It's the princess's birthday!

Hi guys!!

when you see this, i am already at a wonderful place called Langkawi

enjoying the sun and breeze, hopefully the haze don't reach there!

i don't know why i love Langkawi so much that i must visit it for the 5th time i guess.. mad!

this time however, it's just going to be me and Pingu

so no surprise, it'll be a LAZZZYYYYy trip..

and all i have planned is just food! OMG!

so let's see where i plan to eat first...

we'll start with hopefully the one i most wanted to go first lah

Nice hor? romantic leh...

this place is called Mangoes, run by two Aussie ladies...

Tripadvisor reviews are raving about this place...

we'll see...

burger looks nice and yummy leh... 

but i heard they serve roast pork..

ROAST PORK!!  SIU YUK!!! in LANGKAWI!!!

die die also must go eat lohhhhhh...

and many said their Sunday Brunch is awesome...

apparently, the best Egg Benedict wor...

and forgive me, i haven't tasted that before...

so i believe, it'll be a good place for me to try my first egg benedict

well, this is how the place actually looks like.. daytime...

less the photography skill and angle.. Hahahahahaha

still, it's next to a PANTAI so it's good.

next would be for some Asian food...

so it'll be either Pahn Thai 

Thai Food of course!

or Malay/Western food at The Cliff 

awesome right all the ambience and view?

hopefully the food also good lah..

will also try this shop.. recommended by Tripadvisor also...

so can go there for lunch!! YUMMSSS...

Also not to forget a famous Chinese Seafood restaurant at Kuah Town...

probably, the pasar malam also if Pingu agrees..

so i go try makan first, come back then report ok!

Adios!

s'mores

oh boy, it's been almost a month since i have neglected my blog...

but i do have my excuses... February or rather beginning of the year is the busiest month for HR 

so to compensate for the long hiatus, here's a recipe for some sweet delights...

i came across 's'mores' in kaykay's blog.. and i thought, "these babies are cute!"

so after my salted egg cookies baking frenzy for CNY 

i had to bake those...

so i googled for a more precise measurement for s'mores

then i found this website.. and these are hers

awesome!!

so i thought it would be easier to eat in mini cups...

my end result! 

all the marshmallow melted, and sunk... totally fugly!

and over the next days, it became hard, sticky and it was so NOT marshmallowy :(

then i decided to NOT bake the marshmallows

try and see how it turn out to be...

voila! perfect... all too perfect for me!!

soft chewy marshmallow, bitter sweet chocolate on a crunchy salty base

see how pretty these babies ... i purposely choose colorful mini ones ;)

hope you guys like it as much as i do!

enjoy making this simple gooey goodness!

My Recipe: S'mores

S'mores:
150 grams - Jacob's Weetameal crumbs
25 grams - castor sugar
90 grams - butter, melted

Topping:
170 grams - semisweet or milk chocolate chips or chunks
2 cups (as needed) miniature marshmallows

S'Mores: 
Preheat oven to 180 degrees C and place the oven rack in the center of the oven.

Stir together the cracker crumbs and the sugar. Add the melted butter and stir until all the crumbs are moistened. Line mini cup trays with mini cups, then press this mixture firmly onto the bottom of the mini cups. (i use mini tart cups instead of trays) Bake in preheated oven about 10 minutes, or just until the crust begins to turn golden brown. Remove from oven and let it cool.

Melt the chocolate then pour a thin layer over the cracker base. Sprinkle mini marshmallows over the chocolate while it is still in liquid form.

Can be stored at room temperature for several days.

la mia esperienza italiana

my first ever mushroom aglio e olio

my friend commented that my spaghetti is all broken to short strands

hahaha.. well, that's the proof that it's my first attempt and btw

i was using the vermicelli version which i prefer; smaller strands and cuter

my second attempt! nice!

meatball spaghetti :)

this is like add on to the full Italian fiesta, Premium Mushroom Soup

Mushroom Fusilli aglio olio

Hahaha this was the sampat version of chinese spaghetti

tung choy minced meat with spaghetti + vege some more!

ok not nice at all cause there wasn't any gravy from the meat..

should there be, i guess it would be quite ok

this was the best!!! 

Hong Kong style breakfast!

Fusilli +vege+luncheon meat in chicken broth!

yummy!!!

btw, i realised that i didn't know how to spell the word spaghetti

and had to use spell check for all of the word in this post!

#failstudent

cookies anyone?

Japan Day 5: Universal Studios Japan - Kyoto

my post on Japan is going to be shorter and shorter...

getting lazy dy.. hahahhaa gonna just put links for self reading! 

early morning, we woke up and 'someone' set off some WWW1 atomic bomb

and this girl ended up like this!hahahhahaha

went to a nearby shop for breakfast

i ate Kitsune Udon, udon with tofu :P

the noodles are so yummy, springy, not too hard, not too soft!

that's the Tsūtenkaku tower behind us

NONE of us wanted to walk there to the tower, so we just took the picture from afar.

the area we stayed was actually deemed and seedy and dangerous which boasts a colourful history and unique identity.. well we didn't know that till our last morning there

if i knew, i would go for the 'porn cinemas' there

i haven't been to such old-school run down cinemas and what more, playing porn!! @_@

USJ day 2!!!

so hard to capture this picture! 

mine didn't work out well :(

see that japan flag on the left? this was the perfect shot we aimed for!

bored while queuing

cute food in USJ that i 'almost' have no heart eating ;)

USJ 'town'

After USJ, we headed over to Kyoto

looked for our Minshuku where we had to walk so so far away

but that was when we witnessed the awesome truth about Japanese people!

they are super super helpful, kind, friendly and awesome

it was already late at night when we reached

and we could not find our Minshuku

and one kind gentleman...

was walking with his wife when we asked him for directions

he asked his wife to go home first and went all the way to guide us 

super ❤❤❤

then our Minshuku lady boss was super nice too!

she guided us to the best sushi stall every my baybee ate!

he ate like so so so much and it was super damn cheap 

i also ate quite a lot actually... with the fact that i dont eat raw food, no sea food except fish

i like the tempura fried salmon sushi the most!!

it was at this shop where we embarrassed ourselves, really..

see the bottom insert in the above picture, where there's a plate of sushi above a bowl?

ok, see the line of sushi in the above picture? we were sitting there picking our food

then we saw sushi on a bowl and we liked it!

we were thinking, wah! why those all on the bowl one so delicious der??

more expensive maybe? dun care lah, just eat!

we dont come all the way to japan and let good food pass you by!

so we took so so many on-the-bowl-sushi

after some time, we realised that there were colour indication on the bowl

OMG! only then we realised that it was to indicate specific orders for a specific table coded by colours!!

so we were like eating all the orders made by our next table!

HAHAHAHAHAHHA

Japan Day 1: Tokyo - Asakusa

i know i know... this is a long overdued post..... but still... here goes..

Our flight to Tokyo Narita Airport departed from KLIA around 11.30pm on 16 November 2011.

Pingu and I had the chance to experience Plaza Premium Lounge at KLIA prior our departure because i have just got my Citibank Platinum card! yay!

Being in the lounge was definately better than loiterring around the waiting area.. but it was not as exclusive as we have thought it would be. Food there was not as grand as expected... and it was crowded there as well... So we just ate our dinner and we went out to join Yn and Lee at Mc D's!!

Our flight took about 7.5 hours and it was not the most comfortable flight ever due to my own issues of sleeping in the plane... we were thankful though that we flew with MAS..at least we had food and unlimitted drinks... with blanket and pillows...

Right after touching down in Tokyo, we went to the washroom to clean up and beautify ourselves. We bought the Keisei Skyliner ticket to Ueno Station, which is nearby to our first destination, Asakusa. We also bought our 1 day unlimitted passes on the subway from Narita Airport too as it cost only 600 yen instead of 750 yen as it was meant for tourist.

**Tips: Please BUY the unlimitted subway pass at Narita Airport

At the Keisei Skyliner boarding platform. It took approx 30 mins for us to reach Ueno. It was quick but it wasn't cheap though... Totally worth it as we dont need to carry our luggage through so many trains and the train service is super punctual! Perfect for our return journey too as it was a morning flight and waking up in the wee hours in the morning will be a torture easy for us!

On board the Skyliner and Ohiyo from Japan!!!

When we reached Ueno, we had to take the local train service to get to Asakusa. This was our first and many more rides on the local train later. The ticket was very small and it was fun figuring for the first time how to purchase the ticket from the machine too!

At the Asakusa Station exit which is nearby to our Hotel!! It was quite cold as you can see from Pingu's jacket that i was wearing...

We found our hotel which was like 1 minute walk from the station exit. Left our luggage there in the lockers and went roaming around Asakusa while waiting for the check in time which is at 3.00 pm.

One of the very famous place to visit around there is the Asakusa Temple (Sensoji Temple).

After the big red lantern, there are lots of small shops selling souvenir and traditional Japanese food. Please note that you are only allowed to eat at the boundary of the shops selling the food. Visitors cannot eat the food while walking to ensure cleanliness of the area. i forgot about this warning from my friend and ordered TWO icecreams on a cold almost winter day! *greedy but it was totally worth it lor.. cause the black sesame and green tea ice cream was sooooooo good!

At the entrance of the temple there is this water feature where you can wash your hands and rinse your mouth before entering the temple. it's for some goodluck or cleansing thing apparently.

At the entrance of the temple, you can find some Omikuji stalls. These are are random fortunes written on strips of paper where we can get it by giving a small offering and shaking a box containing numbered sticks while making a wish/question and taking out the fortunes by the same number from the mini drawers there.

This is the Omikuji i got for Fredonia... seeking Love! hahahhahaa.. and it was a super good fortune so i brought it back and gave her as a gift! and.... i think it's accurate leh... now that she's in a relationship already!! yay!!

Pingu also did one and i guess it wasn't a really good one.. so he folded, tied and left it at the speacial place indicated. The reason for this custom is the idea being that the bad luck will wait by the place rather than attach itself to the bearer. So yay! bad luck left at the temple to be blown away by wind...

We were all waiting anxiously for 3.00pm to come as we were all sleepy and tired from the night flight.. so when the time came, we went back to out 'little hotel' for a nap.

This is so far where i had the BEST sleep in Japan... it was super comfortable despite the fact that it's like a coffin size! choy! these are called capsule hotel and Capsule Hotel Asakusa Riverside is one of the few that caters for ladies as well.

After our nap, we went for dinner at around 8pm.. hahahahaaa... we had super good sleep!
Dinner was at a 'mamak stall' just at the corner of the building.. dinner was awesome!!

The first meals we had in Japan..
L (Lunch): udon; katsu don  
R(Dinner): yakiniku, ground beef rice, gyudon

We went sightseeing in Giza.. just like Bukit Bintang with all shops like Pavillion and Lot 10 standard.. no Sg Wang..

We also went to the Shishedo store.. where you can try out the make up items.. ELECTRONICALLY!  like if you try a pallet with eye shadows, blusher, lipstick.. when you scan the barcode at the computer, and stand right in front of the screen...tadah! you'll get a full face makeover!

Nissan gallery @Japan...

Bought this cake from Little Baum Tree shop. It is actually baumkuchen, a German kind of layered cake that has made it big in Japan .

So after Giza, we went back to the hotel to bathe and sleep. Let me eleborate more of the hotel here.

When we checked in, we have to remove our shoes and change to the hotel's indoor shoes and lock our shoes in the lockers provided. Each person is given a locker to store personal belongings. We were given towels and pyjamas set. Girls and guys occupy different levels!

Bathroom is a common bathroom separated by gender. The guys one i heard was outdoor (gasp!) and had good view! But the catch is, you have to be naked! FULLY TOTALLY NAKED! hahahahhahahaa.... and that apply to the ladies too! wtf!

i thank God that we went to Japan in pairs! I cant imagine if i had to experience this all by my own! it would be terrifying...

So yennee and i took our towels, toiletries, pyjamas set... and went to bathe.. not expecting to face the communal bathroom on the first day itself!! (we knew we would experience that at Hakone) When we reached to the bathroom, i thought, wah, one cubicle so big hor!... but ONE only ah? aiyah.. so mah fan.. need to wait for turns lor... so i slided the door..thinking i would step into another bathroom area....

GASP! i quickly closed the door.. and said to yennee,"eh, got one naked popo bathing inside leh!!! OMG!! then both of us are like kaypohchis keep on peeping that popo bathing naked! hahahahhahaaa

so how??? we have never bathed naked with others before in our lives!! as much as i am very close to yennee, we haven't bathe together before okay!!! we didn't know what is the procedure we should follow... what to bring in.. where to put the towels... whether should we walk in naked or remove our clothes inside... OMG!! we were so stressed and yet so funny... so we 'geladah' that popo's stuff left outside in one of the basket.. and we became instant expert!

so we stripped ourselves naked... and with a small mini face towel, we tried our very best to cover our pride and shame! hahahahha.. quickly ran into the bathroom and sat down... i was damn paiseh.. but act selamba jer.. proceed to copy how the popo bathed! hahahha.. one thing i totally loved about japan is everywhere you stay, cheaper hotels like this to expensive ones, they provide good quality shampoo and body shampoo.. by shishedo lagi!

there you go, our first day in Japan... first 100% Japanese meal, first Capsule hotel experience and first time bathing naked with others!! i shall end with this... taken inside my cubicle :)

new year's meal

and so my 2012 new year resolution had a rocky start....
it's ok... we'll pick up soon..
here are some new year eve food i had all cooked with love by pingu's dad!! so WOW rite? we had braised chicken leg... boneless thai fried chicken and steamed fish!

and on new year's day itself ... we had these two fishes....
those above were the skeletons... we had the meat portion only.. awesome!
home made fish and..err.. rice! hahahhaha

superstar libra - day 3

ohai!! let me show you my pretty face before we start talking further!
that was taken in the bus... once we arrive in Krabi!!

at Krabi Jetty
Pretty woman.. walking down the street ~~~ la la la
Our first stop was at Thanbok Kharani Botanical Garden

this is supposed to be the scenery where we went 'wow' and chose this trip

end up visiting a muddy stream! hahhahah

but need to give credits to the Thais though.. the stream was clear of rubbish! :)

At the front of the temple in the cave, Suwan Kuha Temple with the extremely impressive 15m long golden reclining Buddha inside

Outside, there's a Grandmother Willow look-a-like and i posed gracefully there

We had our lunch at Phang Nga Bay Resort and i command you to focus on the top left corner

where the best-of-the-bestest-onion-rings-i-have-tasted-in-my-life is located!

they called it tempura fried veggies there and gigi thought it was sotong at first! ahhahahah

after our lunch, we took a scenic boat ride into Phang Nga Bay National Park

the four of us ♡
Then we reached kao Ping Gun Island, popularly known as James Bond Island..

it seems that the one of the scene in one of the James Bond movie was shot here...

and behind us was like a piece of mountain cut through and the one part of it leaning on the other was also in the scene. Apparently, James bond ran through it or something.. in actual fact, he wont be able to do so..

Nah.. this is the stunted throphy island that is seen in the scene of the movie
can audition for Bond girl ah??? HAHHAHAHAHA
then in the evening as we are returning, rain came and we had to put on our raincoat

we looked so cute kan??

then we travelled back to the ship.. -the pics are with angie and she's not sharing with us YET!

and we went for our Gala Dinner.... that will be in Day 4's post!