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I recently was in Bali for the second time. This time, it was with just a few friends of mine and we chose to stay away from all the buzz of Kuta town and decided to stay in Ubud which is further north up in the hills of Bali. We rented a private villa all to ourselves equipped with a swimming pool, driver and personal caretakers to make you food as you wish. All these of comes with a price of course. You can rent the villa for about USD $250 per night which I think it’s not bad considering we had 4 of us and we stayed for 5 nights.

DAY 1: UBUD (Murni’s Villa)
Arrived at Bali slightly after lunch, tired from the 1 half hour journey from the airport after a 2 hour flight from KL. Before we reached our villa, we stopped by for some Nasi Ayam Campur which was recommended by our driver. Something quite different from the normal Nasi Ayam you get back in KL, as this consist of chicken liver and other chicken parts mixed with spices. It’s not too bad actually, but a word of caution as it is a bit spicy for those who cannot really take it.

Nasi Ayam Campur

After lunch, we checked in to our villa, to which we were greeted with welcome drinks and snacks. Here is a tour of our villa..

some crackers and ice blended lime juice to welcome us

our infinity swimming pool =)

the bedrooms and living room

After settling down, we decided to head to Ubud town for dinner and a nice night of Jazz. We went to Murni’s Warung, a multi-story restaurant which serves authentic Balinese dishes in Ubud town. I like the ambiance in this place as each level of the restaurant has a slightly different theme which caters for different occasion. After dinner, we then headed to Jazz Cafe for some live Jazz performances.

Us at Murni’s Warung

DAY 2: SEMINYAK
It was a day at the beach and shopping. The girls booked massages at this place called Jari Menari in Seminyak even before we arrived in Bali. They apparently require you to do booking weeks in advance and to confirm your booking upon your arrival in Bali as it is very well known and mostly fully booked. They are very famous for their “4 Palm Massage” which you will get a massage from 2 masseurs simultaneously. Prior to the massage appointment, we went for some shopping and also to the beach.

Oli and Jo posing while they went shopping

Along the way, stopped by this place called Fashion Point for lunch. This place looks like it’s an artist’s haven despite it being called Fashion Point. Furniture at this place are decorated with art pieces combined with Balinese statues to make it look authentic.

Insert bulb into wine bottle and add a few ornaments and wahlahh! a nice art piece..

Oh, this is my lunch btw – Fried rice w/chicken sate

Beautiful Seminyak beach…need I say more?

Oli, Jo & I @ Seminyak Beach

After the massages, we went for dinner at Ku De Ta, a place I would recommend to someone who wants to have do a marriage proposal or an unforgettable party. The place is a club/restaurant facing the beach where deck chairs and candles make up the lounge area during the night. Accordingly, the place is renovated every year with a new theme to attract customers. The food there is categorized as “Australian Fine Dining” (whatever that means), and it’s a bit on the pricey side. The 4 of us did had dinner there and the bill came up to 1.8million…Rupiah that is, but still its about RM 600+ after conversion. Seriously, it’s really nice and I would definitely want to go back there again. I wouldn’t go back there for the food, but the drinks there however are reasonably priced.

Jo, Oli & Mike fine dining at Ku De Ta

Our infamous bill…I suddenly feel like a millionaire!

DAY 3: UBUD TOWN
It’s a whole day of shopping for souvenirs and also eating famous Babi Guling or Balinese Suckling Pig. Now, our driver took us to the famous Ibu Oka Babi Guling, which has won an award for one of the top restaurants in Bali. I got to say, Babi Guling is simply out of this world. I would recommend it to all serious pork lovers out there.

Babi Guling with rice

I think these are deep fried pork innards and it’s damn tasty 

After lunch, we proceeded to the Ubud market, where we spent most of our time (and money) there shopping. I bought a few unique items as well as some paintings for my home. Most of us used up most of the cash we brought for that day.

I bought this steel hot air balloon lantern which I thought is cool

In the evening, it started to rain, and we slightly soaked, hungry and tired. We stopped by to have dinner at a nearby restaurant and then decided to head back to the villa and call it a night.

DAY 4: KUTA & SEMINYAK
We decided to head to Kuta beach today. After experiencing the beach in Seminyak, my friends thought Kuta will be just as nice. Boy were we wrong! I’ve been to Kuta beach a couple of years back, and I know how packed it can be and how irritating the street peddlers are. I hate it when I’m are being constantly pushed to purchase something when I already made it clear that I’m are not interested. Now imagine walking every 5 steps and these peddlers selling you the same thing again. It’s bloody annoying! Plus, the beach is hot and packed, you don’t even get to have a decent spot to put your things down to get into the water without being constantly bugged by these peddlers.

We were all annoyed, so we decided to just have lunch head back to the beach in Seminyak. But before leaving Kuta, the ladies (as usual) decided to go shopping again.

Shops in Kuta Square

This shop is called “The White Shop” where everything sold is…WHITE

I like this sign. It makes customers stop to take a look

Oli and Jo, happy shopping at Kuta

After swimming in the beach at Seminyak, we had dinner by the beach where we also managed to watch the sunset.

Sunset @ Seminyak beach

My dinner – Grilled fish with herbs and seafood

After the delicious dinner, we went to this place called Hu’u which is situated just off Seminyak beach. The place is an old colonial mansion, converted into a club/restaurant/bar. There are garden furniture, together with dimly lit lights and chilled out music to create a very relaxing environment. There is also a swimming pool in the middle upon entering the garden that doubles up as a centerpiece with an ice sculpture at night. Inside, they play more hard house music compared to the garden area. We didn’t try the food, but the drinks here are also quite reasonably priced. Another nice place I would definitely come back to try the food.

Jo and Oli chilling out @ Hu’u

DAY 5: KINTAMANI
Mike and Oli felt that they wanted to be spending more time in the villa “vegetating” since we’ve been out most of the time over the past few days. Jo and I however, wanted to go to the coffee plantation that serves Kopi Luwak, or Civet coffee – which is the world’s most expensive coffee. We wanted to simply get a taste of it to see what all the hype is about. Apparently, this coffee cost around USD$60 per cup in some places. We headed up to Kintamani, which is about an hour journey from our villa to have buffet lunch on the hill side facing the volcano. The place is nice, especially the scenery and the buffet spread was not too bad either. To me it’s a bit over rated, but then again it’s something to experience.

Simple buffet spread

The view from our table

Jo & I

After lunch, we headed to the coffee plantation where we were shown how the coffee was made, and the creature that made it famous.

“We are here!”

The Civet Cat that eats the coffee beans

Coffee beans before…

…and after being digested by the Civet Cat

It’s then dried..

then roasted..

then pounded into coffee powder..

Mix with hot water and you get a cup of Kopi Luwak

Overall, the coffee is nothing to shout about really. Despite it being smooth and you don’t need to add sugar to enjoy it, for me it’s just taste like another cup of coffee. Don’t know what the fuss is all about.

We then went back to the villa to rest. We didn’t want to go out that night, so we ordered dinner in to be served to us. It’s like our last night in Bali, so we wanted to be pampered with people serving us in the comfort of our villa I guess.

Us eating in on the last night.

DAY 6: BYE BYE BALI =(
It’s time to say goodbye to our villa and our vacation. It’s really been great and a relaxing one. We woke up, with breakfast served to us one last time and then begin to pack to catch our flight back in the evening.

Will miss this the most – breakfast being served to us every morning!

taken with our villa caretakers, guards and driver – awesome bunch

*Click here to view more pictures

P.S: If you’re in Bali and you need a personal driver, I seriously recommend you to call Mr. Made (pronounced Mah Day) at 081 64741286. He is reliable, honest and humble. You can let him know that Nick from Kuala Lumpur who stayed at Murni’s Villa recommended you and he should remember. =)

Last Saturday, my colleagues and I went for a food trip to Ipoh and back..all within a day. Why? Well, because we’re bunch of crazy ass people and got nothing else better to do…haha. But seriously, we’ve been planning this trip for the longest time and when it finally materialized, everyone was so excited. You see, in order to get everyone to go, everyone has to be free on a particular weekend…which nowadays..is very hard to come by, seeing that many of us have other commitments.

We started to meet at the mamak below our office. We had a planned out itinerary so everyone had to be punctual and meet at 7AM otherwise, he/she will be paying a penalty by paying extra for the food. So by 710AM sharp, we headed for our first destination, Bidor a small town in Perak, to be in time for breakfast. There is a shop called Pun Chun Noodle House which serves the famous Duck Drumstick Noodles. They are also known for their home made biscuits and Taro Dumplings (Wu-kok in Cantonese). The duck noodles and taro dumplings didn’t disappoint me one bit. It really really good and I would recommend it to anyone who plans to make a stop there.

Duck drumstick noodles

Chicken mushroom noodles

Herbal duck soup

Taro dumplings (wu kok)

After filling our stomachs, our next destination was to Teluk Intan for some sight seeing and to taste the famous Rojak. Well, the famous place to go in Teluk Intan is the leaning clock tower, sort of like the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy…only not as tall, not as old and not as famous. It was the first time for some of my colleagues to be there, so they were quite excited. For me, I’ve been there before more than once, and I got to say…it’s rather sad to see that such a distinct landmark not properly maintained. There was a bazaar, and stalls were setup all around the place that made it an eyesore. It’s sad…but nevertheless we did have fun taking pictures there.

leaning clock tower of Teluk Intan

After the clock tower, we went to have the Rojak Ah Chai which had great reviews from food blogs. Honestly if you ask me, it was only so-so, and nothing great.

Ah Chai Rojak

happy people having rojak and coconut juice

After rojak, we headed to Ipoh to be in time for lunch. On our way there, Eugene who was our convoy leader, decided to ask his GPS to take us through the “scenic route”….we end up in some palm oil plantation where roads were only wide enough for 1 car at a time…so guess what happened when there was a car headed from the opposite direction? The poor guy have to back up and give us way…because we were in a convoy of 4 cars mah! I bet he felt out scared and intimidated…that’s why he gave way. Nevertheless, we made it to Ipoh just in time for the famous Bean Sprout Chicken Rice at Lou Wong. The verdict of this famous Chicken Rice?….Let’s just say I’ve tasted better…and apart from the fat(ter) bean sprouts, I don’t know what the fuss is all about.

us again having chicken rice..

After lunch, we walked across the street to get some famous biscuits, then head to this place called Funny Mountain which is famous for their “Tao Fu Fa” and soya bean milk.

me slurping down tao fu fa

Again..for me it’s nothing great. Maybe because I never was a huge fan of it to begin with, but I got to say the texture is different to those found back home in KL. It’s firmer and smoother…plus it only cost 80 cents per bowl. After that, it looked like we were all going home, until Mike said why don’t we go get some gourmet desserts at Indulgence. I mean..how can anyone resist gourmet desserts right? By this time, I was already too full for desserts, but that didn’t stop everyone else from ordering nearly everything on the dessert menu. The bill came up to about RM182.00, which actually cost more than all of the food we had previously for everyone combined…insane?…yes!

nearly the whole dessert menu..

After dessert, we headed home, all stuffed and satisfied, already planning our next food trip. Where to next?..maybe to Seremban or Malacca? We’ll see what happens. Overall, the trip was a successful one. The company was great, and we really stuck to the planned itinerary and even made it back in time for dinner. With that, here is a group picture which was taken outside a biscuit shop in Ipoh.

See you for the next food trip!!! :)

Photos by: Olivia Siow, Eric Cheong, Sonia Zuzartee, Eugene/Audrey Lim

Last Saturday, I met up with my former colleagues from my ex company for a Chinese New Year reunion dinner. I must say, there are only 3 types of events in the whole calendar year that you are able to get everyone (well almost everyone) together for a catching up session. These events include weddings, birthdays and of course Chinese New Year. While it seemed so hard to get everyone together any other day but during these events, I’m glad that everyone made it and it was an enjoyable night out. We started off having dinner at New Paris Restaurant here in SS2, PJ and then proceed for a drinking/catching up session in Plaza TTDI.

the traditional Yee Sang

Keet & Robin

Gillian & I

Michelle & Angie

Chan Thye & Ashley

Michelle & I

Group pic:- Chan Thye, Angie, Ashley, Gillian, Michelle, Nick, Robin & Justin

MIA: – Lim, Billy, Keet, Dawn

Thanks Ashley for organizing this, and really, thanks everyone who made it that night.

I just got back from a holiday in Hong Kong and Shenzhen for a couple of days and I must say, it was really good to be back there. Well, first of all, my trip was supposed to be during end of November, but was brought forward so that I can meet up with May Lynn there when she "transits" for 5 days, from Korea before flying back to KL. I was also initially supposed to go alone, and was supposed to be a purely shopping trip, but then Mike, my colleague decides to tag along as well. It’s a good thing too as he used to work in Hong Kong for 2 years back in 2002, so he knows where the best places to go are.

So what did we do in Hong Kong and Shenzhen? Well, for me…like intended, it was a shopping trip. For Mike, I think he just enjoys being back for the food and the city after such a long time. I also manage to catch up with old friends as well as meeting new ones.

Well, I won’t be writing a whole report on everything, I will just sum it up with lots of pictures as they always seem to say more anyway…

THE CITY…

awesome skyline via the Star Ferry

THE FOOD…

Pork dumplings stuffed with celery and vegetables with noodles

Braised beef la mien

Hong Kong Chee Cheong Fun

Click here for more food pictures…

THE COMPANY…

I met up with May Lynn, Penny, Su-Lin + her family, Melor, Michael and also Vicky. What’s really interesting was because, I have never met Melor and Michael prior to this trip. I used to liaise with them only through phone and emails while working in my previous company. Melor was based in KL before, but strangely enough, we’ve never met at all and Michael is based in Singapore all the while. Now both of them are based in Hong Kong. We kept in touched through MSN and also Facebook all this while (don’t you just love technology?) and finally met for the first time at Discovery Bay at a restaurant overlooking the sea!

  Mike, Vicky, Michael, Melor & I @ Discovery Bay

Mike, May Lynn, Penny & I @ La Qube, Lan Kwai Fong 

Click here for more pictures…

SHENZHEN…

Mike, May Lynn, Penny and I went for a day trip to Shenzhen for shopping. It’s about a 45 minutes ride by train to Lo Wu station, which is the border town between Hong Kong and China. We managed to get on-the-spot visa which entitles you for a 5-day pass into China. We expected a long wait for our visa, but to our surprise, it took us less than 10 minutes! Maybe because it’s a weekday that we went. The visa costs HKD150 (approx RM75) in case you want to know.

After the border, we took the subway to Laojie station. So what’s good in Shenzhen? Well…shopping of course. It’s the land of the knock-offs, land of the pirates…anything you want to call it. These places sell Grade-A fakes and you can’t tell the difference really. Just to illustrate what I mean - I saw this pair of limited edition Nike Footscapes Woven which cost around HKG1900 (approx RM950) at Lane Crawford in Hong Kong, and by comparison…I got the same thing (just of a different color) at HKD290 (approx RM145). Cheap isn’t it?

On the bad side, Shenzhen is also known for its snatch theft. My friends and I actually witnessed a guy snatching a girls mobile phone while she was about to board the train! Then, we saw some ruckus amongst a group of people and some policemen! Talk about a dangerous place to be in….but I would still recommend anyone to go there for a day trip….just to shop…but nothing more.

Yatttaa!! - Hiro Nakamura wannabe..

Click here for more photos of Shenzhen…

AND THE SO CALL HAPPENING BITS…

In the end, I would say it was a memorable and awesome trip. And mission accomplished (for me…didn’t I say it was a shopping trip??) …I got 3 pairs of limited edition shoes - 1 from Hong Kong, and the other 2 from Shenzhen, Tees from Esprit and Bossini ranging from HKD39 to HKD79 per piece, Polo Tees from HKD 20 per piece, an Armani Exchange bracelet and souvenirs. It was all good…but tiring as well….but would I do it again?….HELL YES!

We had a company subsidised lunch at Lafite at Shangri-La Kuala Lumpur. It was supposed to be fine dining and high class since it has won numerous awards and have excellent reviews about their food. Well, it was my first time there (since people like me can’t afford these places often) and I got to say, IT WAS SO DISAPPOINTING! The food wasn’t that great…the ambiance was just like any ordinary hotel terrace cafe (in fact…I’ve seen better ones…don’t let the picture on link fool you!). And to top it off, their staff weren’t really well trained due to a certain incident that happend. Ok, it’s too long for me to bitch about it since my colleague already blogged about it, I shall leave it for you to read here.

Would I go back there again? Are you nuts?!! After all that…I don’t think it’s worth the money. It’s not that I can’t afford it….but seriously…RM25++ for a glass of fruit juice that is not even freshly squeezed? I think NOT!