Char Kuey Teow & Laksa (Lemak/Assam) @ Sin Hwa Coffeeshop, Burma Road

If you feel like having Penang hawker food for breakfast, lunch or brunch (Wanton Mee, Char Kuey Teow, Laksa & Chicken Rice) feel free to drop by at this coffeeshop which is situated directly opposite the International Driving school, next to the Pulau Tikus Police Station.
I can assure you that their Char Kuey Teow (CKT) & Laksa are really nice and delicious compared to other CKT over at the downtown city centre.

I frequently visit this coffeeshop whenever I have my cravings for both CKT & Laksa at the same time in which I could definitely kill two birds with one stone.:D

Overlooking the driving school on the opposite site of the Burma Road

Char Kuey Teow @ RM4.50
#kueyteow #beansprout #egg #peeledcockles #prawns
It was really yummy when it was served piping hot! :)

Aerial look of CKT
#kueyteow #beansprout #egg #peeledcockles #prawns 

Mixed Lemak & Assam Laksa @ RM4.00
#laksanoodles #pudinaleaves #slicedcucumber #onions #torchgingerflower #prawnpaste (black in colour scooped in the spoon)
#delicious #appetising

Aerial Look of Mixed Lemak & Assam Laksa #laksanoodles #pudinaleaves #slicedcucumber #onions #torchgingerflower #prawnpaste (black in colour scooped in the spoon)

Do wiggle your way there in any case should you have any cravings for those food! hehe~
It's a must have cause it's simply delicious yo! ;-)

Map direction to Sin Hwa Coffee Shop, located opposite Burma Road Pulau Tikus Police Station.
Therefore, the coffeeshop will be on your right side of the whole stretch of prewar houses. 

Manhattan Fish Market @ Lower Ground Floor of Queensbay Mall

Recently, I saw on Groupon website that Manhattan Fish Market was offering few deals for its outlets. I've seen those deals in the past before, however, I was a bit reluctant to try on it. So, I missed the chance!
But this time, I was craving for the spaghetti Aglio Olio at other restaurants after reading on other review sites.
At around the same time, I happened to see this deal on the Groupon website, and I was thinking to myself, since I do not need to make bookings for this, why not give it a shot then?! And so I went to purchase 2 vouchers after much thought at RM14.90/voucher.

Part of the voucher

Sometimes I think, deals like this are never really a good deal! Why is that so?
Reasons:
1. Usually you may need to make a booking few days in advance. <<<(I seriously hate bookings as at times, it's hard to even make your calls get through to the particular outlet.)
   (I would prefer to just walk in whenever I like)
2. The voucher has an expiration date.
   (Sometimes at a very last minute, one may not be free. If you happened to cancel it last minute, I'm not  
   sure about the implication though.)
3. The location where you may need to claim the deal is not nearby, which means it's at a place further than       you usually go.
4.Sometimes, you can only claim the voucher on ONLY weekdays or maybe and on weekends. Depends  
   on the deal.

At first, I wasn't sure if it will be a good deal though. Well, I went on a weekday. No bookings made. Just that maybe you gotta fight with other customers as one of their early birds la. wtf~ LOL~

I handed over the printed vouchers and waited for the meals to be served. Then, we ordered drinks (paid at the end of ours meals, not included in the deal).
We were first served the starter, salad vege placed in a small recyclable or paper bowl (I think it's a shame to be placed on paper bowls, probably it would be easier for the management. Just throw it away and don't need to wash additional bowlets. haha~) and it was nothing to shout about. No pictures for that.
Then, came the Spicy Seafood Olio in a proper porcelain/ceramic plate. IMO, the food looked as if it was as illustrated on the voucher.

I saw on the menu, original price for this spaghetti. But not sure if I happened to see if added an additional RM3, you'll get the salad vege and drinks. 

#nice #spicy #worthatry #4hugemussels #4prawns#4cutsofsquidslices #spaghetti #pasta #yummy

 All in all, I think it's worth a try. I'm not sure if it was a good deal though. But still, worth a try as the food served was as illustrated from the voucher picture or as bargained (that's the most crucial or important)! =)
I paid an additional RM15 for two glasses of iced tea (lemon & peach).

There was a downside, I saw a couple of flies or insects flying nearby us at our table. I wonder if the management could do something to prevent things like that from occurring again?? It's not hygienic in a long run and moreover, it's at inside a shopping mall.

So, what do you think? Or have you gotten yourself a similar deal too? ;-)

14th Century Golkonda Fort @ Hyderabad, India

If you happened to be going down for a travel or working in Hyderabad, India, this is the place I recommend you to go to. I was in awe with the ruins and it's the best place in HYDERABAD so far!! Yeahhhh, you got me right, the best so far!! So, it's worth a visit and you will never regret it. ;-) 
I was there last year around November till December 2013 for working-training purposes for an approximate 6 weeks. It was like my temporary home until I was back in M'sia. 
Sorry that I took so long to blog. I was hoping to blog it sometime sooner when I got back from India, however, I may need to have the mood to blog. To me, it seems like I'm influenced by my mood/ motivation/ inspiration/ drive to blog. LOL~ wtf~

Just a simple signboard

This magnificent fort was built on a granite hill in the 14th centuries!!
You should climb up to the top of the fort as you will be able to overlook the Hyderabad old city. I personally enjoyed my visit to Golkonda fort as compared to the other attractive sites in Hyderabad! haha~ My apology, I'm not trying to downgrade the other sites in India, but it is really the truth. My other colleagues also agreed about it too.

Anyway, here are some pictures which I took.

Overlooking the outside of the fort

Entering into the fort vicinity area

But if you find that you have too much money which you do not know where else to spend it at, sureeeee, you could always visit other places to gain more experiences. Well, imo, the only experience one would gain from is to criticize about how bad it was. :-P
However, the air was quite polluted and hazy at that time of visit...so I couldn't really take better pictures for a far scenery... Besides that, the weather on that day was really hawttt, I mean not the sexy hawtness but the sweltering hotness from the heat. It never rained for that past weeks I was there, except at that time, when there was a cyclone which hit somewhere east south of Hyderabad.   

Entrance fee: 100 Indian rupee for foreigners and 5 Indian rupee for locals (such a big difference, so ridiculous I think!! Better just make that free for its citizens *eyes rolling*)

Entrance tix

If you need the simple booklet/a few leaflet about Golkonda fort, you may need to pay for it too. IMO, most places that I've visited, so far, I think it's given free of charge!

Enjoy the wonderful scenery pictures below. ;)

Paparazzi shot: Climbing activities at your own risk??

The fort

wtf~ So hawt! lol!

I was there!! :D

Spotted a cutie Indian pup. 

Lying against the granite wall.

Climbing up hill.

Passing thru some under tunnel.

Hazy, otherwise would be a beautiful view.

Some Indian school kids.
Btw, I got harassed by quite a number of school kids, apparently they were obsessed with China ppl I think as they kept asking if I was from China. Sorry kids, I no come from China. Other than that, they requested me to take pictures with them (I was a mini celebrity for the day). LOL~

Seeking peace on top of the fort built on granite hill back in 14th century
#Golkondafort #yoga-ing #hyderabad #oldcity

Anyway, I don't think one may need a tour guide to follow you around for relaxing and seeking nice breeze on top of the hill. Recommended to walk by yourself to enjoy it because those Indian guides were very pushy and they charged at a different pricing and were very pricey! Their rates were not consistent and were very different at every single minute when you refused their offer. LMFAO~

Other than that, I feel that it's a shame that most of the attraction places in India are not maintained tip top...e.g. Tombs of Qutb Shah, Charminar...there were lots of pigeon faeces all over the places and I bet these are a major turn-off to the tourists, if it's not to the tourists, at least to me!
This news about pigeon faeces was true as I personally read it from their local newspaper too. Somehow, I forgot to capture the shot for proof purposes if you may think that I was lying. :P  

Alrighty, till here for Golkonda Fort! Adios~

Matsu Japanese Restaurant @ Lone Pine Hotel, Batu Feringghi, Penang

On last weekend, my accomplice & I went for a mini getaway & some chillin' out. "Mini" in a sense that it was done locally. =)

Watching sunset together by the beach 
#nofilter #sunset #West #beach #sky #weather #perfect #BatuFerringhi#Georgetown #PearloftheOrient

So, we tried to have our hearty meal at this hotel's restaurant. I've read quite a number of reviews about it saying that it was good and the review pictures looked delicious too, so why not we try it here now?!

Here's the menu we've decided to choose, the Chef Utage Kaiseki's traditional Japanese 7-course dinner at Matsu!!

Matsu's Dining Area

Hot Green Tea

We ordered the set which came without the wine, unless you're a drunkard. Otherwise, no point! :-P

"Kaiseki" refers to a traditional multi-course Japanese dinner, which is comparable to the Western haute cuisine.
Yayyy~ First time having a fine cuisine, moreover in Japanese style. So, maybe next time, I hope that I would be able to go for the Western style of fine cuisine then, like the restaurants rated with Michelin stars *fingers crossed*
Ohhh yeahh, can't wait! I've got lotsssss of things which I have in mind and hoping that I would be super lucky to do all of them.
I sounded like a village girl, wtf~~ LOL!

This 7-course dinner is fit for a single person, however, we opted to share, cause sharing is caring? :P Anyway, if it wasn't enough, we could order an additional side order to make up for our hungry tummies. ;-)

1. It started off with a Starter Platter which featured 3 types of hors d'oeuvre (small portions of food served before the main course).

 Starter Platter
#servings #smallportions #friedsquid #tamago #jellyfish

2. Then, resumed to feast on a spread of various sashimi (5 types). All these tasted fresh and juicy...yummmz!
A Plate of 5 types of Sashimi
#hokkigai (surfclams) #sake (salmon) #ibodai (Jap butterfish) #kihatamaguro (yellowfin tuna) #amaebi (sweet prawns)


3. Next, was the Yakimono, it was a grilled/pan-fried dishes beef enoki mushroom rolls with teriyaki sauce. The beef was tasty & tender.
Yakimono - beef enoki mushroom rolls with teriyaki sauce 

4. Agemono - deep fried tempura sushi roll & vegetables
Agemono (deep fried)#tempurastuffedwithfishsushiroll #sweetpotato #brinjal or also known as eggplant


5. Nigiri sushi california uramaki
Nigiri Sushi California Uramaki
#shrimpnigirisushi #californiamakitoppeditoffwithslicesofavocado #tamago #wasabi #pickledginger

Aerial look of Nigiri Sushi California Uramaki

6. Misoshiru or also known as Miso soup (too bad, no picture of the bowl of huge white pot) :-P

My accomplice spotted that it wasn't supposed to be served with a spoon as one usually drink the soup off from the small bowl of miso cup. hehe~ The white pot was too huge lahh, one just couldn't drink from it straight away. 

I guess that Matsu was too generous with the miso soup then. However, I felt that the soup was slightly on the warm side. I like it to be served freakin' hot btw, so that I could take my own sweet time to drink it later.

*Before we ended our 7th course dinner, we ordered an additional side order which was supposed to be a california maki, however, I guess that communication error happened as we just said it out verbally without pointing it out on the menu. So, it came with an Unagi Maki instead. 

All is well, so we allowed this dish to be served. The unagi (eel) meat was good. However, I fancy that their sushi rice which stuffed those ingredients inside were falling off easily when I was about to pick it up with chopsticks. Though, my style of holding chopsticks was free style unlike my partner-in-crime. LOL!

 It wasn't only me then, I noticed that my accomplice was facing the same problem too.

I was once told by close friend that the method of making & rolling a sushi rice depended on the chef's skills.

Unagi Maki (Eel meat sushi)

7. Lastly, to end our hearty meal, dessert Matcha Tiramisu decorated with almond nuts was served. It had some cheesy taste filling. I seriously love this dessert as it wasn't cloying and it tasted oh-so-perfect!

 Dessert Matcha Tiramisu

A collage of the overall food pictures!

Now,  shall end my blogging for the night with a picture of me at the dining hall at Matsu~~

#Ootd #dorothyperkins #blouse #kneelengthpants #brandless

Good night, y'all! :D

Sakae Sushi Members' Day - Apr 2014

From 21st April 2014 till 25th April 2014, Sakae Sushi will be doing a promo for its members' day, whereby each member gets to credit 20% of their total spent of that day into the form of points inside their card account!
If I'm not mistaken, at the usual days, i think one only gets 5-6% cashback points below RM60 of your bill.

Lately, I haven't been frequenting this sushi outlets as I've been visiting its new competitors' outlets which have mushroomed at other malls. hehe~
Besides that, the pricing for this supposedly snackbar sushi outlet is not that cheap either and I personally do not find the menu that enticing as compared to other Jap restaurants. hehe~
But today, I've been thinking about Sakae Sushi then~~

 So, If you're thinking about sushi & at the same time if you're also a Sakae Sushi member, then why wait?! Hurry up & head to Sakae Sushi, before this members' day end by this week.

Gunkan sushi off the Kaiten (conveyor) belt
#squid #sushirice

The 20% cash rebate

 The Menu for Edo

 A Hearty Meal!

       #Edoset #abowlofudonsoup #chawanmushi #wakamesalad #sashimi&sushi#sakaesushi

The sashimi & sushi served together with the set meal

#sashimi #nigirisushi #gunkansushi #makisushi

Total bill was around RM41.65 for 1 pax and I've gotten myself around RM7 (from my sub-bill before the calculation of the service charge & government tax) credited back into my account. ;-)