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Sunday, December 18, 2011

Leisure: Pavilion & Berjaya Times Square Kuala Lumpur Christmas Decorations 2011


Dear All,

Welcome back to yet another edition of Christmas Decorations downtown here at Kuala Lumpur where ME & Kimmy had visited the malls around the golden triangle area and of course this year we have chosen Pavilion Kuala Lumpur and Berjaya Times Square as our destination here not only for shopping but for the Christmas Decorations. Of course the best Christmas Decorations found is definitely Pavilion Kuala Lumpur and it was a little bit dissapointed with the Christmas Decorations at Berjaya Times Square as it was least beautiful with just simple decorations at the lobby.

This year, the theme for Pavilion Christmas would be Christmas Wonderland and I am amazed by the Christmas Decorations here as it's filled with Christmas Cheer as there are so many Christmas Tress decorations which light up the mall spirit to celebrate Christmas. ME & Kimmy had a breeze at the mall while listening to people singing Christmas Carols as well. I would recommend you to come over here for the Christmas Decorations which I would say the best in Kuala Lumpur at the moment. MALL DECORATIONS: 5/5

But it was otherwise for Berjaya Times Square as their Christmas Decorations this year is quite dissapointed. This year theme for them would be This Christmas! I can only see a small portion of the Christmas Decorations that was situated at the entrance of Berjaya Times Square and it has a huge and big Christmas Tree. There are also stalls selling the Christmas products and on top of each of the stalls we can actually see the mascots of Gingerbread, Santa Clause, Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph. I would not recommend you to come over here for the Christmas Decorations but still it's a great place for shopping here. MALL DECORATIONS: 2/5

You can actually see the full photos on my personal Facebook page or alexleow-kimmy.com Facebook fanpage as well. Here you are able to see part of the pictures and do Like or add me at my Facebook and that will do. Enjoy your mall hunt for Christmas Decorations. Enjoy!

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Food Hunt: Umami Cafe, Bandar Manjarala, Kepong


Dear All,

Welcome back to yet another edition of Food Hunt as today ME & Kimmy had visited a fusion cafe located at Bandar Manjarala and the restaurant name is called Umami Cafe. We reach there around 7.30pm and the crowd was not that much. Only 3-4 tables occupied at the time and since I've already did the reservation yesterday, I got a table for ourselves. Once we sat down, the waitress served us immediately and we were brought a menu. We browse through the menu and knowing that the varieties of food over there isn't too much and I taught it's a Japanese Restaurant but it does not sell sushi and only with limited main courset set such as mee and rice only served together with some finger food.

I've ordered Tonkatsu Cheezy Ramen (RM13.90) while Kimmy ordered Chicken Katsu Don (RM13.90). Besides, we've also ordered the Pan Fried Gyoza (RM7.90) For Drinks, I've ordered the Iced Honey Lemon (RM4.90) and Kimmy ordered the Hot Rosehip Tea (RM4.90). Let's go straight to the food reviews. Firstly is the Tonkatsu Cheezy Ramen where this bowl is mee is very special where the soup is added with Cheese and you will simply love it if you are a big fan of cheese. This is because the cheese taste that was inserted inside the soup is very tasty and the mee also filled with cheese taste. It tastes nice but bear in mind that if you keep on eating, you will feel queasiness because of its smell and taste. Overall, it's a chef recommendation as well and it does not dissapoints me. About the Chicken Katsu Don that Kimmy ordered, it was just so-so and nothing so special about it. The taste was average considering that the taste of the chicken is just normal and the rice as well. About the Pan Fried Gyoza, it was very nice indeed. It was very recommended when you visit this cafe as it's a Japanese Dumpling wrapped with fresh and juicy vegetables. It was so nice and it comes with the sauce and you can eat with or without eat and it was very nice. Thumb up for the Pan Fried Gyoza. For the drinks, both the Iced Honey Lemon and Hot Rosehip Tea are nice indeed. The Iced Honey Lemon is just nice with the taste of honey and lemon while the Hot Rosehip Tea has the red rose aroma and is very nice too.

Overall, it was a great meal for both of us as we really enjoy the food considering the environment as well. It was cozy and a peace and quiet place where they also play great music too. It was a great place not only to dine in but to hangout with friends as well. The price is slightly expensive and the bill came we have to pay around RM50 for the whole meal. I think the main course are slightly expensive and others the price are still acceptable. However, I think I will be back some other time to try out other food as well and I would also recommend you to come over here to try out their food as well. At least, you will not feel regret while trying the food that I recommended just now. Enjoy! MY RATING: 4/5 ; KIMMY RATING: 4/5

* Food & Drinks Rating are based on the food & drinks we've ordered and not overall food & drinks.

Ambiance: 5/5
Cleanliness: 5/5

Customer Service: 4/5


Address:

1-01, 1st Floor, K-Gallery,
Lot 44667, Jalan 1/62A,

Bandar Manjarala, 52200 Kuala Lumpur

Telephone: 012-690 8000 (Call 12pm – 8pm daily)

Business Hours:

Mon : 6.00pm – 12.00am,
Tues – Thurs : 11am-3pm, 6pm-12am

Fri-Sat : 11am-2am,
Sun : 11am-12am.


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Monday, December 12, 2011

Travel: Melaka Day 2


Dear All,

Welcome back to Day 2 where today is our last day here at Melaka. We woke up at about 8.00am and then proceed to have our breakfast at around 8.30am at the hotel cafe. It was a great breakfast for both of us as we get to enjoy a simple yet tasty breakfast and it was simply marvelous. We love the hotel breakfast although there's not much varieties to choose from. HOTEL CAFE RATING: 5/5

We started our journey at around 9.00am we proceed to the Samudera Museum to visit. The price of the Samudra Museum is RM3 per adult and RM1 per children. The outside view of the museum is great with a big ship design and at the inside, it has limited historical things to see and it was just normal. I guess for the price of RM3 per adults, you can't expect much. This museum exhibits mainly on the Melaka trade as well as who conquered Melaka centuries ago. It's worth taking photos outside the building instead of inside the building because the ship design is pretty much great and fascinating as well. MUSEUM RATING: 3/5

We spend almost 1 hour visiting the museum and after that we proceed to the most anticipating event and is a must when you visit Melaka. We bought tickets at the counter (RM10.00 per adults ; RM5.00 per children) and there's no people buying it. Yes! I am talking about the Melaka River Cruise. After felt dissapointing yesterday night as we did not manage to sit on the cruise because the queue is too long and finally we manage to sit in the morning. However it was full on the first boat as it starts operations from 10.00am onwards. We manage to catch the beautiful view of the Melaka River and on the left and right of the river, we manage to catch a lot of antique buildings and a lot of great views of Melaka Town including the high rise buildings. It was a great River Cruise and we do enjoy the ride as well. It takes about 45 minutes for the river cruise and I would say it's simply beautiful although in certain parts of the river, it was quite smelly though. Enjoy the ride when you come to Melaka town. RIVER CRUISE RATING: 5/5


After that we proceed back to our hotel to check out and then proceed again to Jonker Street to have our lunch break. It's pretty jam at Melaka at that time and we have a tough time finding parking as well. However, we manage to find the parking and then we head towards the Chicken Rice Ball restaurant to have our lunch. It such a long time that we did not try out the Chicken Rice Ball and the restaurant we choose is called Famosa Chicken Rice Ball. Normally we have to queue up in order to be seated but today we can just walk into the restaurant as there are still place for us to sit. That time was already 1.00pm and half an hour later, you will have to queue up already as the crowd started to build up. When we were seated, we looked at the menu and quickly order. We've ordered 1/4 Steam Chicken (RM9.00), Chicken Rice Ball (RM0.30 each) (6 pieces), Tomyam Cabbage (RM7.00) and as for drinks, I've ordered Coke (RM2.50) and Kimmy ordered Herbal Tea Ice (RM2.30). It does not take very long for the food to arrive and we waited for about 10 minutes and then the food arrives.

The steam chicken is nice and the chicken is very tender and juicy too. Very recommended to try their steamed chicken as well. However, the Tomyam Cabbage is quite dissapointed as the cabbage is quite bitter and then the taste of the tomyam is not nice. Do not order this dish. Last but not least is the Chicken Rice Ball. We are also quite dissapointed with the Chicken Rice Ball as it's quite hard to chew and then it's tasteless as well. It taste just like white rice with no chicken taste at all. The quality of the food of this restaurant dropped slightly and the chicken rice balls had dropped tremendously. I would not recommend you to come here to try it again especially the chicken rice balls and I would recommend other shops such as Hoe Kee and Chung Wah as they are much more better than this restaurant. The price is quite reasonable and we pay for RM23.20 for the food we eat and it's quite cheap too. RESTAURANT RATING: 3/5

Then after our lunch, we proceed to have our desserts as well at about 2.00pm. After another 10 minutes walk, we have reach the most famous cendol in Melaka Town is situated at Jonker Walk. The restaurant name is called Jonker 88. The reason I say it's really famous is because I have waited about 30 minutes there to get a place to sit and the queue to taste the famous cendol and nyonya laksa is hilarious. The queue is very long and you have to consider finding a place and after that you need to queue to buy the food. Their business is brisk and the crowd non stop coming into the restaurant. After finding a place for almost 30 minutes, then I proceed to go to order and I have to wait for another 30 minutes to get my food. Wow! And finally I've ordered Baba Cendol (RM3.00) and Nyonya Laksa (RM5.00) and both of us shared the food because we just had our lunch. We came here with very high expectations as many people including the bloggers told me that the food here especially the cendol and laksa is good here. So, without any hesitation, we tried both and found out that the cendol and the nyonya laksa is simply irresistible. This is the first time that I've tried such a great cendol and we simply love it very much. The Baba Cendol is a must try at Jonker 88 Restaurant as the best part came from its Gula Melaka where it's simply tasty and delicious. Once I put into my mouth, I wanted more and it was too good to resist. The Nyonya Laksa meanwhile was very nice too with the fragrance of the laksa taste is very nice indeed that consists of spicy and sour taste too. No wonder the queue is so long. Do not skip this restaurant and I can tell you that it's a must try at this restaurant no matter how long you have to wait. This restaurant is located next to the Jonker Walk World Heritage Park along Jonker Street. RESTAURANT RATING: 5/5


Baba Cendol (RM3.00)

Nyonya Laksa (RM5.00)

After that we continue our journey to buy some local food Products at Tan Kim Hock before heading back to Kuala Lumpur. We reach Wisma Tan Kim Hock at about 4.00pm to look for some local products out there. The price is pretty cheap compared if you buy outside. A few things that you must buy at Melaka and also at Tan Kim Hock including their coconut and durian products such as Dodol, Cookies, Sweets and so on. They are also selling lots of cooking as well as different types of food which can be brought home as souvenirs. Before you leave the place, remember to try out the cendol over there as it's very tasty too. There are 2 types of cendol that can be found here including the durian (RM5.00) and coconut cendol (RM3.00). I've only tried the durian cendol and I can tell you that it was super tasty too. I simply love the durian taste and the fragrance of the durian flavour that was so nice. Remember the cendol that was sold over here. Do not miss it! CENDOL RATING: 5/5


Durian Cendol (RM5.00)

Finally we have completed a 2 Day 1 Night trip at Melaka and we had a memorable day at Melaka. We did enjoy and we will be back someday again to introduce to you more nice food as well as nice places of interest for you to visit. If you happens to go to Melaka, do share with us what are the additional nice food, accommodation and places of interest that you think is worth sharing and recommend to me or other readers here as well. Once again, enjoy your holiday!

END OF DAY 2

Click here for DAY 1

VIDEO:

Melaka River Cruise 1

Melaka River Cruise 2

Melaka River Cruise 3