Basel

Basel is one of the most disobedient, cheeky and mischievous being i have ever met. He would dare you to run after him for his disobedience, lure you into chasing after him to give him a good spanking. Not only that, he is very busy-body, inquisitive and curious. He would poke his nose into anything that you are busy with. He would take a look at what you are cooking, pushed you aside to be able to get a view of what you are occupied with and squeezed himself through to be part of the crowd. On top of that, he loves company. He would cry and whine if you ever leave him out of any outings, beg and plea if you do not entertain him and snuggle and nuzzle up to you for warmth.

You will find it so hard to push him away. He melts your heart even though he drives you up the wall at times. He stole my mom's heart, that's for sure.

Kelantan Bali

Don't be surprised that Malaysia has its own Bali, not called Pulau Bali but it's called Tok Bali, nested in a small town in Kelantan. It is one of my favourite spots whenever i am back in my hometown. I love it for its serenity, peacefulness, calmness and isolation, of course complemented by its beauty.
Who would have thought that there would be such a hidden gem in Kelantan. I would prefer it to remain unknown so that it maintains its pristine.

Tok Bali is close to the border between Kelantan and Terengganu. It is even nearer to the jetty to Pulau Perhentian, the reknowned island that is the pride of all Malaysians. In fact, from the Kuala Besut jetty to Pulau Perhentian, you can catch a glimpse of Tok Bali. To explore Tok Bali, you merely have to walk along piles and piles of gigantic rocks extended out to the sea. The rocks are really huge, you can hop from one rock to another until the end of the rock bridge. This is a favourite spot of anglers as there are many fishes among the gap of the rocks.
This is a rough idea of how big the rocks look like.

Of course there is a sandy beach beside this rock bridge where waves would come caressing. However, if you want more excitement, go till the end where it is deeper hence you get waves crashing onto the rocks. If you sit or lie low enough, you will be drenched watered by the waves. It is a great place to just lie down on the rocks, away from the sun mind you, listening to the sounds of the waves, catching glimpses of fisherman boats returning from or going to sea and staring into bright blue sky with soft flurries of clouds.


After a stressful life in the city, this is really the best place to unwind and slow down. The sea is so vast, sky is so blue, you will feel that life is beautiful! You would forget your worries, your problems and just enjoy the moment you have here with nature.

If any of you happen to drop by Kelantan, do consider visiting this spot. Try going in the evening, approximately 6pm when the sun is not too scorching but the night is not creeping up on you. This way, you will get to enjoy both soft sunlight but sufficient brightness to take in the scenery.

Thai Oddyssey

For a change of menu and also one of the rare occasions, I had my taste buds fulfilled with thai food. I rarely do so in KL because of the exorbitant price they charge over here as compared to my hometown, Kota Bharu. I would usually collect all the cravings and leash it once and for all back in my hometown. You can even read about the Thai restaurants i visited when i was back in my hometown in my older posts.

This restaurant i visited is called Nong and Jimmy, quite a friendly name that takes to everybody. It is located in Ampang. For starters we ordered grilled cockles, well i think they're cockles. Pardon me if i am wrong because i am no fan of anything with shells hence i didn't touch a single one but i heard from them that this is one of their signature dish. AND, it gets sold out really fast. If you want to catch this dish, make sure you visit the restaurant early, around 6.30pm to 7pm.

There is a separate stall there that sells fried chinese cake, yau char kuai. This is definitely common as it can be found anywhere but the slight twist here is that they serve it with pandan kaya dip! I really enjoyed this dish. However, it will be even better if the chinese cakes are fried even crispier.
Something more up close.

For main courses we ordered mango kerabu, steamed fish thai style and kangkung belacan. I would say the kangkung belacan was a let down. I couldn't taste the aroma of belacan at all. It was very bland and plain. Probably Thais just don't really know how to cook kangkung belacan. The other two dishes, mango kerabu and steamed fish thai style turned out pretty ok. However, the dishes have been "localized" a lot. Those whipped up in my hometown definitely tastes more authentic and exotic.


A picture of mango kerabu, young, green mango slices with onions, peanuts and some light dressing.
I didn't take any photos of the steamed fish because it looks normal, just like any steamed fish you can find in other restaurants. It is vital though to pick fresh fish as the one we had was fresh.

All in all, for thai food that is not too authentic for your tastebuds, with a price that is easily affordable, i would recommend Nong and Jimmy. Just be sure to arrive early if not you will have to wait for tables and seats.

Eating trail

Fuyoh......it has been so long since i accessed this page till it doesn't even contain the browsing history in my firefox mozilla anymore. Again, my chance has come to leave some marks in this page. Destination this time is Kuantan. It has never been famous as a food haven unlike Penang and Malacca. However, we did manage to find some pleasures n thrills here and there. We were all there to attend a buddy's wedding, a resplendent and colourful one.

We arrived on Christmas Day itself, starved from the 3-hour drive. We stopped by Kemaman Kopitiam, rumoured to be the top kopitiam stall in Kuantan where nightlife was brought back to life upon its existence. Hmmmm.....their food is similar to all other kopitiams, nothing special, no wow factor. But, they do serve huge curry puffs where you can't get in other kopitiams that i have tried. For a late dinner, we stopped by Lemongrass thai restaurant. This was a total let down. They didn't have thai coconut (imagine a thai restaurant not serving thai coconut), they ran out of oranges, left us with only apple or carrot juice. The variety of dishes was limited. All in all, it was a total waste of money. I won't even bother sharing with you what we ordered. Remember, if you're ever in Kuantan, don't ever step foot in Lemongrass restaurant.

The next day, we wanted to try out curry noodles and nasi lemak. Unfortunately, the shop was closed, perhaps still celebrating the year-end holiday. We ended up strolling along Teluk Cempedak beach after a quick lunch at McDonald's. Do not mock or laugh, that was the only choice we had as we were famished. I enjoyed the beach walk along a wooden bridge that winds around the hills near the beach.

There were lots of rocks formation at the other end of the beach, with monkeys hiding from the heat of the scorching afternoon sun by nestling underneath a pile of rocks.



After a half-an-hour walk, we adjourned our journey to fill up our tummy again. It was crazy, my McDonald's burger wasn't even digested but we were already hunting for more food! We were told that the dry bak kut teh in Kuantan is good. Ironically, the restaurant we went to is called Yat Heng (KLANG) Bak Kut Teh. Hmm perhaps you can just try the main/branch in Klang. We ordered dry bak kut teh, normal soupy bak kut teh, lettuce and loh bak kut teh.




Of all, i enjoyed the dry and the loh bak kut teh. The loh bak kut teh tasted even better with a tinge of spiciness from the dried chillies used. Yummieee.....The normal bak kut teh however could be given a pass. The rice was cooked differently, not the normal plain white rice. But then, bak kut teh with yam rice is still the best, only to be found in Malacca so far that i know of.

After bak kut teh, we seriously needed some rest, oops i mean our tummies were dying for a break. However, they were anxiously waiting for the next call or rumble by the tummy and it is food again that we seek. We tried out cendol stall in Kuantan, one of the good ones apparently. It was indeed delicious and savoury. I always enjoy dessert so it was really a timely refresher. We even packed back famous curry puffs from a stall near another beach in Kuantan. Do forgive me, as i wasn't the driver and i was almost knocked out from the amount of food in my tummy, i didn't bother finding out the beach or name of the stalls.

The following day, we finally got the chance to savour the famed curry noodles and nasi lemak, chinese style. I enjoyed my kon lo (dried sauce) noodles with curry soup. The noodles were soft and springy and the curry soup was just perfect, not too concentrated and thick. So much for our food search, the last stop was at vistana hotel for my buddy's wedding. I didn't snap any photos of the food but there were a few dishes that i like. For example, the fish and the vegetables. At least there was a twist to the normal 8-course dinner.

Rakuzen

I was so excited over the plan to lunch at Rakuzen. The last time i feasted over there was 1 year ago! Taking a look at the menu, i don't think much has changed. However, taking a look at the platters served on the table, i think even Rakuzen is jumping onto the bandwagon to cut cost. Sighhhhh which industry isn't affected by the global financial turmoil?

My friend were already there before me so they had started ordering and eating. There was grilled salmon, assorted sashimi platter, shishamu (pregnant fish). Without further delay, i ordered sashimi salad, unagi kabayaki, 2 more plates of grilled salmon, spicy salmon maki, salmon sashimi, hotplate unagi with egg and gravy, unagi sushi slices, soft shell crab and hot green tea. That was my first round of order, of course, i devoured those on the table as well :D .

Rakuzen serves ala-carte, ordered buffet every sunday from 12noon till 3pm. This ensures that the sashimi slices are fresh instead of those normal buffet where the sashimi slices have been placed on the tray for aeon years (ok, i am exaggerating here). Service was considerably good, taking into the factor that it was a full house and i think there were limited waitresses and waiters around as whenever we pressed the button for them, the similar 2 would serve us. Even though they looked exhausted and distraught, they maintained their smile, and even apologized for their slow response. Kudos to the workers in Rakuzen for their sterling, excellent attitude.

Dishes were served pretty fast. However, they did miss out a few orders but it was all right because we were stuffed to our throats! No harm missing out a few dishes. In between, we even intertwined some desserts before going on for our second batch of orders. For dessert, we were not spoilt for choices, there was only matcha ice cream and fresh fruit platter.

Our second attempt included beef sukiyaki, more sashimi, more unagi, tempura, adegashi tofu, assorted maki etc. We had to give up finally even before 3pm. Rakuzen doesn't offer loads of variety in their maki for the buffet spread but the sashimi is extremely fresh. However, the once sought-after soft shell crab has somehow gone down the drain. It certainly didn't taste how it used to be last time. Thousand apologies for not a single photos taken. I didn't have time for photos, not to mention that i totally forgot about taking photos the moment i saw the food spread :D For Rm55++, i think it's worth giving Rakuzen a try.

Port Dickson

It feels as though it has been one whole year since i last hiked and trekked. This weekend i missed it again. In exchange of scaling peaks, i went for a sun-soaked, salt-filled weekend in Port Dickson. It was no relaxing, laid-back weekend, the trip to Port Dickson was laden with activities non-stop, breaking only for meals and sleep.

Our company booked the 5-star Avilion for all. Avilion takes pride in its 5-star water chalets and villas. We arrived greeted by the scorching afternoon sun. The sun was merciless as it extends its rays all over the place. I was dying for a glass of refreshing cold juice to prevent myself from dehydration.

It was a rather long walk to our chalets. We walked pass swimming pools, restaurants, tennis court, lush greenery and finally we arrived at our water chalets. The concept was pretty cool. The chalets are built on pillars erected from the sea bed. The chalet is huge. We got a double bed instead of twin bed. Beside the king-size double bed, there is a day bed where you can laze about to hide from the sweltering heat. The best part is their washroom/toilet. It is an open-air concept washroom whereby you get to shower under the sun ie roofless. Rain or shine you will accept nature's course and rejoice with nature when you shower. It does take some getting-use to when it comes to shower. The bath tub however is "secured". The bathroom itself is almost as large as the bedroom. I love the bathroom.

In the evening,you could view sun set from your verandah or you can go to the nearest private beach to laze at the lazyman chair.

These breath-taking views were taken by my colleague Tay, donning his 7.1MegaPixel Canon camera. Very good shot i would say. All the water chalets are interlinked with bridges built with wooden planks. At times you do feel a tad worried whether the wooden planks can support the weight of everyone walking in and out. However, after staying there for 3 days, there wasn't any unfortunate incidents.

Besides the 24-hour infinity pool that is only open for residents of the water chalets, there is a kiddy pool and a public pool near the restaurants. The tennis court is just a stone's throw away from our water chalets. The walk through the whole village is enjoyable because of all the plants on your left and right. There is even a petting farm where you can play around with roosters, rabbits, peacocks. The animals there even have names! Evening comes and you will see loads of children and kids fooling around with the animals under the watchful eyes of an attendant.

The food at avilion was a letdown. With the price paid, the food should be of better quality. Service too was horrendous. During dinner, i asked for warm water but the waiter merely told me that they do not have warm water, period. This is not acceptable at a 5-star resort. The dinner food spread was meagre too. Not to mention the PA system provided by the resort was barely functional. The meals are mostly oriental. Breakfast consisted of pancakes, roti canai, salad, hash brown, omelette, fried bihun or fried noodles, nasi lemak. Lunch included salad ( the similar spread of salad used for breakfast), main courses that vary slightly from day to day, and dessert (almost similar daily). For dinner, we had 1 night of bbq dinner. I wouldn't say it is really bbq because they had only bbq lamb, beef and satay. The rest are again cooked food. Avilion should really improve on their food quality.

The atmosphere at night at avilion is serene, calm and peaceful, the only disruption and noise pollution would be from us, with squeal of laughters and murmuring voices scattered all over the place. It's a very good way to de-stress just by walking along the wooden bridge linking all the water chalets. You get to listen to crashing waves underneath you and enjoy the vastness of the sea. The only thing lacking would be the caress of the sea breeze. The air was very still throughout my stay over there. After some wandering around, you just wanted to hit the sack as the room is very inviting. I had lullaby on both nights, listening to the waves crashing onto the pillars and the shore. It is the best lullaby i have ever listened to.

Mundane serious weeks

It has been very quiet yet eventful days for me recently. Quiet in the sense that no hiking or trekking, no food hunting. Eventful in the sense that I had lots of other serious matters to attend to.

Last weekend took a drive up to Penang to visit my grandma and my cutie pies : my cousins Stanley and Gillian. It has been 2 long years since i last met up with them. Boy have they grown! I spent loads and tonnes of time fooling around with them, playing with them, baking with them. It was so heartbreaking to bid farewell to them. Gillian cried and howled when i walked out of the door, Stanley sulked slightly but tried to be a gallant boy by forcing a sad smile and a bye to me. My heart was shattered into pieces as i walked into the car but every meet-up will have to end with a bye.

Upon arriving in KL, i rushed to Sunway Medical Center to visit my uncle who just underwent a colon operation. He looked so thin, pale and tired. The operation took a huge toll on him. He hasn't eaten for 5 days and he was on drips. Even so, he was jovial, chatty and positive. I admire his spirit, his attitude. It made me wonder if i would be able to remain positive and cheerful during times of bleak. He was lucky enough to detect 2 malign growths in his colon that has not turned cancerous. Immediately, an operation was carried out to remove the growths before they caused any problems. He would have to slowly adapt to sitting upright before progressing to walking. It will be a long tough learning curve for him. I sincerely hope that things will go smoothly for him.