ended up buying postcard. Is difficult to navigate as all the attractions are hidden.

Grandfather rock

Ancient temple

Big Buddha

Chin took us to a fancy and good ambience restaurant known as TARUA Seafood Restaurant near the Elephant Rock. The place was great. Food was good. We had mud crab, tiger prawns, shark fillet, salad, fish cake, steam sea bass with lemon sauce, fried oyster with egg and sticky rice with mango as dessert. The bill came up to RM300.

Stir fried garlic with tiger prawns

Steambass with lemon sauce

Mud Crab with Special spices

Fried Fish Cakes

Cockel Salad

Soft Shell Crab

Fried oyster with egg

Shark Fillet

Day 4- time to said good bye to Koh Samui

We would like to said thank you to Maryoo Management and Team especially Khun Arnat and Chin for their warm welcome and hospitality. It was really a memorable trip and we will definetely go back to Maryoo to stay.

Pink Cat Key Chain from Boys Over Flowers Korea

2010-04-12T14:47:00.000+08:00

Pink Cat Key Chain For Sale

Pink Cat Key Chain from the korean series Boys Over The Flowers where Jandi gave the pink cat to Jun Pyo.

Refer to the postcard where Lee Min Ho is hugging the pink cat.

Size of the pink cat key chain is 8cm in height x 3.5cm in width.

Originated from Korea and the creator of the pink cat (Joanne) signed on the postcard.

If you are interested to purchase the pink cat, please contact me or kindly leave your email address in the comment box.

Thank you.

Thai Fish Farm Restaurant, Hulu Langat, Ampang

2010-03-22T12:08:00.000+08:00

Thai Fish Farm Restaurant is located 1km after Ampang Look Out Point.

Once you see Ampang Look Out Point then slow down, there is a right turn where you can see the Thai Fish Farm Restaurant Signage which looks like an arrow. Turn in to the road and drive slowly. The road are quite bumpy. You got to pay RM2 for parking fees. The restaurant opens from 11am till 11pm. I recommend that you go there for lunch rather dinner. At night the road are quite dark and the restaurant is surrounded by the jungle.

The restaurant is next to a fishing pond and is build on woods. Those little huts reminds me of Bandung.

You can see alot of telapia fish in the pond. Therefore if you order any fish dishes, they will just catch the fish from the pond.

Dishes are not expensive. We ate 10 dishes and only RM210. No government and service tax.

Sorry no pictures for sotong and fried chicken as the photographer is busy eating..ha!ha!

We ate the following dishes :-
1. steam telapia in thai style - RM48, highly recommend cos this fish is really fresh
2. steam japanese shell @ escargo. Steam escargo is tasteless but if you deep the escargo into the steam telapia spicy and sour sauce, it will taste nice.
3. steam lady fingers -this is my favourite, very fresh lady fingers
4. grill lamb - small plate RM15, we ate two plates cos it was so delicious
5. petai prawns

6. stir fried garlic with lala

7. paku vegetable with belacan
8. fried chicken - this is very nice
9. sotong top with curry and santan - a unique dish and taste good
10. clear tom yam seafood
11. dessert - chendol and the famous thai water chestnut - RM5 per bowl

No need to wait long for the dishes. Better go early before the crowds starts to come in after 1pm.

We always worry about the cleanliness of the rest room and i can tell you the restroom are very clean. Cleaner than the rest room at PJ Fishing Village at Tropicana.

Address : KM4, Jalan Ampang-Hulu Langat, Ampang, 68000 Selangor
Contact : 019-2606493, 012-3634991

Direction :-
1. If coming from Petaling Jaya, take the Duke Highway
2. You exit the duke highway to Jalan Ampang
3. You will see Flamingo hotel on the right
4. Head towards Ampang Point
5. Once you see Ampang Point on your right, drive straight and you will pass by Waterfront and new shop lots.
6. Once you see the signboard to Carefour, at traffic light turn right. You will see carefour on your right.
7. Go straight until at traffic light turn left where you can see the signboard that states Kajang.
8. Go straight all the way until you see Ampang Lookout Point on your right
9. After 1km, slow down and you will see a signboard on your right in the shape of an ARROW and you turn right into the junction. Drive down slowly and you reach the restaurant.

Thanks to Wendee for the great map!!!
Click on the map to view full size.

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Chamang Waterfall, Bentong

2010-02-01T16:19:00.001+08:00

Exit from Bentong and go towards Bentong town. After Bentong town, look for the signbaord that states Air Terjun Cha Mang. Turn left once you spotted the signboard. You need to drive abt 10KM to the inner road. On the way, you can see alot of durian trees.

Worth visiting if you are in Bentong. Don't bother visiting the hot spring at Bentong. The hot spring is poorly maintain and hardly anyone use it. You don't even dare to put your feet in to the water as you see strange stuff floating on top of the water.

You can also drop by for local ice cream, the row of shops after The Store known as Kedai Kopi Kow Po.This is a well known home made ice cream in Bentong and you can see alot of tourist drop by at this place. Try their cendol with durian ice cream is very nice.

You can stopby at the road side store for durian before you exit to Kuala Lumpur Highway.

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR 2010

2010-01-29T12:23:00.000+08:00

Hatyai and Trang, Thailand

2009-12-23T18:33:00.000+08:00

Drove to Hatyai . Left KL at 6.30am and reach Ipoh 9.30am for breakfast. Leave Ipoh at 10am and arrive Hatyai 4pm. We reached Bukit Kayu Hitam to buy car insurance and is only RM14. Better change money at the border, the rates alot better.

Crossing the border is a mess. You need to park your car and all the passengers must queue at the passport control booth . Make sure you put RM2 into your passport. Just don't ask why!!Once done, go to the next booth to register your car in order to enter to Hatyai. You must drive your car to the booth cos the custom need to check your number plate to ensure it matches your car registration card.

Stayed at Lee Garden Plaza Hotel, the hotel was ok and location is very convenient. Is just htat the room quite dim.Opposite the hotel is Central Shopping Mall and Odeon. Less than 5 mins walk to night market. You can have buffet dinner for only RM15 and buffet breakfast is only RM5 per head.

We went to Trang the next day. Stayed at Thumrin Thana Hotel, hotel quite run down. Visited Tham Lay (Kao Kob) the fresh water cave under the mountain. Roaring in to the canals beneath the mountain are stalactite and stalagmite. You got to lie down flat from the sampan and when I open the eyes i can see the rock next to my face. It was scary. The entire journey is around 3km. Too exciting and scary trip!! You must experience it, no words can describe.

Then we went to snorkelling trip at Trang. Visited Marakot cave, when you view from aerial view, it looks like crater in a volcano. Infact inside the cave is a small island where the pirates use to hide their treasures inside. The locals found this place while looking for bird nests.

Snorkelling not nice, mostly dead corals. Pulau Redang still the best.

Serve authentic thai food. Must book in advance.

Sabannga Restaurant

Open 11am - 2pm, 5pm - 11pm

Tel : 074-429748

081-9690686

Treasures in a pot @"Pun Choy" at Ipoh / Places to eat

2009-12-23T18:20:00.000+08:00

You must try the Treasures in a pot @"Pun choy" or big bowl feast which is served in a big metal bowl. You can find prawns, roast duck, mushroom, scallop, sea cucumber, vegetable, fish maw and etc in one big bowl. You got to eat it one layer at a time. Pun Choy always cook with radish.
The radish and white cabbage is always serve at the bottom of the bowl to absorb all the flavours from the ingredients. The meat are serve on top.
You must try the pun choy at Ipoh for the price of RM298 inclusive lotus leaves fried rice and dessert.

We order the crab fried rice and it was delicious. The crabs flavours are all in the rice. You can't find this in Kuala Lumpur.

We got 12 person and we can't even finish the pun choy and in fact is for 10 pax. I'm not kidding you!!

Advance booking is required, at least few days.

Visit this place at :-
Restaurant Kok Thai
56-64, Lebuh Medan Ipoh
Bandar Baru Medan Ipoh
31400 Ipoh
Perak
Tel: 05-5468407, 5479581
Susana Tan at 016-5157178

At the same time, do order the fluffy kaya puff at Sin Eng Heong shop. Each kaya puff is only RM0.80. You must order in advance. Contact : 05-2439659 . The shop is near the famous chicken rice shop Onn Kee, just few rows away.
Address :-
No. 64, Jln Mustapha Al-Bakri,
Jln Clare,30300,Ipoh Perak.

Good places to eat in Hong Kong 2009

2009-12-05T20:45:00.000+08:00

Sai Kung is a well known place in Hong Kong for fresh seafood. You can choose the seafood you want and ask the restaurant to prepare for you. In the morning, you can see the people selling fresh seafood on the boat near the pier.

Hong Kong during end of November where all the christmas deco and lights are up.

Ngong Ping 360 degrees

Big Buddha at Lantau Island Went to HK end November via Cathay Pacific. Stay at Royal Plaza Hotel. If you ever want to travel to HK, always book via Cathay Pacific as their package is really cheap. Package includes half day city tour, additional 10 Kg and airport transfers to hotel. I paid RM2300 per person for 7 days 6 nights. Really a good deal.

Royal Plaza Hotel location is very convenient, below is the bus station and MTR station and next to it the Grand Century Plaza Shopping Centre. You can also have dim sum at a chinese restaurant near Red Box Karoake at Level 7, Grand Century Plaza. The hotel room at Royal Plaza is huge.

This year there is no christmas deco at Central due to East Asian Games 09.

Disney land fireworks now starts at 8pm. This year they got Its a small world attraction. Able to take picture with Buzz Lightyear. hee..hee.. The christmas parade was great, 2 years ago it was raining and there was no parade. At least this year i able to see the full parade.

As for Ngong Ping 360 to Lantau Island, they got 2 types of cable car, one is the normal type which ticket priced HKD98 and another is crystal cabin which price something like HKD157. Crystal cabin means the cabin floor is a glass panel where you can view the hill from your cabin. If you are not afraid of height, i recommend you to take the crystal cabin. In fact if you are going to lantau island on peak season, is best that u take crystal cabin. Cos there is no queue for crystal cabin. We queue for 45 minutes for normal cabin. Damn tired!!

If you still have the time, you can shop at City Outlet the shopping mall at Tung Chung Station for all the branded outlets e.g. nike, levi's, puma, addidas, esprit and etc.

To go to the peak, take MTR to Central and exit J2.
This is the first time when I experience people mountain people sea at the peak tram. The queue starts outside the station. Therefore we took a cab to victoria peak and only RM25.

Regard to food, we did try the wan ton mee at Wellington Street known as Mark Noodle. This round was really dissapointed with the pricing. A bowl of wan ton mee cost HKD30 which is equivalent to RM15. One plain noodle with prawn rolls with no vegetable cost HKD40 (RM20). Just because Antony Bourdain visited the store. Opposite the store Jin Jai Kee only sell a bowl of wan ton mee for HKD16. According to locals, they prefer to dine at Jin Jai Kee. Well, Mark Noodle is famous for their traditional noodle, u can still give it a try.

Below are the list of restaurant that we visited :-

Shanghai Xiao Nan Guo Cuisine
Upper ground, TST centre, 66 Mody Road, Tsim Tsa Tsui, Kowloon
Business hours : 11.30am - 3pm, 6pm -11pm
Tel : 22582238
email : enquiry@xiaonanguo.com
- shanghainese food and something different. Worth trying. Their dessert are very nice. Famous for siew lung pau @ dumplings.

Tao Heong 88
www.taoheong.com.hk
- we had cheesy noodle with lobsters, hokkien fried rice with scallop, roast goose and etc and the bill only came up to RM300. Highly recommend. The restaurant also serve steamboat but did not had the chance to try it.

Gong Cha (Bubble Tea)

Fa Yuen Street, Mongkok

come down from royal plaza hotel/grand century plaza, take escalator to Fa Yuen Street, 2nd shop from your right. Must try their bubble tea, most of the time long queue.

Porridge, Hot Soya Bean

Just opposite Gong Cha
come down from royal plaza hotel/grand century plaza, take escalator to Fa Yuen Street, Shop is at the left hand site. You can see them selling cold soya bean, yau chow kwai and steam cake. Must try their hot soya bean and only HKD8. 2 person can share for hot soya bean.

Kam Wah Cafe and Bakery
G/F 47 Bute Street, Mongkok
(Prince Edward MTR B2 Exit)
- famous for "poh lau bau" @ bun. Their bun is so soft. You can order bun with egg with ham, bun with char siew or just the bun with butter. Highly recommend!!! It seems this is a famous store in Mongkok.

Jumbo Kingdom
Dragon Court

Shum Wan Pier Drive, Wong Chuk Hang, Aberdeen, Hong Kong

Tel : 25539111

Website : http://www.jumbokingdom.com

- nice environment where u can view the yacht. Food is great too and not pricey. We had dim sum, noodles and rice. And you have a free ferry ride at Aberdeen...hee..hee..therefore no need to pay HKD$50 for the cruise.

If you want to go Macau and want to arrange for a day tour, you can contact the following person.

Macau Driver Contact :-

Si Tou Wa

+853 66239678

ATTRACTIONS AT TAI O

Tai O

How To Get There

Tai O Fishing Village, Lantau Island (Outlying Island)1. Catch ferry from Central Pier 6 (MTR Hong Kong Station Exit E1. Walk through IFC mall) to Mui Wo, then bus 1 to Tai O.

2. MTR Tung Chung Station, then bus 11 from Tung Chung Town Centre.

From Ngong Ping Road, take bus 21

Kwun Yum TempleBe sure to check out the 80-year-old Kwun Yum Temple in Tai O. Kwun Yum is popular with Asians of various faiths and is commonly known as the Goddess of Mercy.

Kwan Tai Temple

This temple honours Kwan Tai, the God of War and Righteousness and was built in the reign of Hong Zhi (1488 – 1505 A.D.) during the Ming dynasty. In real life, Kwan Tai was a general renowned for his loyalty and is said to protect devotees from evil.

Yeung Hau Temple

This temple honours Hau Wong, a local court official from the late Sung dynasty in the 1270s whose real name was Yang Lianghie. A bell cast in the 38th year of the Kangxi (1699) was also placed in the temple.

Former Tai O Police Station

Dating from 1902, this building is one of the earliest police stations built in the New Territories. It is situated on a small hill next to the Tai O Ferry Pier.

Tai O Market

Browsing in the stalls and shops around Tai O is always a lot of fun, too. Be sure to check out the locally produced fish paste and salted fish for a unique culinary experience

Attractions at Hong Kong

The Peak Hong Kong

1. Take the Peak Tram from the Lower Peak Tram Terminus on Garden Road (Bus 15C from the lay-by outside Central Pier 6 or walk from MTR Central Station Exit J2)

2. Bus 15 from Exchange Square Bus Terminus (MTR Hong Kong Station Exit D)

3. Green minibus 1 from MTR Hong Kong Station Public Transport Interchange.

Ocean Park Hong Kong

Bus 629 from MTR Admiralty Station Exit B.

Lan Kwai Fong

MTR Central Station Exit D2. Walk along Theatre Lane and uphill to D'Aguilar Street. About 5 minutes walk to Lan Kwai Fong.

SoHo District

MTR Central Station Exit D2, and turn right to Theatre Lane. Walk along Queen's Road Central towards The Center. Then take the Central-Mid-Levels Escalator.

Golden Bauhinia Square ( Expo Promenade )

MTR Wan Chai Station Exit A5. Walk across the footbridge, head right and through the lobby of Central Plaza, continue on across the connecting overhead walkway, then descend to ground level. Head towards the waterfront ahead and the statue and monument is on the left. About a 15-minute walk.

Hollywood Road / Upper Lascar Row / Cat Street

1. Bus 26 outside Pacific Place at Admiralty to Hollywood Road and get off near Man Mo Temple.

2. MTR Central Station Exit D2 and turn right to Theatre Lane. Walk along Queen's Road Central towards The Center. Then take the Central - Mid-Levels Escalator to Hollywood Road.

Clock Tower

1. MTR Tsim Sha Tsui Station Exit E, walk towards Salisbury Road, turn right, take pedestrian next to YMCA to Hong Kong Cultural Centre. Then turn right and walk straight ahead towards the waterfront.

2. Take Star Ferry from Central or Wan Chai and follow the signs. The clock Tower is located next to the Tsim Sha Tsui Star Ferry Pier.

A Symphony of Lights(every day starts 8pm)

Avenue of StarsMTR East Tsim Sha Tsui Station Exit J, and follow the signs to the Avenue of Stars and Tsim Sha Tsui Waterfront.

Golden Bauhinia Square

MTR Wan Chai Station Exit A5. Walk across the footbridge, head right and through the lobby of Central Plaza, continue on across the connecting overhead walkway, then descend to ground level. Head towards the waterfront ahead, and the statue and monument is on the left. About a 15-minute walk.

Ladies' Market

1.MTR Mong Kok Station Exit E2, then walk along Nelson Street for two blocks.2.Bus 1, 1A, 2, 6 or 6A from Tsim Sha Tsui Star Ferry Pier.

Temple Street Night Market

1. MTR Jordan Station Exit A. Turn right into Jordan Road and walk three blocks to Temple Street.2. MTR Yau Ma Tei Station Exit C, walk along Man Ming Lane to Temple Street.

Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple

MTR Wong Tai Sin Station Exit B2 or B3.

Sai Kung

1. Bus 92 from MTR Diamond Hill Station Exit C2 Bus Terminus

2. Green minibus 1A from MTR Choi Hung Station Exit C2.

3. Green minibus 101M from MTR Hang Hau Station Exit B1 to Sai Kung Market.

You can buy dried seaweeds for 3 packets at HKD50. You can see people selling seafood on the boat. You can also take ferry ride over to Kui Chui Beach to walk around and ferry ride only HKD20 for return. Must try their ice cream known as Mister Softies. Very nice!!

Stanley Market

1. MTR Hong Kong Station Exit D and take bus 6, 6A, 6X, 66 or 260 at Exchange Square Bus Terminus.

2. MTR Causeway Bay Station Exit B, walk to Tang Lung Street then take green minibus 40.

3. Bus 973 from Tsim Sha Tsui East Bus Terminus or Canton Road outside Silvercord Centre.

You can buy linen table cloth, coasters, linen bags.

You can buy HK t-shirts for 4 pieces at HKD100, the quality is alot better than ladies market.

'1881 Heritage'

MTR Tsim Sha Tsui Station Exit E, walk towards Salisbury Road, turn right, take subway (Pedestrian tunnel) next to YMCA to '1881 Heritage'.

Located on Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, '1881 Heritage' boasts an area of 130,000square feet. It features a shopping mall, a heritage hotel, and an exhibition hall. The original site of ‘1881 Heritage’ was the headquarters of the Hong Kong Marine Police from the 1880's to 1997. The buildings’ unique Victorian architecture epitomizes its rich colonial background. Except for the Former Fire Station, the Former Marine Police Headquarters Main Building, Former Stable Block, Former Time Ball Tower were declared monuments by the Antiquities and Monuments Office in 1994, as proof of their historical significance.

Ngong Ping 360

MTR Tung Chung Station Exit B and walk 5 minutes to the Tung Chung Cable Car Terminal.

Walk to the Temple and visit the vegetarian store for their desserts. Must eat their tow foo fah.

Po Lin Monastery

1.Catch ferry from Central Pier 6 (MTR Hong Kong Station Exit E1. Walk through IFC mall) to Mui Wo, then take bus 22.MTR Tung Chung Station Exit B, then take bus 23 from Tung Chung Town Centre

Lamma Island

Catch ferry from Central Pier 4 (MTR Hong Kong Station Exit E1. Walk through IFC mall).

Food Picture : -

Bo Loh Bun with egg and ham

Trip to Adelaide, Australia

2009-09-29T15:47:00.000+08:00

Went to Adelaide, Australia to celebrate my birthday. Took Malaysian Airlines and it was a full flight. 4am they serve us breakfast - yogurt and cereal bar. My friend woke me up at 3am to celebrate my birthday. They bought cake to the plane. It was really fun and guess we did woke up our neighbours...ha!ha!

We arrived Adelaide 6am, aus time. We went to Hertz to get our car. According to Hertz is cheaper to rent your car from your travel agent rather walk in to HERTZ counter. They gave us Toyota Camry sport version and is red color. We check all the oils and tyres to ensure everything is in order before we drove off. We brought our own GPS.

1st destination is find our breakfast. Therefore we went to Adelaide Central Market to find food. Yummy breakfast and we ate toast bread, bacon, ham, mushroom, eggs for Aus$10.50.

You can get your nuts at NUTS BAR, Stall 76 at Adelaide Central Market.Then we went to Rundell Street to walk around. Stopby at Woolworth to buy food stuff and drinks.

Our itinery (our actual itinery are in red text) :-

Day 1 (19 Sep 2009 - 20 Sep 2009) Adelaide city
Upon arrive, pick up car at the airport and self drive to hotel for check in. free at own.
- visited adelaide central market
- rundell street
- woolworth to buy food stuff
- dinner at melbourne street at Tiger Lily for thai food. Food not that great and quite expensive.
Overnight : Freedom Adelaide Meridian Hotel, 21-37 Melbourne Street, North Adelaide.
Check in time : 12pm

How to get to Freedom Adelaide Meridien
The Hotel is in Melbourne Street, North Adelaide, just over the parklands from the city centre. From the Airport you can take a taxi directly to the hotel or drive yourself to the city and take King William Street, North over the river Torrens and then turn East down Sir Edwin Smith Avenue which turns into Melbourne Street.

Day 2 (20 Sep 2009 -21 Sep 2009) Barossa Valley
One of world's most famous and historic wine regions, the Barossa, is a one-hour drive north east of Adelaide. Take the picturesque route through the Adelaide Hills, via Chain of Ponds and Kersbrook to arrive at Williamstown. Just outside the town is the Barossa Reservoir with its engineering feat, the Whispering Wall. The wall has a remarkable acoustic phenomenon - messages whispered at one side can be heard clearly at the other end, 140 metres away.
Continue on to Lyndoch, perhaps stopping for morning tea at the Lyndoch Bakery. You can also stop by at Lavender Farm and it closes at 4pm. The lavender are so beautiful.

After Lyndoch, there is an endless choice of attractions and wineries. Do drop by at Trevor Jones, the wine is great. At Rowland Flat, visit the Jacob's Creek Visitor Centre, 'home' to the famous wine and the creek, and the cellar door of the major wine company Orlando Wyndham. You can buy small bottle of wines (6) at AUS$18.

Other wineries on this route include Grant Burge Wines and St Hallett Wines, each known for their premium wines.
The town of Tanunda is a delight, and a walk around is the best way to see its unique historic attractions. There are good country cafés, bakeries and antique and craft shops too.We had our dinner at Tanuda Chicken where they serve you roast chicken. If you want sauce for the chicken, you need to purchase at Aus$2.50.

Other recommended wineries on the outskirts of Tanunda include Chateau Tanunda, Peter Lehmann Wines, Richmond Grove and Langmeil Winery.

Drive to the town of Angaston via Mengler Hill .Lookout for one of the best views of the Barossa Valley. In Angaston, visit Angas Park Fruit Company to purchase some delicious dried fruits or Barossa Valley Cheese Company for delicious cheeses. Both Saltram Winery and Yalumba are near Angaston also well worth a visit. We visited Angas Park Fruit to buy dried fruits. Kinda expensive compare to Adelaide Central Market.

This afternoon continue exploring the wineries of the region, perhaps visiting those near the town of Nuriootpa, such as Elderton Wines, Penfolds Wines and the striking contemporary setting of Wolf Blass Visitor Centre. There's good dining throughout the Barossa. For picnic fare and to taste great regional produce, Maggie Beer's Farm Shop is highly recommended. For dinner, try 1918 Bistro & Grill in Tanunda; Vintners Bar & Grill or Salters, both near Angaston; or Apellation at Marananga.
Adelaide - Tanunda: 71km, 1 hour 10min
Adelaide - Tanunda via Chain of Ponds: 74km, 1 hour 20 minutes
Overnight : Novotel Barossa Valley
Check in time : 2pm, check out time : 11am
Golf Links Road, (PO Box 942), Rowland Flat, Barossa Valley, SA, 5118
Tel: +61-8-8524-0000 Fax: +61-2-8524-0100 Email: H3026-re01@accor.com

Novotel Hotel, very nice scenery facing the hills and vineyard. The room are huge. Very clean and highly recommended. Per nite is Aus$233.

Day 3 (21 Sep 2009 - 22 Sep 2009) Adelaide City
Overnight : Freedom Adelaide Meridian Hotel, 21-37 Melbourne Street, North Adelaide.
Check in time : 12pm
Visited Cleland Park and entrance fees is Aus$16. It was raining heavily and windy, therefore we got to wait till 2pm to see the koala. You can take pictures with the koala. If you wish to carry the koala you got to paid AUS$30. You only can take pictures with Koala from 2pm-4pm.
We did not go to Mt Lofty cos too cold.
At night we drove to O'Connell Street, North Adelaide for Thai Food. You can try eating at Pattaya Thai next to the japanese restaurant. The portion are big and very nice food. We had our chicken with cashew nuts, tom yam and another pork dish with vegetables. Total bill AUS$52. O'Connell street got lots of restaurant and the parking is a problem.

Day 4 (22 Sep 2009 - 23 Sep 2009) Fleurieu Peninsula
Less than 30 minutes drive from Adelaide, the Fleurieu Peninsula has rolling hills of vineyards, untouched bushland, stunning beaches and dramatic coastlines. Spend a day visiting some of McLaren Vale's 50 cellar door outlets, and art and craft galleries, olive and almond shops. And tackle the Cheese and Wine Trail.
Visited MENZ chocolate factory, famous for chocolates and fruit sweets. You can stop by at Olives and Almonds shop. Then Olive shop. There is one dried fruit and nuts shops at the corner, the nuts are very cheap. You can also buy figs to boil lotus soup.

Continue south to Victor Harbor, South Australia's most famous coastal resort town. Renowned as a great place for watching southern right whales in winter, it is also home to a colony of little penguins on Granite Island(penguin interpretive tour $12.50). The island is a short walk across the timber causeway or a pleasant ride on the horse-drawn tram.($7) appx 40mins for return trip. (place to visit nearby : Urimbirrra Wildlife Park / The south australian whale centre)
The granite island tour starts at 6.30pm and you got to walk to the island which takes 15-20 minutes. We did not able to take the horse drawn tram cos it was closed at 4pm. It was raining heavily and very cold. The penguin tour lasted for 1 hour. We had our dinner at a thai restaurant which is open till late if you need hot soup and hot noodles. We stay at Mccracken Country Resort and the room are huge, you even got a spa tub in your bathroom unfortunately we do not have time to use it. The room faces the golf course. Room per nite is AUS$150, worth staying.

Adelaide - McLaren Vale: 40km, 40min
McLaren Vale - Victor Harbor: 45km, 45min
Overnight : Mccracken Country Club
Mccracken Drive , Victor Harbour, 08-85510200.
Check in time : 2pm, check out : 10.30am

Day 5 / 6 (23 Sep 2009 – 25 Sep 2009) Adelaide Hills
Stay at Hahndorf Inn Motor Lodge
AUS290 for 2 nites
35a Main Street, Hahndorf South Australia 5245
This logde is very nice, room is huge. Very convenient location, walking distance to main street.
Shop at Lavender Shop and the owner is really helpful. You can find alot of things from lotion, body gel to sweets at this shop. We stopped by at one shop that sells spices known as The Pickle. You should try their cashew mustard which is AUS$7 and their spicy pork spices. Salami cost AUS$9.50.
We had buffet dinner at Cedar Brasserie, the gaming place which is only AUS$19.50. They serve great food. Worth trying. We had german food at Handorf Inn. We order a german platter which consist of pork knuckles, pork ribs, sausages, potatoes and pretzels. Really big portion and we can't even finish it and only cost AUS$52.50 where you can't find this price in Malaysia. Highly recommend.You should try the apple pie at their bakery shop which is before the supermarket. The apple pie got to eat it cold and cost is AUS$11. The apple are so crunchy, totally different from Malaysia. Must try!! Travel south to the Adelaide Hills this morning, stop at Birdwood, the National Motor Museum ($9) shares an automotive treasure house and the stories of Australian motoring. Check out the sights and sounds of Hahndorf to find great spots for kids, like Humbugs lolly shop, the Hahndorf Puppet Shop, the fairy shop and more. Climb the world's biggest rocking horse, explore the animal park and buy some quality wooden toys and at the Big Rocking Horse (FOC) at Gumeracha.Visited the biggest rocking horse and you can also enter to their barn for free. You can see kangaroos, sheeps, birds and etc in the barn.
Discover why the whole world loves Adelaide Hills wine at some of our many award-winning wineries - Nepenthe, Shaw + Smith, The Lane at Ravenswood, Bird in Hand and Hahndorf Hill (to name but a few).
Search for treasure (or hunt out a bargain) in the many weird and wonderful antique and second-hand shops of Woodside. See chocolates and lollies being made the old-fashioned way at Melba's Chocolate Factory in Woodside (you can even taste them fresh the production line). Housed in an historic former cheese factory, Melba's is choc-aholic heaven.Instead buying chocolate we bought alot of cow stuff e.g cow bell, cow photo holders, apron with cow elements and etc. I can't believe that i can get my cow collection in the chocolate shop. You can visit the cheese factory next to MELBA.
Stock up on home-made apple pies, fresh fruit and a stack of other regional products at The Old Apple Shed and other cute roadside stalls along the route.
Whistle while you work at Beerenberg Strawberry Farm ($3), picking your own bucket of ripe, red strawberries. Then check out the jam kitchen, the 1840s barn and the historic German wagon used by Hills pioneers. Bought strawberry jam at AUS$4 for 48 pieces, hot mustard for AUS7.

Close by, The Cedars is artist Hans Heysen’s former house and beautiful garden. This is the famous artiste house. You able to view the art gallery. Recommend to stop by.

Set out at sunset to see amazing Australian wildlife at Warrawong Wildlife Sanctuary(self guided FOC / Animal Show $5 / Santuary Tour $5) near MylorGuided night tours are the best way to see all the animals (including platypus), but you can also explore the sanctuary by day (entry is free from 9am until 4pm). Very small wildlife park and you able to see kangaroos and birds. No Koala at this park. You can walk entire park within half an hour.

Cuddle a koala, feed a kangaroo and eyeball an emu at Cleland Wildlife Park(S16). Special kids' activities include self-discovery trails, interactive wild shows, craft activities and scientific explorations.
Tanunda – Hahndorf via Birdwood and Mt Torrens: 77km, 48miles 1 hour 20 minutes

Day 7 / 8 / 9 (25 -27)
Drive to Holdfast shores for Dolphin watch cruise($58 / dolphin swim $98) with Temptation. Dolphins are one of the Earth's most fascinating and curious creatures. Dolphin swimming offers you this once in a lifetime encounter in which you will be touched forever.
Adelaide CBR - Holdfast Shores Marina Glenelg: 10km, 25min
Overnight : Overnight : Freedom Adelaide Meridian Hotel, 21-37 Melbourne Street, North Adelaide.
We did not go for dolphin cruise cos too cold. The weather is crazy. You can visit the fisherman wharf but then only open on weekends.Therefore we explore Port Adelaide where you can get fresh oyster at AUS$10 for 1 dozen. You can find great vietnamese food at the following location, all this road very near Port Adelaide . I called this place vietnamese village:-
a. Grand Junction Road
b. Hanson Road
c. Adison Road - Vietnamse cuisine and always full house..did not able to try it.
You can stopped by at the Vietnamese Supermarket and buy curring powder to make vietnamese pork.

Visited Harbour Town Shopping Mall at Glenelg. You can find alot of branded outlets such as esprit, converse, colorado and etc. Mall closes at 5pm.

Went to brighton road at Glenelg to check out the esplanade. Very beautiful place but unfortunately too cold to walk around. Open parking near Stamford hotel cost AUS$2.50 per hour.

Next to the airport is IKEA...therefore you can still shop and dine at IKEA before you drop off the car to HERTZ.

SUMMARY :-
Parking??
1P means you can park your car for 1 hour
2P means you can park yoyr car for 2 hours
Therefore watch out for the sign.

Vietnamese Food in Adelaide can be found at :-
a. grand junction road
b. hanson road
c. adison road
All above roads are near Port Adelaide.

You can purchase Fresh Oyster at Port Adelaide, the shop is located next to College Road. Turn in at Commercial Road. 1 dozen for AUS$10 where the oyster already open.

Handorf
a. Must try the german platter at Handorf Inn
b. lavender products at Lavender Shop
c. apple pie at bakery shop before the supermarket
d. strawberry jam, honey, mustard at Beeremberg
e. buffet dinner at Cedar Brasserie, aus$19.50 per pax at the restaurant which got gaming centre.

Water
You can purchase 10 litre of water at the supermarket e.g Woolworth, Foodland for only AUS$4. Is very convenient to use, is cheaper then purchasing bottle.

Fast food restaurant does not provide ketchup. Ketchup can cost AUS0.40 per sachet.

Adelaide is a quiet place and with beautiful scenery. I don't think I will ever visit Adelaide again.The weather is too cold and our skins are dry. I don't think I can ever migrate to Adelaide. :)

Overall i did enjoy the trip with my friends and is unbelievable that i'm the driver and navigator. Great achievement for me.....as i hate driving..ha!ha! We only get lost in the city. You need a GPS when you travel in the city and make sure the map are updated.

My 1st Pottery Class

2009-09-17T10:50:00.000+08:00

Attended 3 hours session at Sunway University on pottery workshop. The workshop teaches you on how to make sauce plates using clay. You need to have patience to do this. Your need to control the strength on your hand when using the clay.
As you know I love cows alot therefore i created my sauce plates with cow elements on it... Well, this is the 1st pottery workshop so don't expect anything great... I able to create the cow head...hee..hee...

Well need to wait for 1 month before i can collect all this items from the instructor. Then will upload the final result of my cow sauce plates and spoon.

Fungus Cake provided by NOEL

2009-08-28T18:57:00.000+08:00

Today is my friend birthday and he received a cake specially delivered to him from NOEL.
After all the birthday songs, cake cutting ceremony and everyone wants to eat this delicious Caramel Banana Cake.

Look what they found in the cake. Fungus in the cake and refer to the pictures below.

Well of cos he is mad and the buyer contacted NOEL, guess what is the reply. The cake is not supply by NOEL but our partner. Well, don't you think NOEL is so irresponsible. You should have quality check on your partner. This will really affect NOEL in terms of branding.

Anyway I used to order my gifts and cake from NOEL, I decided to use other gift sites.
Is it so embarrassed. To my friend it is a memorable gift from NOEL as he is a loyal customer with NOEL for the last 10 years. Guess he would not ever order anything from NOEL...

Is time for NOEL to provide service recovery. To retain a customer is more difficult than to acquired new customer. Especially for some one who is with your company for 10 years.

Unforgettable trip to Kuala Selangor

2009-08-21T14:56:00.000+08:00

This happen few years ago where we went to Kuala Selangor for a day trip. We visited Bukit Melawati where those days you can drive your car all the way up to see the light house. We had our dinner at Assam Jawa Restaurant ( according to my friend already closed down). They serve the best coconut prawns.

Kuala Selangor is the place where you can witness the sights of millions of fireflies. You need to take a boat ride along Selangor River there the fireflies inhibit around the branches of berembang trees along the riverbank.

We went to Bukit Belimbing (http://www.fireflypark.com/home.htm) to see the fireflies instead of Kampung Kuantan. Of cos Kampung Kuantan is more adventure and romantic cos is a sampan ride. The sampan can only take 4 pax. Since i got 10 person with me so decided to take them to Bukit Belimbing where they ride on a proper boat which can accomodate max 12 pax and better safety.

The fireflies is like flashing christmas lights. Is really beautiful and you cannot imagine such a small insect can do wonders. Everyone was amazed with the flashing fireflies and you can hear " look at right, more fireflies there", wow so beautiful and etc.......very noisy group.

After 20 mins journey of enjoying the fireflies, suddenly we saw something flooding on the river and we thought was some woods or rubbish. My mom kept insist the boat man to turn back to the jetty. My mom and my aunt sat in front of the boat and kept asking what is the "thing" floating. We said nothing la, just some plank woods floating. We are seating at the back therefore we could see something submerge but can't really see what is it. We know the river got crocodile but never strike our mind.We decided to ask the boat man what is that. He said, please keep quiet, this is our member. Then we realized the thing we are talking about is CROCODILE. We quietly wear our life jacket and start holding each other hand. Suddenly everyone was quiet, TOTAL SILENCE compared 20 mins ago. Praying hard that my aunt would not shout else everyone will get hurt cos the crocodile is just next to our boat. I can see the head submerge to the water. Normally the journey is about 30-45 mins but we took more than an hour to go upstream so that we would not meet the crocodile when we are back.

We finally reach the jetty and everyone was asking each other, what did you see.... you can see that they just want to go home and want to leave this place ASAP. No one ever dare to mention what they saw. My friend face was pale and not even a word from her. She is really scared. Anyway we really thank GOD that we are safe and alive. Crocodile is just the beginning.

Is time to go home, my sister lead the way and we kept driving and suddenly we realised we are LOST. We can't see any signboards. And is around midnight, left and right is jungle,total darkness and misty. Handphone got no signal and we dunno where we are. This is the first time we get lost after so many times to Kuala Selangor. Both car stop side by side to discuss what shall we do, should we just go straight or turn back. So we decided to turn back. We saw a mamak store and everyone came down to the car to relax, change driver and then ask the owner for direction. The owner said just follow the road, turning back is too far. So we got no choice but to just take the same road, after half an hour journey, we saw one car coming towards us and everyone was so happy. We saw lights and we are on the right track. Everyone in the car was praying to GOD for safety and direction. We took the wrong turn and ended up to Rawang. We reached home at 1am, everyone was tired and scared after all the incidents. 1st we saw crocodile next to our boat, 2nd we get lost middle of no way.
Only next day we decided to speak out...is that CROCODILE that we saw and the answer is YES.

An unforgettable trip for my family, cousins and friends. None of us visited Kuala Selangor after the incident. We did not even mention Kuala Selangor in any of our day trip now. It use to be my favourite spot. Well, i heard from my friend that now you can take the mini train up to Bukit Melawati, Pasir Penambang is very clean now. I used to buy fish paste and seafood there. Guess is time to pay a visit after so many years.

Cakes Decoration, Wilton Course 1

2009-07-14T17:23:00.000+08:00

Took the Wilton Course 1 on cakes decoration using butter icing on June 20, 2009 till July 11th 2009. Able to learn alot of tips and my classmates are very nice people. Kinda crazy too..ha!ha!

This is the cake that I decorated during my graduation. Those roses are hand made. Each of us got to make at least 30 roses. With the help of my sister, I'm able to complete it. Is not easy, every petals that you create got to follow the steps. Frankly speaking very tired exercise. Therefore do appreciate it when someone gave you cake which is nicely decorated. This cake are meant for viewing and no one will eat cos the icing is too sweet. You can't reduce the icing sugar cos the consistency of the butter icing would not be there. The consistency divided into 3 types - stiff, medium and thin. Stiff is use to create rose petals. Medium use to create clowns, leaves and etc and thin is use f

Aren't this roses beautiful....took us quite some time to create it.

Learn how to create a clown on top of the cup cake. This is really easy, we just need to pump the icing to make the shape of the leg, body and hand. Then just put the clown head on it.

Cup Cakes Decoration

2009-07-09T18:13:00.001+08:00

Attended one day workshop at ICCA on how to decorate cupcakes using fondant. It was fun and it bring back old memories. Is like playing dough when you are small. Below are my creations. The ballerina and handbag. Isn't it nice??

Carrot cake which i bake for my uncle birthday....taste good!!!

1st time baking cup cakes and decorating it with butter icing. Simply pipping the icing on the cake. Wait till i take up the cake decoration from wilton course and definitely you will see improvements on it.

ATV Ride

2009-05-28T15:45:00.001+08:00

Went for ATV ride at Kemensah Waterfall behind Zoo Negara.
We took the package - ATV 2 hours off-road ride to the awesome Ulu Kelang Dam for only RM150. Our instructor MAS train us how to operate and control the ATV outside their office. It was easy controlling it on a flat land.

6 of us went for this adventure. We always want to try something new. We have no problem going up the hill. You just got to go all the way up without pressing the break.
We reach one steep hill and one by one will go up. The instructor will wait for us on top of the hill.
So when comes to my turn, I lost control and hit on the side of the slope and was holding on to the ATV, waiting for my friends to rescue me. The instructor came running down and he told me, you love my ATV bike very much that you still holding on to it. My pose is like superman pose, both hands straight. I was lucky that i'm still alive that the ATV did not fall on me.

Since my friends and sister saw my situation, we decided to take a break.

So my instructor seek my guy friend help to drive the ATV down. He nearly lost control and lucky he able to make it. Else we see him flying to the ravine. We were standing there wathching and kept shouting his name. Too panic and frighten. Really dunno what to said.

Below is our instructor taking his break, he needs a cigarette badly after what he saw.Guess we gave him high blood and heart attack.

After long discussion with our instructor, we decided to give up and we are not even half way to the dam. Too scared to continue the journey.

We are lucky to be alive..ha!ha!

We are not suppose to take this package as we don't even know how to control the bike, this package is more for professional.

Is a life time experience and if you dare to take the challenge, you should try.

Just that we are not fit for this kind of adventure...ha!ha!

You can visit their web site at http://www.atvmalaysia.net/

Contact : MELIZA , 019-3407895

Travel Insurance

2009-05-28T15:34:00.000+08:00

Finally we got our compensation from Air Asia, this is due to flight delay in Bandung which we waited for more than 7 hours. We got 500,000 rupiah which is equivalent RM170 e-voucher. We got to utilised the voucher by end August. Voucher only valid for 3 months. Do we still want to fly Air Asia? Just to utilised this voucher...gosh!!! Got to think twice. I rather pay more to travel MAS or SIA.

We bought travel insurance and according to the policy we can claim if the flight delay more than 7 hours onwards. Yeap, we can claim up to RM300 but the insurance company insisted that we get an email from Air Asia stating that the flight is delay even thou we got the Air Asia voucher. We been calling Air Asia Customer Service and email to their guest support services. Till now no reply from them. Some more Dato Tony Fernandes send enews stating Airasia has improved their customer service and it will provide excellence service. I doubt it.

So in future is better to buy Air Asia insurance directly to avoid the claim hassle. I don't know whether we will get our RM300. Anyway submitted all the documents and just wait for the good news.

Each time you travel, is best to buy travel insurance to cover your medical expenses.

Now credit cards do not provide any more claims for flight delay. sigh.....

What's next?

2009-05-15T18:44:00.001+08:00

Shifted to new office in March. Everytime we shift office sure someone is sick. This time is the worst. One of my staff got chicken pox, one got high fever and another admitted to hospital twice. As for me, suppose to admit to hospital for stomach bacteria, need to go for injection and drip and ended up still surviving. I wonder how long can I last. Must pray really hard that all this will end soon. So that my department will be lively again. Now entire department is so quiet and everyone is so worry, who's next?

The staff that admitted to hospital got fever for 2 weeks, doctor suspected dengue and after blood test shows normal. Now two specialist is seeing her and the specialist said is more complicated than swine flu. Got to run thorough check on her e.g. mri scan, ct scan, x-ray, bladder, kidney and etc. Hope she is ok. Wonder what kind of virus is this that is so strong.

Today ,15th May 2009 announced first swine flu in Malaysia. The guy just came back from United States and staying at Sg Buloh Hospital.

Is it a cycle? First came JE, follow by SARS and now SWINE FLU. I wonder what's next.

Economy is already bad and with all this FLU it definetely affect the tourism industry.

Hopes all this will end ASAP. Let's start praying to GOD for good health. Also pray hard that all my staff have speedy recovery.

Bandung, Indonesia

2009-05-05T13:49:00.000+08:00

Took air asia to bandung and flight is almost 2 hours. Time difference in bandung is 1 hour. We stay at Aston Bandung Hotel and Residence. The room was ok. Staff very friendly.
We visited Musuem and spent most of the time shopping at Rumah Mode. According to our guide Lucy and Win Win, Bandung got 40 factory outlets and majority own by few owners. So certain places you will see the same things.

You should only shop at the following places and don't waste other time visiting other factory outlets.
a. Secret
b. Rumah Mode
c. Heritage
d. Renarati (opposite secret)

Grande, Espisode at Jln Dago nothing much. Hardly can get any stuff there.

Places to eat :-
a. The Valley - bistro cafe & Resort Hotel
Jln Lembah Pakar Timur 28 (Dago), Bandung
Tel : (022) 2511450
Please remember to make reservation first. Weekends always fully booked.
The Valley serve western food and price start from RM17 onwards. A beautiful night scene and can view entire bandung from the peak. Picture below is mix grill...yummy!!

b. Tomodachi
Jalan Sukajadi No. 193 Bandung 40162
Tel : (022) 2036755
Tomodachi served western food - must try their beef chowder and mix grill. Don't bother their teriyaki set. Western food is still the best.

c. Bebek Van Java Restaurant
Lombok 47, Bandung 40114
Tel : 022 76751777
Famous for bebek. Bebek means duck.

d. Rumah Stroberi
Jalan Cigugur Girang No.145
Parongpong Kabupaten Bandung
Tel: 022 91144272
Must try their strawberry juice. You can't find it in KL. Their grill fish is very nice compare to their fried chicken. At the same time you can visit the strawberry farm. Their entire concept is very nice. Highly recommend.

e. Kampung Daun Cafe @ Lembang
The food is quite nice, famous among tourist. Surround by nature and also man made waterfall. About 1 hour journey from city. The road are very bumpy. Food that you could try are :-
a. kampung daun special steam rice
b. grilled chicken with honey
c. mie tektek (we did not able to try this, according to the guide is very nice)
As for their dessert we try sekoteng, bandrek, bajigur and i still prefer their boji tea @ local tea. Others are too sweet or taste weird.

f. d'palm sundanese restaurant - sorry did not take their name card. The environment looks nice and did not try their food as i was having severe food poisoning.
Jalan Lombok No.45
Tel : 022-4261623

g. Kartika Sari - this is the place where you can buy snacks e.g. steam brownies, layer cakes, bagelan (bread with butter - very nice)

h. Duck King at Paris Van Java Mall
Since the branch in Jaya One is always pack, therefore we decided to try Duck King. Not as nice as i thought, too salty. The price is similar to KL price.

We visited Tangkuban Perahu and we enjoyed the scenic view of the crater. This volcano is still active. You can shop alot of things there. I bought a wooden craft cow...ha!ha! Make sure you negotiate. You can get fried tofu and tofu snacks on the way to Tangkuban Perahu. Refer to below map.

I got severe food poisoining and luckily our guide Win Win send me to hospital for injection. The hospital is a training ground for the medical student. Yes, i'm really shock and scared and luckily i know what injection i needed. They are helpful and friendly. It only cost me RM30 for doctor consultation fees and medication. Is really cheap. What a day?? The worst yet to come.

Our flight suppose to be at 3.25pm and we waited till 10.40pm bandung time only got flight. The flight from Singapore to =Bandung was cancel due to technical error. Therefore no air plane to bring us home. First annoucement came in at 6pm saying that delay until further notice and hopefully the rescue flight will be here at 10pm. Then 7.30pm, food is served. We got 1 packet of rice and 1 pcs of KFC chicken, indonesian style of eating KFC. I was sick therefore the airasia crew "Three" was very nice , he serve me milo and noodle soup. He is very patience with all of us. Finally 10pm is here, the flight is delay and will be here by 10.40pm. We waited and finally it came...All of us are glad to go home. The airport departure hall is too small and stuffy. The airconditioned is like not working.You can see people sleeping on the floor. Is like we are in the refugee camp. We reached LCCT, KL at 2.40am. Can you imagine how long we suffer in the airport?

I definitely would not fly AIR ASIA , i dont mind paying more to fly MAS or other reputable airlines. 7 hours for flight delay is too much.

If you planning to go bandung, you should spend more time on sightseeing rather on shopping. We were there for 4 days 3 nights and only spend 1 day on sight seeing. Too tiring to shop too many days.

Chicken Pie

2009-04-27T15:32:00.000+08:00

New style of making chicken pie. No need to provide pastry at the bottom of the pie.
Pastry bought from Bake With Yen, which saves you alot of time. This pastry not suitable for apple pie. Try that and does not match.

Ingredients :
chicken, white button mushrooms, mix vegetables, potatoes, sausages and eggs.
cook with one tin of Campbell chicken mushroom soup.

Additional pastry I make Blueberry pie....:)

Cup Cakes at Wonder Milk

2009-04-27T15:04:00.000+08:00

Friends took me to this place known as Wonder Milk at Damansara Utama. This place is quite cozy. This is the place where the young adults hangs out, a place that you want to be seen at. So called "cup cakes trend".

The cafe sells cup cakes and sandwiches. Cup cakes is their signature dish. Guess how much is their cup cakes? RM4.50 for one mini cup cakes which i felt very expensive. Not my cup of tea.

I would not pay RM4.50 for one mini cup cakes. Even I felt J.Co donuts was expensive. Maybe I dont have sweet tooth. ha!ha!

Guess what i did? Quickly drive to Bake With Yen to buy cup cakes ingredient and went home to bake cup cakes..ha!ha! Siow Semacam....Where is the icing ?? Hee..Hee...need to search for recipe first. Will try to make another round of cup cakes and once success then i can sell to my friends...charge them for RM3.50 will do.....hee..hee...

Mini double decker bus with cow motives

2009-04-20T16:17:00.000+08:00

Bought this mini double decker bus at Langham Place, Mongkok, Hong Kong.
This outlet only sells miniature bus and planes.
This design is in conjuction with the year of OX.
Thanks to my photographer Kelvin....for taking such a nice pics for my collections. He still got more pics to takes....guess got to provide accomodation and food for him for at least 2-3 weeks in order to complete my COW BIOGRAPHY....i wonder when can i have a coffee table book for my cows....yeap...i still WAITING for the DAY TO COME....:)

Malacca, Malaysia

2009-04-20T15:00:00.000+08:00

Melaka is like a second home to my family and friends. All our spectacles and watches bought from Melaka. Friends will ask me don't you have optical and watch shop in Kuala Lumpur. Why do you need to travel so far to buy spectacles and watches. Well, is worth the trip and at the same time we can also eat and shop. Ha!Ha!

Best Optical shop in town :-
Kong Wah Optical Shop at Jalan Bunga Raya. Don't go to the wrong shop cos there are alot of Kong Wah around Melaka. You can make your specs within 1 -2 hour. Else he can courier to your house. Look for Paul Lee, he is the optician.

Things to buy in Melaka :-

a. You can buy the heong pang @ caramel biscuits, pineapple tart and the funny triangle biscuits. The triangle biscuits - combination of chicken floss and green bean paste is very unique and taste good. Must try!!

Jing Yuan Biscuit And Bakery
No:45-D, Jalan Ong Kim Wee,
75300 Melaka.
H/P: 012-712 7905

b. Famous pineapple tart shop located at Jonker Street. The shop name known as LW Nyonya Pineapple Tarts House.

Address :

No 41-A-1, Jalan Hang Kasturi, 75300 Melaka

Contact : Lucy Wee, 017-6781626

c. Unique t-shirt at Orang Utan located at Jonker Street.

Places to eat in Melaka :-

a. Nyonya food in Indah Sayang at Melaka Raya. This shop is opposite Ole Sayang. Next to Watson. Must try their otak otak, chicken pongteh, petai prawns and etc.

b. Villiam Restaurant which serve chinese food. This is my family favourite restaurant. You must try their roast duck, shin pun chee @ yam abacus, 2 types of chicken - crispy chicken and another chicken fried with celery, special ducks - stir fried the duck meat and you wrap it with popiah skin. This is not peking duck. Highly recommended.

Address :-

21,23,25 Jalan Kesidang, Melaka Mall, Off Jalan Tun Perak, 75250 Melaka.

Contact : 06-3341687, 06-3341688, 016-3149057

c. East& West Rendezvous - Best cendol in melaka....only locals patron this outlet. Others all goes to the corner shop at Jonker Street. You should try this shop opposite the Orang Utan outlet which is the corner shop, the orang utan outlet behind the San So Gong. Cos in jonker street got 2 orang utan outlet. Some where near the Museum Cheng Ho .

Address :-

60, Lorong Hang Jebat, 75200 Melaka

Contact : Grace Tan, -016-6346283

KL Tower

2009-04-16T09:19:00.000+08:00

Brought my friends from Hong Kong to visit KL tower on 10th April 2009. It was raining heavily. I was shock with the entrance tickets to the observation deck. Guess how much is the ticket now? Even malaysians do not get any discount. Ticket price is RM38 which covers observation deck, winter park and mini zoo. Since it was raining heavily and I ask the staff what can we see in the winter park. Do you have a snow house inside like Genting? No snow house is just decoration. Is just lightings and few pathetic snow man and other characters.

The zoo is ok, you see phytons, turtles, monkeys, snakes and others species.

I felt it is too costly just to visit KL Tower. The ministry of tourism should lower the price or offer special discounts to Malaysians. How do you expect us to boost the tourism? If the price remains RM38 I would rather take my friends to Ampang Lookout Point.

Hanoi & Halong Bay, Vietnam 2009

2009-03-25T17:16:00.000+08:00

Went to Hanoi on 20th March 2009, took MAS. Bought air tickets at RM527 during MAS promo fair. After flying MAS, my friends and family decide to fly MAS onwards instead of AIR ASIA if the price difference is not alot. We were served chicken or beef satay with fried rice, Ferrero Rocher chocolate, yoghurt & fruit dessert. Not bad for the price that we paid. With MAS you does not need to worry about water and food in the flight. Ha!Ha!

We took a private tour for 10 pax via Sunway Travel and in fact all of us agreed that if we paid more when we travel the quality of service is totally different. In fact the accomodation and food was great. I was so worried that i will get food poisoining because i got sensitive stomach. I was ok. I bought 4 tuna spread and 2 boxes of jacob biscuits and 3-in -1 milo. We only ate 1 tuna spread and 1 box of biscuits in the bus. End up i get scolded by my sister for wasting her luggage space for carrying so many food stuff to Hanoi. Ha!Ha!

Our itinery are :-

Day 1 - city tour to history museum, tran quoc pagoda, west lake, buffet dinner at Sen International Restaurant and Water Puppet Show. Overnight at Maison Hotel.

Room at Maison Hotel
Day 2 - Ba Dinh Square, Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum & Residence, one pillar pagoda, temple of literature. 4 hours drive to halong bay. Overnight at Heritage Hotel.

Day 3 - take half day trip to halong bay to view multi-shaped rocks and caves. Seafood lunch on boat. Sightseeing at Hoankiem Lake, Turtle Tower, Ngoc Son Temple and Thehuc Bridge in Hanoi. Cyclo ride for 1 hour to visit old quarters. Overnight at Maison Hotel

Day 4- Shopping at Han Gai and said goodbye to Hanoi.

Experience in Hanoi

Hanoi is a very dusty and polluted place. For those who has sinus problem, pls wear a mask. Is best that you change in USD rather DONG (vietnam currency). Alot of the things e.g. culture very similar to chinese. All the houses are tall and slim because the land in hanoi is very expensive. Therefore you can see some of the houses or shop lots are build towards the top. When the vietnamese got money, they will start adding one block on top of the existing block. They only paint the facade of the house because the side or behind of the house will be occupy by their neighbours. Save money on paint. The cablings are like spider web, lack of township planning.

To drive in Hanoi, you must really follow their driving skill and make sure u r brave enuf. The nightmare is to cross the road. The car or bikes would not stop for you and they dont even bother to stop at the zebra crossing. You just got to walk slowly and the bikers would know how to avoid you. Make sure you don't run or stop in the middle of the road. The clue is that you just need to walk calmly.

This is the famous french baguette.

Street food. You can see how the local spend their time.
Vietnamese loves to eat dog meat and you can find dog meat at the markets at the old quarters. They roast the dog like suckling pig. Please see it properly before you buy. Is not cheap. (Refer to the pictures below...they are selling dog meat like selling roast pork)

As for shopping, things are not cheap and you must bargain. Sometimes even they dont want to entertain us if we bargain too much. This is their attitude and they dont even want to lower USD1 or 2 for you. It seems economy crisis yet to affect them. As for shopping you must go Han Gai, you can find those shops selling bags e.g. kipplings, crumblers, north face and etc, Silk Scarf . We bought silk scarf with 2 tones color around USD7.50 per scarf. Quite cheap compare to KL. Do not walk in to their night market cos not safe. Buy things at the shop is more safer.

Our tour provide cyclo ride @ trishaw ride for 1 hour to go around the hanoi city. Make sure you bring mask to wear as too dusty. Must experience their cyclo ride. Cos you able to experience vietnamese lifestyle, you can see the type of food they eat, hawkers store and the way they prepare the food.

Our meal was great, we ate fresh prawns, crabs every day. First day we had buffet dinner at Sen Restaurant. The buffet line was great - western, japanese, vietnamese and chinese. They only charged USD10 per pax. Very reasonable.

We visited Ho Chi Minh Mousoleum and we got to queue for 1 hour in order to see him. Not allowed to carry your camera and bags. Not allowed to talk in the mousoleum. You can see alot of tourist and local people visit Ho Chi Minh Mousoleum after so many years. He died in 1969 so his body has been there for 40 years. The mousoleum opens at 9am and closes at 11.30am.

Took 4 hours journey to halong bay and along the way you can see alot of rice fields. Halong bay is famous for coal. In veitnam is known as "tan hei". We stayed at Heritage hotel and the hotel room is quite clean and nice. Opposite the hotel is the beach and night market. Is very convenient. You can purchase bags and souvenirs at the night market, make sure you bargain. Is alot cheaper than hanoi.

We took the junk boat to view the multi-shaped rocks and caves. The junk boat is only for 10 of us. All of us was so excited and most of the time we sat on the deck. Lunch was served in the junk boat. We had steamed prawns, steamed crabs, squids, fried kang kung and fried vietnamese spring roll. We stopped at the fishing village and you can buy fresh seafood. They can cook the seafood on the boat for you. The seafood is quite pricy, for one fish can cost USD60. We decided not to buy. Halong Bay is said to be as pretty as Gui Lin in China. I havent been to Gui Lin therefore i cant commen t on it. Highly recommend to visit Halong Bay. Very relax. Most of the tourist visit Halong Bay during summer time and within Halong itself got 500 junk boats. The most important thing is that the washroom is very clean. Another option u can stay at the junk boat.

We watched water puppet show and it was amazing. The shows is only 45 mins.
You must try their local coffee and make sure you must have patience to wait for the coffee to drip into your glass. It took us more than half an hour for the coffee to drip in order to drink it. Make sure you go for ice coffee. Cos if u ask for hot coffee by the time it finish dripping, your coffee already cold. You need to ask for hot water to add into your coffee. I must said the coffee is very nice. The coffee is only USD1. Must Try!!

Macau and HK 2009

2009-01-23T15:11:00.000+08:00

Went to Macau via Air Asia. Macau has changed tremendously compared 2 years ago. Stay at Venetian Macau Hotel. The hotel is too huge and in order to go to your room, you really need to walk at least 10-15 mins.

Living Room

Bathroom at Venetian Hotel

King Size Bed

Venetian Casino

Venetian Shopping MallHow to move around in Macau?
If you are staying at Venetian, then u can take the shuttle bus to Taipa Ferry Terminal to take shuttle bus to other casino which is near the town area e.g. Wynn, Sands, MGM and etc.
Alternative, you can take shuttle bus to Macau Ferry Terminal and then take shuttle bus to other areas or you can also charter a van cum driver cum tour guide to move around in Macau.
If u stay at town area, therefore is convenient for u to take turbo jet at macau ferry terminal to HK, every half an hour ferry. If u want to take 24 hrs ferry then u take the Cotai Strip Ferry at Taipa Terminal which is just 5 mins away fronm Venetian.

Attractions at Wynn
Every half an hour you can see the dragon rising from the egg at Wynn. Do not miss it.
Outside Wynn you can see the musical fountain, do check out the time. Transport info
Name : Chao Kam Heng
Goldfield Travel Services Ltd
contact : 00 853 66302239

I got to know them in macau ferry terminal...so pls contact him to take u guys around and he is very nice...we able to see the place where the yan yuk cha siu pao @ human being pau and now converted to become Victoria hotel.

FOOD info
go to Hak Sa Tan @ black beach at TAIPA, tis place is near Venetian and got to take cab to go there...no bus.
U can eat the best portuguese tart at LORDS STOW'S BAKERY.

Then go to hak sa tan beach area to eat the grill squid, bbq chicken wings at FEI LO store, which is a corner store near the beach. The squid is only MOP7 which is RM3.50. Must try very nice. Then u can try FERNADES portugese food which is icon in macau, according to the guide is very expensive and tourist place. I did not eat there.

Food at Rua do Regedor Loja (in cantonese pronounce as Koon Ya Kai), TAIPA near venetian and must take cab
Portugese food eat at DUMBO Restaurant, is a corner lot and the food quite nice and ask them for recommendation
Address for Dumbo Restaurant:-
Ruo do Regedor Loja, Hei Loi Tang Kong Cheong, Taipa, Macau
Tel : 853 2882 7888

One of the famous dish in Dumbo Restaurant - salted fish with potatoes @ makayau
Can buy biscuits at Koi Kee famous for almond biscuit, peanuts..u can try before u buy.
You can also try crab porriedge opposite koi kei, all this shop along the street
The famous pork bun @ chue pa pao at a corner lot opposite a bus stand somewhere near MCdonald.
Food near St Paul @ tai sa pa (the st paul ruins)
famous for seong pei lai @ steam milk and steam egg @ tun tan at Senando Square.
Is a cornet lot next to Watson, u can see the signboard which got cow on it.
Walk up the street to St Paul and along the street u can buy tshirts, souvenirs and biscuits at Koi Kee and Choi Heong Yuen. Tried their dried meat and is free...u get to eat all the free samples along the street to St Pauls.

Almond Biscuits at Koi Kee

Portugese tart at Margaret's CAfe e Nata opposite SINTRA Hotel
address : Gum Loi Building, tel : 28710032
or Rua Alm. Costa Cabral, tel : 28527791

Food near MGM
Camilo Restaurant famous for local portugese food according to the guide, closed on tuesday.
You can walk from MGM. I did not try out this place cos was closed.

HONG KONG info
Must try STEAMBOAT, do not miss this. Call for TOMATOES SOUP.
TANYOTO Restaurant
2/F, No 26 Kimberly Road
Tsim Tsa Tsui, Kowloon
contact : 852 81200033
call for booking otherwise long queue.
Pour the tomatoes soup to the below bowl which got peanuts, spring onions, celery and little bit of chilies. Then u dip your food into the sauce to eat.

Wan Tan Mee at Wellington Street, Central
Shop name : Mark Noodle or Jin Jai Kee

For local food can go Mongkok or Fa Yuen Kai near Royal Plazal Hotel or Grand Century Shopping Centre. Fa Yuen Kai the local food and breakfast is cheaper and quite nice.

For dessert, you can try Honeymoon Dessert Restaurant at Sai Kung or inside Langham Place, Mongkok.

Mulu Caves, Sarawak

2008-12-16T16:31:00.001+08:00

Mulu Caves is located in Sarawak. We took air asia flight to Miri and then only fly to Mulu. We stayed at Royal Mulu Resort, that is the only chalet available. The resort was ok. Refer to the picture.

Introduction of Mulu :-

Gunung Mulu National Park is one of Nature's most spectacular achievements and the 'jewel in the crown' of Sarawak's expanding network of national parks. It is also the largest national park, covering 52,865 hectares of primary rainforest, which is criss-crossed by fast flowing rivers and clear jungle streams.

A plankwalk leads through the forest to Deer and Lang's Cave whilst Clearwater Cave and Wind Cave are reached by taking a longboat up the Melinau River, or by following a 4 km nature trail.

Deer Cave

Our Itinery :-

Once we reach mulu, we visited the deer and lang caves and then stay for bats' watching. You can see millions of bats will fly out of the caverns, a very spectacular sight. A MUST SEE when you go mulu. Look at the picture below, the bats is like a bee line.

We had our dinner at Royal Mulu Restaurant and the meal cost us RM30 per person. If you want cheaper meal you can walk across the bridge which you can get a decent fried noodle or fried rice at RM4. The price difference is the water that they used. You dunno whether they are cooking using the river water. Therefore most of my meals I ate in the Royal Mulu Restaurant as I got sensitive stomach and there is cultural performance at the restaurant.

We play games since there is nothing much to do. Each one will take a playing card and put the card on their forehead, whoever get the lowest points got to finish all the food e.g. peanuts and chips...ha!ha!

We woke up at 6am the next morning as we need to take boat to Clearwater and Wind Cave. On our way, we stopped at the souvenir shops. You really need to climb alot of staircase and alot of walking to do. Believe me, is worth the effort.

The Canopy Skywalk, the world's longest tree-based structure, in Mulu National Park allow visitors a glimpse of life in the treetops of the rainforest. 480 meters of walkway hang 20 meters above the forest floor, forming a circular route suspended between 15 trees with a separate exit tower. To keep human incursions at a sustainable level, visitor numbers to the Canopy Skywalk are carefully monitored. Therefore not everyone of us able to go. I'm lucky that we able to go for it. I always scared of height but I manage to complete the entire canopy walk. It was my greatest achievement..ha!ha!

Our tour ended after 3 days. Guess what happen, our flight from MIRI to KL has been delay. We suppose to leave in the afternoon and delay for few hours. Therefore all of us slept in the airport cos we are exhausted. When we enter the boarding room, Air Asia staff distributing a snack box to us and we thot is KFC or Sandwiches....unfortunately is mineral water, chocolates and sweets...ha!ha!

My new hobby

2008-12-10T14:29:00.001+08:00

I love to collect the miniature food item e.g. pastry, sushi, vegetables and etc when i first saw it in HK few years ago. Only recently has the time to collect. This miniature set I got it from Hong Kong recently. All of this is made in Japan. Everything look so real. I must said the art work is fabulous.

My miniature in my cabinet. This cabinet is full of my cow collection....

My cabinet is so fulled with cow items...who wants to volunteer to help me rearrange my cabinet...ha..ha..

MERRY XMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

2008-12-03T15:32:00.000+08:00

Wishing all of you a MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
LETS WELCOME 2009....YEAR OF THE OX...
MORE HAPPINESS, MORE MONEY AND MORE LUCKY STAR SURROUNDING US....

KUCHING, SARAWAK

2008-12-03T12:21:00.000+08:00

We bought air asia tickets to Kuching during air asia 0 fares. Took 3 days 2 nites, stay at Hilton Hotel. The hotel is quite run down even though is 5 star hotel. We were dissapointed. Even the breakfast that they serve was cold. How can a five star hotel serve cold dish, where is their quality control? Cold porridge, cold noodles and etc. We could not eat and therefore we told our tour guide Felicia to bring us for local noodle e.g. kon loh mee.

We were so happy that our guide cum driver is as crazy as us...so all of us get along very well. She took us to Semelok to see Orang Hutan and Sarawak Cultural Village. We spent one day at Sarawak Cultural Village and we really took alot of pictures. Bunch of crazy people just came out from the jungle...ha!ha!

We had seafood dinner at CAR PARK, the hawker stores is located at the car park area. The food is ok and quite pricey. We did not order any crabs....ha!ha!

We shop at the street opposite the esplanade where you can get souvenirs.
Felicia took us to a place where you can buy BIRD NEST....only one of my friend bought....cos others scared of bird flu...hee..hee....

We also stop by at a bakery shop which is recommended by Felicia. We bought alot of moon cakes and biscuits home. Their mooncake is different from KL.

Since is our birthday therefore we requested FELICIA to bring us to a chinese restaurant where they serve good food and we also invited her to join us. The food was great, we really order alot. Even thou we did not drink any wines or beer but everyone was so high....and starting to talk nonsense. Luckily the captain of the restaurant gave us a room cos we were so noisy. Guess everyone was so stress at work. I must said everyone enjoy this trip. Sorry I can't remember the restaurant name.

Well, if you want to go to Kuching, let me know and i will give you Felicia contact. She is the best tour guide we ever had.

BEIJING

2008-12-03T11:22:00.000+08:00

We joined 8 days tour to Beijing via Apple Vacation Tour, 2006. I must said I'm really dissapointed with this tour. The food and places that they took us was horrible. Not worth the money. To tell you the truth I would never visit Beijing again unless I got a local friend who can take me around.

Visited Great Wall of China located at Ba Da Ling. My friends did not want to walk all the way up to the Great Wall therefore i ended up walking alone. At the end, join the tourmates for group pictures and slowly get to know the tour mates. It was fun afterall eventhou i'm exhausted and damn thirsty. At least i walk on the Great Wall.ha!ha!

Summer Palace was ok but when we went that time alot of renovation going on to rush for the Beijing Olympics. The place is so huge and you will be wondering why the Empress Dowager want a huge summer palace for herself. You will be wondering how those worker transport the teak wood and furniture up to this hill. I salute and respect the worker.

Forbidden City is another place that you MUST GO. Imagine we spent few hours just visiting a small portion of the imperial palace. The work crafting is so fine and beautiful. The largest ancient palatial structure in the world. No words can describe it. You must see with your own eyes.

As for food, it was sucks...the food was so oily. The fish got too many bones that you would not want to eat. The beef or pork is either fried with onion and you can see the entire beef/pork is soak in the oil. The vegetable is even good, fried corn with cucumber. Fried cucumber with tomatoes. What kind of dish is this? Gosh!! Wait till they serve us soup. Or so called the soup is so clear that you may think is for you to wash your hand...ha!ha! Inside the soup you can see few peices of seaweeds and two slices of tomatoe. Oh another so called famous dish is deep fried egg with flour top with icing sugar. So oily...gosh!!! Well, the only best thing is that they serve you few bottles of coke in every meal. Guess after this trip we either get high cholesterol or diabetis.
The only food that we enjoy is Peking Duck.

We visited Tian Jin and they brought us to eat the so called famous Gou Bu Li steamed stuffed bun@pao which is a traditional and delicious Chinese food in Tian Jin. Gosh, I think a first timer making pao is alot better than this store. The pao is tough and is horrible, none of us able to finish the pao and the food at the stall. What an experience?

Well, everyone start buying the so called famous snacks - Guifaxiang fried dough top with sesame. We tried to eat but I don't really like it. The dough is so hard. Anyway me and my friends decided not to buy any food. One of the auntie bought 6 boxes of the guifaxiang and saw the cashier put all the 6 boxes in the bag before she leaves. When she went up to the bus, she only found 4 boxes. They actually swap your bags at the counter.

The guide took us to Wang Fu Jing, the famous food and shopping street in Beijing. We did not dare to try the local food as we scared we will be cheated therefore majority of us ended up in MCDONALD. This is the safest choice.

As for shopping, we visited the SILK STREET MALL. You need to learn the art of haggling when you shop. Well, we bought thumb drive 8 GB for only RM60 and we thot we are smart cos we ask the promoter to test every of the thumb drive by copying files from the notebook and also check the file size in the properties. Guess what, we are wrong. We are not as smart as the CHINA men. The thumb drives that we bought can only last for 1 week and after that the entire drive become 0KB file size. We bought 9 thumb drive and none can be use. I swear no more shopping in CHINA no matter how cheap is it.

Oh, the toilet experience. Either the toilet got door or no water and damn smelly. We are talking in the mall toilet and outskirt. Even in Tianamen Square, when you queuing up, is your turn to enter to the cubicle, guess what happen, an old lady barge in and u just stunned. What a culture? Even there is door, ladies don't even bother closing their door. Can you imagine it. Gosh!!! One of our tourmate rather don't drink water and she will only use the washroom at the hotel. I respect her for that....how could she stand 8 hours without going to washroom.....We were joking with other tourmates that we need to wear pampers when we come to CHINA...ha!ha!

Well, this is my worst experience in Beijing and I don't think I will want to join tour to visit China unless someone brings you to local places.

My friend said maybe is the tour agency problem. Well whatever is it, I dont plan to go to Beijing anymore.

JAPAN

2008-12-03T11:02:00.000+08:00

Went to Japan for 8 days and follow Apple Vacation Tour. I must said Apple Vacation tour to JAPAN is the best. Food and accomodation was great. But do not join their tour to Beijing.

Took a night flight and arrived Japan in the morning and straightaway we went to Tokyo Disneyland. We spend whole day and we only able to visit It's a SMALL WORLD and Sleeping Beauty attraction. Other times we spent chasing cartoon characters e.g. mickey mouse, minnie, chip and dale and etc. Of cos we shop for disney souvenirs.

Stay over nite at one of the hotel at Mt Fuji , so sad we did not able to see Mt Fuji due to the weather. Our guide is so funny and he show us the Mt Fuji picture and ask us to stand at the peak there and see the picture, this is how Mt Fuji looks like....aiyoh....so pathetic. We enjoy shopping at the shops located at the peak. We bought grill squid to eat...it was delicious.

Visited Ginza, Shinjoku and we even try the best Ramen shop in town. Every thing in Japan is about Vending Machine. Even to order a bowl of ramen, you got to order via the vending machine. So prepare for small notes. Ginza sells all the high-street brand.

Went to Universal Studio and we able to went for all the rides. E.g Spiderman, Back to Future, Jurassic Park and etc. You must try their turkey drumstick. Bought a dinossour and ET tumbler, so cute. Even thou is expensive but worth it. You can also collect those popcorn case....different stores sell different character. Yeap we also shop till we drop at the souvenir shop. Remind us when we are kids.

Took a bullet train to one station to have the feel of sitting in the bullet train. One station cost us RM50.

We visited few temples and outside of temples definitely got stores for you to shop. As usual we shop alot until our tourmates ask us to recommend what to buy.

Even they drop us at one of the shopping centre and we bought quite a number of BANDAI toys, Thomase the train....it was so cheap.

The best thing is that we got to get empty boxes and put our stuff in cos our luggage is fulled. People said JAPAN things are so expensive and you would not buy. I think they are wrong....Even i bought Hisamitsu Salopas and the quality is really different from KL. Now whenever my friend goes TOKYO, i will always ask them to buy Hisamitsu for me. Ha!Ha!

Food was great and even i took rice for breakfast. I really miss it. I did not have any stomach problem when i was in JAPAN. Guess JAPAN really suits me and i don't mind going again.

KOREA

2008-12-03T09:43:00.000+08:00

Follow tour to Korea for 8 days. Friends always recommend to go to Che Ju Island, so called Asian Hawaii. Therefore the tour that i joined must go Che Ju Island.

When we arrive to SEOUL, we went to Che Ju Island. I was really dissapointed, where is the place that everyone said must go, ASIAN Hawaii, all koreans will go to Che Ju Island for their honeymood....this place must be paradise. Unfortunately not....the place is quite dirty and you see rocks most of the time. They took us to a park which you see mostly rocks and trees....well for while you will like it but 2 hours there is really waste of time. There is a road which known as ghost road. We did a test and the bus driver off the engine and eventually the bus will go up the hill. Basically is about gravity.

We left Che Ju and went to SEOUL. Places visit are Lotte World and we able to watch the in door parade. The costume, the floral float was amazing. No way we can do this in KL. The next destination was Everland Theme Park. We did not have sufficient time to finish all the rides and attraction even thou we spend one day in the park.

As for shopping sites are Dongtaemon and Itaewon. None of us able to buy anything at the area. They took us to one of the shop where they sell imitation bags e.g. prada , LV and etc. Once you enter to the shop you are not allow to exit until everyone finished. Is a hidden shop that you need to enter via few hidden doors.

As for breakfast, every day we had abalone and anchovies porridge. Lunch and dinner, most of the time we had bbq pork, lamb or ginseng chicken and of cos kim chi.

Overall Korea is ok.

MACAU

2008-12-02T12:15:00.000+08:00

I been to MACAU twice and most of the time i go there for day tour.
Last 2 years, I join the day tour from Kowloon Hotel, Tsim Tsa Tsui. I paid RM300 which includes :-
a. transportation to the pier
b. ferry ride
c. one lunch
d. tickets to MACAU TOWER
e. city tour
f. shopping for biscuits
g. AH MA Temple
h. half an hour in SANDS casino, maybe now they will bring you to Venetian
i. TAI SA PA

We love to shop for food in MACAU. We bought alot of almond biscuits, peanuts biscuits and etc.

You can buy the almond biscuits, there is a type of biscuits which wrap with chicken floss, that is nice. One box is RM25. You should try. You can get all this at Choi Heong Yuen Shop opposite TAI SA PA. You would not miss it.

As for Peanuts biscuits, you can get it at this shop near the AH MA Temple. At the side road of the temple you able to find the shop. Other shop such as Koi Kee is located at the town area.

My friend recommend us to stay at Casa Real and Casa Rio.

I want to try their Portugese food the next round.

New Zealand

2008-11-10T16:04:00.000+08:00

Went to New Zealand, Oct 2003. The flight was horrible, 11 hours journey and we took the worst airline which is Air New Zealand. The service was horrible and the seats was our nightmare. You can even adjust the seat, therefore towards 11 hours we got to seat straight.

We arrived NZ early in the morning and straightaway we went to collect our car - Toyota Estima that fits 6 of us. We head towards Auckland and first think is to look for our hotel - Copthorne. We went around the city for more than an hour looking for the hotel and everyone was so tired. The map doesnt work at all. We stopped to ask for direction and guess who we ask, the police. The police dont even know where is the hotel. Cos the hotel just change to this new name. Finally we found our hotel and quickly chuck our bag and went around the city. One of our family friend came and took us around. We visited Sky Tower and it was amazing. Then inside the sky tower there is a casino...so we hang around there and had our lunch.

We slept early cos next day we got to leave the city and got to drive ourself to Rotorua. We had the best dinner and dance performance by the Maoi. Visited the Waitomo Glow Worm Caves and it was amazing. It looks something like our fireflies. The worms glow in the dark.

We visited Agrodome where u can see different type of sheep's performance. The famous breed is known as MERINO...:)

Next stop is our Farm Stay, it was fantastic. The land was huge and the host was so nice. They prepared dinner for us. Only one thing is that the weather suddenly change and it was freezing. I could not sleep cos the electric blanket only works one side. Therefore I was freezing in the middle of the nite and I sneak to my sister room and sneak on her bed..ha!ha! The next morning my friend only realise that i was missing. She slept well, didnt she..ha!ha! The best thing is that we got to shower and it was freezing, you can see everyone spent less than 5 min in the washroom. You can see your legs and hands shaking. Damn cold and i told my friends that i want to go back to Malaysia...just second day of my trip and i miss home...terrible of me.

We happily feed the animals and there is one annoying and so called adorable parrot name BOW in the living room. This parrot will start to chase the cat in the living room and sometime even chase me. I hate pets. Time flies and we got to said goodbye to our host and head to Christchurch.

We flew from Auckland to Christchurch. Each time when we reach the city, we definitely get lost to look for our hotel. Took an hour just to look for our hotel. We went around the city and wanted to visit the casino unfortunately we are not dress properly...no jeans and shorts allowed.
We had a great dinner at one of the restaurant and the food portion was huge.
We left Christchurch and drive to Dunedin. We stop at cheese factory, the factory is so run down and only one man working. I able to buy my cow watch there...ha!ha! so happy...of cos we did eat the cheese samplings....and we also bought some cheese for souvenirs.
We visited the tourist information centre and they recommend us to see penguins and seals. So we drove along the coast and reach the light tower. We are freezing cos the wind is so strong. We took the Natural Wonders buggy and it was fun....we only manage to see 5 penguins and got to use a binoculars to see...so pathetic.
We woke up at 4am the next morning and i could hardly get any sleep due to my heartburn. We need to arrive to Doubtful Sound, Te Anau by 9am as the boat will leave by then. Everyone was so sleepy except the driver need to concentrate on the road. We saw a trailer and thought we could follow cos was total darkness, unfortunately the trailer speed so fast...unbelievable. Do you know there is no emergency lane in NZ.
We reach Doubtful Sound, took a boat and only 11 of us. The guide cum driver name George, he is one man show, he do everything. The lake was so calm that we stop our boat for coffee and biscuits. We saw dophins chasing behind our boat, seals and penguins. This is really paradise. Worth waking up early.
We finishes our tour at 5pm then we drove to Te Anau to check in to our hotel. We ate in one of the restaurant where the cast of Lord of the Rings was there before, the food was ok and pricey. The portion was small.
We went to Milford Sound the next day, we board on a Ferry and is two different experience for milford sound and doubtful lake. Milford sound u can see alot of waterfalls.

We left Te Anau and went to Queenstown. Visited Gold Field Mine and we try our luck to see whether we find any gold nuggets....nope...so sad...We went for 360 degrees Jet Shotover and it was fun....all of us nearly get wet and our guide is so cute, his name is DANIEL.....you must try JET SHOTOVER, is really an experience. We arrive to Queenstown, we visited Arrowtown and was really disappointed. Cos is just few shops only and nothing much to do. We went to Puzzle House which is nearly 2 hours drive from Queenstown. This is a like a mini science centre and all of us really have fun. We also try to complete the gigantic MAZE.

We visited the casino and never try our luck on anything...ha!ha! We bought chocolates, face cream, black mud spa product and etc. Our next destination is Mount Cook. Unfortunately it was raining and we got to rush to Christchurch before its too late. Therefore we skip Mount Cook and on our way we stop at Salmon Farm and we never ate any salmon so fresh before. We bought one salmon and will eat it at our hotel at Christchurch....so we stop at the mini market to get lemons...ha!ha!

We got to fly from Christchurch to Auckland. It was raining and the airport shuttle is every 20 mins. We need to catch our flight back to KL. At the end every body try to squeeze in to the shuttle bus and ran into the international airport to check in and pay for airport tax. We are the last group to go on board. The Air NZ staff is so rude and we swear we never want to follow this airlines anymore. Each time we request for hot chocolate or biscuits they never come, at the end we got to go to the pantry to request. What kind of services is this?

That's the end of our trip and all of us really enjoy ourself despite of me having heartburn for the few days. I only start to enjoy at the end of the trip...so sad!! NZ is really a nice place to visit.