Wednesday, May 31, 2017

5 Course Set Meal At Elemen Millenia Walk

We took a cab down to Millenia Walk to celebrate Damien's and Bryan's birthday at Elemen. Today was Damien's birthday while Bryan is tomorrow. 

This was my first time to Elemen, a vegetarian restaurant recommended by my lunch kakis. 

Elemen offers a pleasant dining experience by serving wholesome food. The ambience was very cosy too. The price here is not cheap, we have 5 course meal at $31.50 per pax after GST and service charge.

We started off with The elemen Appetiser.

We have the choice of either choosing salad or soup. All of us went for mushroom soup. The soup was thick and nice.

Here were the main course we ordered for sharing:

Spicy Shitake with Purple Rice Roll. The spicy shitake complemented well with the rice roll.  Taste good.

I chose Wild Mushroom and White Truffle Pizza.
The thin crust pizza was very crunchy and filling.

Asia Curry with Dough-balls.
The curry has an overwhelming taste that was not to our liking.

Sticky Date Pudding with Gelato.
Having gelato for dessert will never goes wrong. 

This Coconut Chocolate was really a huge disappointment. The combination tasted so weird and awful, everyone agreed with this. 

After all the courses were served, it's time for celebration.

The birthday boys took a photo together.
Happy birthday to Damien and Bryan.

Sunday, May 28, 2017

Johor Bahru 2D1N: Mutiara Hotel + KSL City Mall + IT Roo Cafe

Day 1: Saturday 27/5/17

Finally my exam ended on 24 May, it's time to take a breather, relax myself and enjoy the school holiday. The past one month was a tough one as I have 3 exam revision to manage on top of my work. Each night after work and during weekend, I coped myself at home to revise what I have learnt for the semester. I rejected lots of events and gathering.

So now that exam was over, I give myself a break that weekend  from the bustle city life and traveled up to Johor Bahru  (JB) for a staycation. Travelling to JB is all about eating and shopping.

We reached JB at about 1pm. We were famished so the first thing we did was to have our lunch at City Sqaure. Everytime we visit JB, we always tried out new place for food unless we have something in particular that we want to eat. This time round, we picked on Canton I, located at J3-05, a place for an authentic taste of Hong Kong..

Selfie while waiting for food.
Both of us are dim sum lover so we ordered quite a few dishes for sharing. 

Char Siew Sou 叉燒酥.
Beneath the flaky pastry was juicy and savoury char siew filling. We both love it very much.

One of their all-time favourites is this wonton noodles. I'm personally not a fan of wonton noodles, but I love their prawn dumpling wrapped up in a moist skin. 

We also ordered fried dumpling, salted egg yolk custard bun, dumpling and you tiao roll. Our lunch bill totaled up to RM85.30. We have a sumptuous lunch to kickstart our day in JB. We left Canton I feeling satisfied and full. Cravings for dim sum satisfied too.

After the lunch, we strolled awhile at City Square before heading to our hotel by cab.

This time round, we tried another new hotel for staycation at Mutiara Hotel, 15 minutes drive away from City Square. Mutiara Hotel is a 5 star hotel that is strategically located within the city's central business district. The hotel offers 336 smoke-free guestrooms.

A glance of their hotel lobby, it was filled with many cosy spots for guests to lounge in.

Though Mutiara Hotel's exterior looked a bit rundown, the interior was actually very beautiful, comfortable and spacious. The bed was so cozy, we found ourselves very reluctant to get out of the hotel room.

There was even a sitting area for us to wear our shoes before heading out.
This was by far the best hotel I have stayed in JB.
There was a bathtub in our toilet.

We were staying at level 4 and we were treated to the greenery scenery when peeked out of the window. I spent a few moment enjoying the scenery ahead.

Coming to JB for staycation was all about lazing ourselves in the hotel until evening time where we headed out again for food and shopping. It's our relax time.

We decided to leave the hotel at about 5.30pm and made our way by foot to KSL City Mall which was about 10 minutes walk away.

Our must have coconut ice cream whenever we were at KSL. It cost only RM7 for coconut husk ice cream and RM2 for the coconut cone ice cream.

We then walked around the mall to some of my favourite shops to check out their latest fashion trend but came out empty handed. We proceeded for dinner after finished checking all the shops.

We decided to try something new for dinner, hence we tried out KD Hong Kong, 港都香港.

I have fried pork chop rice. Though not very fabulous, I think it was worth it for the price paid at RM10.90.

Still not feeling satisfied from the dinner, we went to hunt for more dessert.

We went Snow City Desserts 雪山飞狐  for dessert and chit chat the remaining of our time away at KSL since we have no other plan. It was a cozy place where we can enjoy some dessert or cakes and spend time catching up.

I ordered Green Tea Milk Crepe Cake with ice cream. I love the crepe cake which simply just melt in my mouth.

We ordered another Blueberry Sawdust Pudding for sharing. Total bill was RM41.50
We learnt another lesson, never over-order our dessert, one each is just nice. We have a hard time clearing all 3 of them. Nevertheless, it was still a perfect note to end off our night at KSL.


Day 2: Sunday 28/5/17

We have a cozy one night stay at Mutiara Hotel, totally perfect for both of us. We would love to come back for a stay again.

We just took our time to get ourselves ready for checkout since we have ample time until 12pm.

Before we checked out our hotel, we went to level 3 to check out their swimming pool area. Wow, it really gave us a resort feel together with its scenery behind too.

It was our tradition to have cake at the hotel cafe before leaving as bf is a cake lover. The cheese cake caught my attention as it seemed delicious, hence I picked this.

Bf picked on red velvet cake. We paid RM16 for both cakes.

After having the cake, we set off for our lunch before bidding good bye to JB. We went back to the stretch of shophouses that we explored during our last JB staycation because we wanted to buy the char siew pastry back and also to try out other cafes.

The first cafe that we passed by was IT Roo Cafe, where the best chicken chop in town is found. We immediately went for this. It was full house by the time we reached at 12.50pm, but we were lucky to found 2 seats.

The cafe interior was very old school, it resembled 1950s era coffeeshop scene.

Our drinks were here, bandung and coke float.

I ordered the Grilled Chicken Chop with mushroom sauce at RM14.
For chicken chop selection, we can choose either grilled or fried. I picked on grilled because I was afraid fried chicken might be too dry and I prefer it served drizzled with sauce. The portion was just nice for me together with salad and potato wedges.

We ordered a plate of fried prawn but was shocked by the portion served. The portion was too much for the 2 of us, we tried our best to clear as much as we can. This was what happen whenever we went overseas, everything also want to try. We need to control ourselves next time. 

The deep fried prawn was coated with batter that was crispy upon bite, revealing the soft texture prawn.

It was a hearty lunch that left me feeling full till dinner.

IT Roo Cafe
17, Jalan Dhoby, Bandar Johor Bahru, 80000 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
Operating hours: 12pm to 9.30pm

After getting our pastry, we walked back to City Square and ready to leave JB. It was a great 2D1N getaway. Look forward to the next trip or staycation.

Thursday, May 25, 2017

Happenings in May - Zi Char + Ajisen + Seasonal Salad Bar

Friday 5/5/17

May is a stressful month for me, it is my 闭关 month. During this month, I will try to stay home to revise on my modules when possible to prepare for my upcoming exam.

It's a rest day for me today but will be heading out for a short while. I need to collect my passport and run errands. My passport is expiring, so happy to collect my new passport. Time to travel soon again.

I have cravings for Long John Silver, they have the nicest fries among all the fast food. Lucky us, there is an outlet at VivoCity, so we headed down to Vivo for lunch before heading home.


Thursday 11/5/17

Today's lunch was at Han Geun Doo Geun Korean Restaurant. A place that guaranteed you leaving full and satisfied. Just order a main course and you are entitled to free flow of tea and side dishes.

I decided to try the fired dumpling as my main course. My lunch accompanied with the side dishes and egg soup. Usually for side dishes, I only went for 1 round of serving because I was already full by the time I finished everything. So I am at a disadvantage whenever I go for buffet because I am not a big eater.


Friday 12/5/17

T.G.I.F.
Finally endure until the end of work week. I was looking forward and not looking forward because I will be away from work for 8 days to 闭关 and my I have to sit for 3 papers with the first paper begins on next Thursday.

We have lunch at Han's, my first time trying their burger. Top up $3 for their fries and salad.
Yeah, break time begins.


Sunday 21/5/17

Since last week my uncle paid for our Mother's Day dinner, I decided to give mummy a dinner treat this week as my appreciation. Mummy has called my uncle and cousins to join us too, to thank them for their treat. We went to Alexandra Village to have zi char.

Hello baby Krislyn, rarely see her look so happy. 
Just met her last week at her one year old birthday party.

Aiden has become such a big boy now, he is 3 years old.

More food coming up.
Whenever I have dinner with my family and relatives, we always over ordered our food until there is no place to squeeze another plate.

After dinner, I went back to mugging for my last paper. 3 more days to go, jiayou.

Wednesday 24/5/17

I finally finished my exam and here is the start to my 2 months school holiday. 2 months of free time, no assignment, no revision and no class. Hurray!

I finished my paper at 6pm and there was no better way to celebrate by feasting away. I have cravings for ramen so we went Ajisen @ Tiong Bahru Plaza. My last visit to Ajisen was nearly 2 years ago during my belated birthday celebration with my poly friends. I love their set meal promotion that comes with a drink, side dish and ramen.

I have chicken karaage ramen. The soup was savoury good with a hinge of spice in it.

Deep fried white fish is the side dish I never failed to order whenever I went to Ajisen. It was their nicest side dish among all.

Kimchi pancake. 


Thursday 25/5/17 

Endure the first day back to work. While I was away that period,  one colleague has tendered their resignation letter and another one transferred to another team. So many movement when I was away.

I have my dinner at my neighbourhood hawker centre.

Cendol to end off my dinner.
I love the sweetness of the coconut sauce added. I'm a fan of coconut.

 Friday 25/5/17

Lunch was a joyful affair because our Heads are giving us a treat at Seasonal Salad Bar, thanks Nick and Helen for the lunch treat. Seasonal Salad Bar offers a all-you-can-eat salad bar buffet and a main course included at the price of $20.95+ for lunch.

I have the salmon and fries for my main course.
The free flow selection includes fresh greens, ready-mix salads, daily soups, fruits and cakes.

End off my lunch with a soft serve vanilla.
It was a short work week for me where I only worked 2 days. My next long break will be in July where I will be away for a week, look forward to it.

Sunday, May 14, 2017

Krislyn 1st Birthday Party + Mother's Day Dinner

Took a breather from my intensive study to attend Krislyn 1st Birthday Party at Changi Beach Club. The place was so hard to find, it took us awhile to locate the place. We reached the same time as KP's family.

Arriving at the chalet, the place has an awesome view of the pool and sea. Time to have a short break, enjoy the present moment and leave the stress behind. 

Hello, how do I look in hairband?
The hairband was actually one of the props placed on the table for photo taking.

The birthday party just nice fall on Mother's Day, it called for gathering with the family and relatives to catch up on the latest happenings as well as have fun with the little ones.

My nephew, Aiden. Time passed so fast, he is already 3 years old.

He looked so happy after receiving the sweets. 
So good to be young and carefree.

Lunch was buffet catering. Here's my pick for lunch.

Little Amber. She always love playing with spoon.
She is everybody's favourite little girl. So cute and irresistible. 

Exploring the room.

Shall occupy this room for the time being and use the room for my revision.
The bed was too comfortable that made me feel like sleeping instead of studying.

Happy 1st birthday to little Krislyn, may you grow up healthy and happy.

The gloomy sky explained why nobody was in the pool. There was a slight drizzle, everybody went back to the chalet to seek shelter.

3 hours later, I decided to take a break from my study and visit the poolside to look for my nephew and niece who went swimming.

Right behind the pool, we have a view of the sea. The view was spectacular that got me linger for a long moment. The sun has lightened up the entire blue sky. Too bad, there was fencing that stopped me for going further in to the beach.

The kids love playing in the pool and very reluctant to get up. We needed to get them up and prepare them for Mother's Day dinner later on.

A photo with Amber after her shower. She is so adorable.
Took care of her while her mum was bathing Aiden.

Time to proceed for dinner, we slowly made our way up to level 2 to try out the Chinese restaurant located in Changi Beach Club. 

My uncle has booked the dinner reservation at Goldenbeach Seafood Restaurant earlier on after confirming the number of pax staying for dinner.

The restaurant is located amidst the tranquility of Changi Beach with the beach and Pulau Ubin as backdrop. The diners were treated to a captivating view of the breathing scenery where the sky meets the sea.

Sunset view is something I never get tired of. I have seen before many spectacular sunset, every sunset creates a different memory and story. The view was just so awesome.

Hello birthday girl.

We poured some water inside his bowl and Aiden has lots of fun playing with it.

Time to dig in. 
Sweet & Sour Pork.
Delicious dinner spread.

Stewed ee-fu noodle.

Thanks uncle for the dinner treat. Family gathering is something our family values a lot in, we always try to visit each other whenever possible.

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers.
你们辛苦了.