Saturday, January 30, 2016

Family Self-Drive Trip to Malacca: The Journey & Jonker Walk

The first family self-drive trip to Malacca started at dawn. While majority of Singapore was still sleeping comfortably in their beds, we had to tear our sleepy bodies away from the bed to prepare for the long day/drive ahead. After a quick stop-over at PIL's place to sort out the logistics, we made our way to Woodlands Custom and arrived at 5AM. Crossing the custom was a breeze and we cleared it within an hour. We drove straight for Muar, with the occasional stops for toilet break. After spending half a day in Muar to visit the relatives, we headed to Malacca. I relied on my trusty iPhone map for navigation and brought us safely to Malacca. 
Once again, we stayed at Courtyard @ Heeren for its excellent location and breakfast spread. I felt totally at home the moment I stepped in through the front doors.

  
We stayed next door to PIL on the ground floor while BIL took the family room on the 2nd floor. The corridors on the first floor is littered with antiques. I felt ancient as I sat on the chair opposite our room. There is even a real well in the middle, left behind from olden days.
We booked the superior room which comes equipped with LCD TV (I spent the night watching K-concert on cable), basic toiletries and complimentary coffee/tea/mineral water.
Courtyard @ Heeren
91 Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock,
75200, Melaka, Malaysia
Tel: +606 281 0088  
We made our way to Jonker Walk. Every Friday-Sunday from 6PM onwards, the street is blocked from traffic and turned into a night market. We walked aimlessly while keeping a lookout for yummy food to fill the tummies. Even though people normally come here for food, there are a lot of tourist attractions along the street too *mental note to visit at least a couple during my next visit*
This was also Leecher's first visit to Malacca, so we are taking this as momento to celebrate this special occasion
First stop: Taste Better, famously known for their delicious custard durian puffs. The best way to enjoy it is to put the whole puff into your mouth; which is pretty easy since they are known as one-bite puffs. Besides puffs, there is also soft serve ice cream in durian, cempedak and dragon fruit.
Leecher distributed the puffs while I was snapping pictures. He conveniently took the last puff and put it inside his mouth w/o sharing with me! He tried to justify his action saying the instructions on the box said 一口粒. 
Taste Better @ Melaka Unesco 
Jonker Street 96
Opens daily
I led the way to the food street for dinner. As usual, it was crowded and it wasn't easy getting a table to accommodate a big group. The boys were in charge of ordering food and came back with curry fishballs, stingray, lala, fried kway teow, curry noodles etc. The rojak was such a disappointment - it was full of random fruits with a pathetic chunk of you tiao. Garlic oyster was the hit of the day!
Doing touristy stuff with the niece before we ended the night :) Stay tuned for the rest of our journey! 

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Read our Malacca adventures here:
Family Self-Drive Trip to Malacca: St Paul's Church and A' Famosa Fort
Family Self-Drive Trip to Malacca: Nadeje Mille Crepe and Jonker 88 
Family Self-Drive Trip to Malacca: Christ Church and Heading Home 

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

4th Wedding Anniversary: A Simple Celebration

As we ushered in the new year, I decided to have a revamp ..... by changing my font type on this blog for the entries moving forward. We are now at the 2nd week of 2016 - work has been busy, a good start to the year with several items on my pipeline. Whenever I had some free moments in office, I will think through of what I want to achieve this year #selfmotivationmode #whileitlasts 

To start the ball rolling, I even had time to sort out pictures for an entry! On the 4th wedding anniversary, things got a lot simpler. We even had a tiff the night before and I went to sleep, without saying good-night to the hubby #coldwarmode The next morning, he gave me a little hug - his way of breaking the silence - while the stubborn me wiggled my way through his embrace, my way of ending the war. We then left for work, like any other day. 

The real surprise came when the door-bell rang. A fellow colleague opened the door and the delivery guy walked in, asking for me. When I turned around, I was surprised to see a bouquet, wrapped in my favourite flowers. Ha, I thought he was trying to guilt-trip me. He actually remembered that I liked using symbols to denote each wedding anniversary. The 4th year signifies flower/fruits - thankfully he ordered flowers instead of fruits but the auntie me think that I would have better use for fruits, heh. Well-played, my love.
So, this became my first wedding anniversary bouquet on our 4th wedding anniversary. 
Yanni kindly loaned me her vase to put the flowers :) Love how the floral scent linger in the house. 
 
Instead of dining out, like how we usually spend our anniversaries, Leecher decided that we should have a home-cooked meal. His excuse at trying out the grill pan, a seldom-used item that we acquired during sales period.

 2 thick slab of steak with minimal seasoning, sizzling on the pan! Leecher even grilled some onions on the side, while I stir-fried some leftover fishcakes + mushrooms + chilli padi in case we die of meat overdose.
Initially I was worried that Leecher might not be able to grill it well, given that the meat was thicker compared to those that we usually buy. Leecher leaned on his best friend - Google - for help and he nailed it pretty well! 
 Tadah - the finished product. The steak was really juicy and finger-licking good! 
A bottle of red wine which we lugged home from Yarra Valley. During our trip to Melbourne, we spent 2 days at Yarra Valley, hopping from vineyard to vineyard. It was one of the highlights of the trip and we learnt more about wine tasting and appreciation. Will share more about it in later posts! 
Tuck in! A simple celebration of home-cooked meal to mark the celebration. Looking forward to the next anniversary, my love :)

Psst ... coincidentally, this also marked the 1000th post on this blog.  

Thursday, December 31, 2015

2015, in a heartbeat!

Year 2015 literally zoomed past. I remembered starting the year, counting down to the first weekend then to the first public holiday. Before I could even catch my breath, we have come to the last day of the year. Is it a sign on me growing old?

The usual tradition of wrapping up the year with a simple post. Even though I have disappeared significantly from the blog, but I'm trying to update as often as I can given the limited time I have. Work load has definitely increased, but I'm looking forward to maintaining work-life balance next year. I still miss baby bro terribly, but I'm thankful that he appeared in my dreams during Boxing day - exactly 2 years since he left us. I miss you, my little bro. Hope you're safe on the other side. 

We also progressed to our 4th wedding anniversary - grateful to have you with me, though at times I really wanna pull your hair out. Dec is always my favourite time of the year - spent my birthday with a meal with my family before we jet off to Iceland-Amsterdam for 2 weeks of adventure. It was a wonderful road-trip with friends - a trip with many stories to tell :) I ended up with food poisoning on the flight back and was wheeled out of the plane, straight to the medical center, lol! What a way to end the trip. I was supposed to be on medical leave till next year but the workaholic me headed back to the office today to clear my bursting mailbox. 

As we embrace the new year together, here's wishing everyone a blissful 2016!

Monday, November 9, 2015

Birthday Dinner at Morton's Steakhouse

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Leecher got himself lucky since I did not have any birthday celebration for 2 consecutive years. We ended year 2014 with a belated birthday "celebration"/dinner on Boxing Day courtesy of Kaiwei & Yanni. See, even our friends were so sweet to plan a celebration for me while my own hubby just fake ignorance. Haiz, what is the world coming to?#marriedlife
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The guys arrived earlier and ordered one round of drinks before sending this pic over to the chat group. Yanni and I arrived later - thanks for the pickup! - and joined them, while they head for their 3rd round. We had to gently remind the boys - Leecher in particular - to slow down since we still have a bottle of red to finish.
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I have always enjoyed Morton's lychee martini, but I decided to go for Chocolate martini first. Sweet, but the alcohol content still kicks a punch!
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Morton has renovated their place since the last visit (a good 4 years!), from cozy to modern. The restaurant was brightly lit, and even boost a view of the open concept kitchen. We sat at the other end, hence we couldn't catch the chefs in action apart from through the lens. Even though the place has changed, the service remained. Top-notch, if I may add. 
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Leecher eyeing for his dose of red wine, since we'll be having steak.  
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 We started off with a lovely loaf of bread. The crust was crispy, the bread was so delicious - either on its own or paired with butter. It was a torture not to order thirds (we had seconds!) as we need to save stomach space for the main dishes.  
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A bottle of red to go with our mains.
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Steak, my favourite! The meat was tender and juicy, literally melting in your mouth. Omg, I'm feeling so hungry right now.
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Mac and Cheese for sharing, awesome comfort food. This is easily one of my favourites, given that mac & cheese tend to be cloying after a while. One of the best mac & cheese I had was at Overeasy & I found the same love at White Rabbit, since both belonged to the same Lo & Behold Group.
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Jumbo lump crab-cake, still as yummy as ever.   PC269230 copy 
Thanks for celebrating my birthday with me :)  
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Morton also celebrated my birthday with a complimentary chocolate lava cake, topped with vanilla bean ice cream and candle by the side. Leecher blew out the candle on my behalf, for I didn't want to "celebrate" the birthday due to Baby Bro's passing a year ago. Anyway, the cake was delicious, but what stole our hearts away was the New York cheese cake. Once again, Morton doesn't disappoint and I'm looking forward to the next visit! 
Morton's The Steakhouse 
Mandarin Oriental Singapore
Fourth Storey, 5 Raffles Avenue
Marina Square, Singapore
Tel: 65 6339 3740

Friday, October 30, 2015

4th Wedding Anniversary


4 years of love, happiness and occasionally, the tears and quarrels. Marriage life is never easy, but we survived another year.  

Happy Flower Anniversary, my love

Saturday, October 24, 2015

Sisters Trip: 2D1N in Golden Palm Tree Resort, Malaysia (Part One)

This took place way before my dear Sister gave birth to cute Asher - wanna pinch his cheek right now! I know, extremely outdated but hey, I spent a long time writing and editing the pictures, so must post right? It all started with groom-to-be Amos heading to Bangkok for his stag night. Our dear bride-to-be Miaoli felt 心平衡 hence, we decided to head overseas for her hen's night too. After several rounds of discussion, KL was the destination for the trip. I like our swift decision-making process - or what we like to call chop chop curry pok. A couple of days later, we confirmed the hotel, air tickets and transportation - great team work, girls! Now, we just need to wait for the day to arrive. 
Early in the morning, we arrived at the airport with our bags ready to spend the weekend away from home! We took the early flight and landed at KL Budget Terminal (LCCT) shortly. A kind soul helped us with this picture but we were shoo-ed away *points to hand appearing in pic* However, we were all camera-ready for the picture apart from Qian, lol.  
The hungry monsters were unleashed once we cleared immigration. We settled for breakfast at Old Town White Coffee before making our way to the resort.
Miao's bridesmaid entourage consisted of 7 people: Qian, Fling, me, Kai Ling, Sylvia, Christina and Jacqueline. Thanks to Facebook, we all know one another so it was easy to get along even though we met Jacqueline for the first time. However, she's so easy to get along with, so we broke the ice in no time. Two sisters couldn't make it for this trip, hence it was down to us to make the "party" fun!
  
Fuel for recharging before we embark on the journey to the resort. The laksa was decent enough though it could be better. Somehow, I always have the impression that Old Town food in Singapore paled in comparison with Malaysia. 
Old Town White Coffee (Closed)
Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT), Jalan Klia S3
64000 Sepang, Klia, Malaysia
Having filled our tummies, we took a cab to Golden Palm Tree Resort. The journey took around 40 min via Airport Taxi. We purchased a prepaid ticket at the airport and hopped onto the cab which brought us to the resort. This resort has since been renamed to AVANI Sepang Goldcoast Resort. Nevertheless, I still think Golden Palm Tree suits it better because 
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image courtesy of google
The resort spreading out like a palm tree on water. Pretty, isn't it? Located near the Sepang F1 tracks, this resort blends tropical relaxation and real adventures with a beachfront right at its door step. 
 
We waited for the buggy's arrival to send our bags to the villa that we had booked for the night. The 5 of us squeezed in the buggy for the short 5 min journey to the Clubhouse before embarking on foot to the villa.
There are 4 different types of accommodation offered - superior rooms, family villa, 2-bedroom and 3-bedroom villas. The superior rooms are located on the main trunk of the palm while villas are located on the palm itself, spreading out into the sea where you will get a panoramic sea view.
The resort is relatively small such that you can travel everywhere by walking. There are (pretty) bicycles scattered all over for you to cycle within the resort. We decided to walk since it was so much convenient.  
The clubhouse which also housed several restaurants. This is where the "palm tree" branches out in several directions according to the type of villas. 
We alighted from the buggy and began the walk to our villa.
Hello, our accommodation for the night :) We booked a 2-bedroom villa for the 6 of us. Let's take a room tour! 
The living room was quickly filled up with our barangs, lol! The villa was spacious at 122sqm. Even though wifi was available, we faced frequent disconnection till I no longer feel like being connected to the world since it was so troublesome. We also found out that wifi is the strongest at the clubhouse, lol. #firstworldproblems
 
Lining up the snacks that we brought along. I'm definitely feeling hungry now looking at these goodies. 
The master bedroom features a canopy king-sized bed, overlooking the sea! Boy, I can wake up to this view everyday and not feel bored. There is also a large private terrace with table and chairs, to enjoy the sea view.
 
Spacious marble bathroom with sunken bathtub, separate shower and massive walk-in wardrobe - the kind of bathroom area that I loved, but impossible to fulfill unless I have tons of cash to burn. 
The 2nd bedroom comes with twin beds and en-suite bathroom.
The bridesmaids all ready to kick-start the weekend!
AVANI Sepang Goldcoast Resort (formerly known as Golden Palm Tree Resort)
No. 67, Jalan Pantai Bagan Lalang, Kg Bagan Lalang,
43950 Sungai Pelek, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
Tel: +603 3182 3600
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