3 meals at Kota Kinabalu

No trip will be complete without an obligatory post on the food savoured. Just too bad that the food we had on the 3 days do not truly reflect the gastronomic scene of Kota Kinabalu. We did not have a car and neither do we know our roads there, so it was hard for us to venture out of the airport and hotel area for our meals.

Upon touching down at Kota Kinabalu Low Cost Carrier Terminal 2 airport, we headed to Asian Delights Cafe (the only option we had apart from KFC), the same when we headed to the Kota Kinabalu International Airport Terminal 1 (new airport) for work on the 2nd day, we ended up having our lunch at this cafe as well (they have outlets in both airports), and on the final day before taking off, we had our lunch here too. Eating here means we have an extra 10% off our meals upon producing the MAB pass.


Beef rendang rice- RM6


Nasi Lemak special- RM5.50


Kampung fried rice- RM12.90


Honey chicken rice- RM12.90


Singapore fried meehoon- RM5.50


Curry chicken rice set with a drink- RM9.90
Normal curry chicken, no complains and no praises

One thing I noticed is that although Asian Delights operates at both airports, prices at the Terminal 1 airport is more expensive and the beverages selection are limited.


Imperial Hotel Rooftop

As I have mentioned in my earlier post, our hotel stay is inclusive of breakfast, and so this is where we had our breakfast for 2 mornings. No fuss to where we should go for breakfast ;D


My picks


The best thing on the buffet table- BEEF BACON!!!


Toasted bread with melting butter, mini doughnut and banana cake


Porridge with fried shalots and prawns


Lychee, honeydew and papaya for good digestion


BEEF BACON!!! Yumz!


How do you want your eggs to be? Sunny side up and mushroom omelet


Porridge with fried shallots, prawns and shredded chicken

I suppose you can tell beef bacon was my absolute favourite that two mornings, I stuffed myself silly with them. It was soooooooooooo sinful but I felt good. *burps* The coffee and tea tasted blehhhh, no matter how much sugar you add, it still taste the same -__- with a weird aftertaste.


Macau iced coffee- RM3.90
Too sweet for my liking


French toast- RM4.90
Nothing special but was really good to satisfy a hungry appetite


French fries- RM4.50
McDonald's still beats them hands down!


White fungus lotus dessert- RM5.90


Korean pork chop spicy noodles in wooden bowl- RM12.90
Nothing fantastic but credits for the unique presentation



Pan fried woh tip (dumplings)
This was made by an ex-colleague who now has a stall selling woh tip at a neighborhood kopitiam. I think it's in Penampang (??)

On second night, we had our dinner at La Manila Cafe @ Warisan Square. There wasn't much options and we wanted to be within the allowance budget given by the company (which isn't much, really).


Wat tan hor- RM8.50


Marmite chicken rice- RM8.50
This is pretty delicious as the chicken are very tender and the gravy goes very well with the rice!



Eggtarts from Dotts @ Warisan Square- RM1.10 per piece
It was pretty yummy and best thing is the egg center is still watery and it is pastry type instead of solid biscuit


Famous Taluwang ice cream potong from Sabah!
Durian (yellow) and cempedak (orange) flavours at RM1.60 per stick


Handmade Chocolates from Simply Delicious @ Warisan Square
- ranging from 60¢ to RM1+ a piece.
My verdict? Bullshit chocolates. Give me Fidani anytime!

And so I left KK with nothing much worth remembering (the food). On the last trip, my boss took us out for dinner at Ocean Village Seafood Restaurant and I had a jolly good time eating but was too shy to take pics :(

About 2 more weeks before I leave for KK again on another 'working' trip! Meanwhile, it is back to office tomorrow :(((((

A 'work-cation' to the Land Below The Wind

Cloudy skies

I am back from the Land Down Under Below The Wind (aka Sabah)!! It was my 2nd time to Kota Kinabalu, the capital of Sabah. My first and also virgin visit to the East Coast was somewhere in August where I had the 'opportunity' to see and experience what it is like to open shops in the airport. Anyway, this time around, somewhere last week, my lady boss told me that my colleague and I should make a trip to KK to have a check on the shops there. And so we booked our tickets and headed to the Land Below The Wind!

What's better than NOT sitting in the office for 3 days is that we're on our own with no superiors following us! Doesn't that already spell F-R-E-E-D-O-M? As the title suggests, it was more like a work-cation (work + vacation).


A bird's eye view of the murky river water

We booked a darn early flight on Wednesday, I had to wake up at an ungodly hour of 4am! Our flight was at 6.50am, got delayed about 20 mins and reached KK's LCCT airport at 9.20am. Knowing Air Asia, you can tell my whole body was aching upon touching down. Anyway, after collecting our luggages, we headed for breakfast (food pictures in the next post), did our 'work' although there's nothing much to do. Since we didn't have a car, we took a cab to the Imperial Hotel where we'll be staying for the next 3 days of our little 'working' trip.


Imperial International Hotel @ Warisan Square, KK Waterfront

The Imperial Hotel has a whole block by themselves and is located within Warisan Square at the KK Waterfront. In other words, our hotel faces the sea, ~woot! We were staying at the much cheaper Radius Hotel during the first visit and I must say our decision to move to Imperial this time around was an excellent decision (albeit more expensive lalalala). At about RM205++ per night, it is pretty good value as there is buffet breakfast provided too.


Spacious and comfy beds


I love the shower!

What distincts the Imperial from Radius is the bathroom. Like many of you out there, the first thing I always do is to check out the bathroom and Imperial did not disappoint. Minimalistic, clean and the shower head totally rocks. The water pressure is excellent and makes you want to stay in the shower for hours, it makes me (one who doesn't have the habit of showering in the cold early mornings) want to shower in the morning. My colleague and I were so frustrated with the shower in our last trip as the water pressure at Radius is as good as the dog peeing.


Bars, clubs, bistros, cafes, water and night breeze @ KK Waterfront

From the rooftop of the hotel, one can see the lovely scenery of the KK water. The row of shops by the waterfront are clubs and cafes which is open at night, so yes, KK does have a night life. On my first visit, my operations manager brought us to one of the bars 'Cock and Bull Bistro' which I found out they have an outlet at The Merchant Square, Tropicana.


Too sunny for a drink

At night, it is very therapeutic and relaxing to have a sit outside, having a drink and chatting while enjoying the night breeze. Other bars and cafes I know of are Bed (a club), The Shamrock Irish Pub, Bar Su, Euro Cafe, and a seafood restaurant, Port View.


Fishermen's rides

Located in the vicinity is a fleet of boats for fishing and it makes quite a picturesque view.


See the island?

Notice the 'island' with houses on it? Well, it isn't exactly an island as we later realized that that whole land is the famous Sutera Habour- a resort only for the rich. As we were having our breakfast overlooking that particular house, can't help but to dream "if only that house was mine... I'll be having a garage for my boats instead of cars and waking up to the sea breeze every day!"


The sea is my neighbour

... well, if only!

Food pictures up next :D

Handmade with love

Last 2 days, I received a text message from my sister's friend asking if I can make a card for him. It was for another friend's 22nd birthday. I gave him a 'Yes' but soon after was worried if I cannot produce the card in time as 'artsy' stuff like this needs some inspiration :D

Knowing that I won't have the time to do it later in the week as I have to be off in KK, I spared some time last night after dinner to produce not only 1 but 2 cards. Calvin bought 2 books of scrapbooking papers for me last summer from the US and (with and without conversion) the arts supplies there are so much cheaper! The craft stores here have inflated prices due to import, shipping and all that.

Birthday Card #1




A card for Ying Qi

For both cards, I chose the red with orange polka dots paper and cut out another strip of colorful stripes for a more colorful background. I used ready made cut out foams with colorful flower motifs for a girly theme. Using the hole puncher, eyelet setter and hammer (which my group of friends shared and bought for me the last birthday- they know me well!), I made holes and settle them with eyelets at the polka dots. Again, it makes the whole card more colorful. Lastly, using a rustic antique metal tag I bought (sold in a pack of 5) from a local craft store, I attached the name of the birthday girl. I always like to print names, words, pictures etc using tracing paper as it gives a better effect than normal plain color papers.

Actually since I did not put any 'Happy Birthday' greetings, the card can be doubled up for any occassion at all- anniversaries, happy day, hello etc.

Birthday Card #2




Who's the lucky recipient?

Using the other half of the pink paper, and another part of the stripey paper, I made this birthday card. I printed a birthday cake using tracing paper and then color it with metallic crayons. I also added some 'blings' to zest the graphic up. I lined the border with gold stickers (I got it A4 size for RM2 a piece, comes in silver and other solid colors as well). I made 8 holes and settle it with golden eyelets. I didn't know what I should do with the birthday cake so I made it bookmark-style. Lastly, I printed a 'Happy Birthday' message on a thick red paper and stuck it to the bottom using double sided foam tape for a 3D effect.

I also made envelopes for the cards using scented peach paper. This way, the card looks nice and smells good too!

What do you think of my creations?

CTNF: Chilli meatballs spaghetti

Kin Kin Pan Mee- Similar, but not the same!

When I had my first taste of Kin Kin Pan Mee, I knew I am in for this whole new obsession with chilli, poached eggs and noodles. I love this style of pan mee so so much, unfortunately for me that Kin Kin is located in the heart of KL (and I am direction blind when it comes to the city), I know I cannot have this whenever I want to.

It has been awhile since my last Cheap Thrills, No Frills ('CTNF') cookout post.

Had some leftover spaghetti in the fridge and immediately the idea of cooking chilli pasta -Kin Kin style- struck me. To make things easier, because I only come home from work at about 7pm, I bought most of the ingredients outside. The pasta is boiled at home of course, the chilli flakes are sold in a bottle for RM5 at the market, the fried anchovies and meatballs were taken away from my aunt's noodle stall, and the minced meat was marinated overnight with soy sauce, corn flour, oil and salt and then stir fried.

You need some skillz to poach eggs, which I think I need to improve on. Other than that, I think the new pasta creation is not too bad! The chilli flakes is not as spicy as Kin Kin's.


Chilli meatballs spaghetti

**********

I'll be away on a working trip from 8th-10th to Kota Kinabalu. Hoping to visit One Borneo, buy my fav Les Gavottes Le Plain Crepes Dentelle and Swiss Delice Amandelle cookies, a bottle or two of Absolut to start my collection, and try some local cuisines hopefully. I'll be staying at Imperial Hotel, so hopefully there's wi-fi.

Be back on Friday :D

Ah May Noodles @ USJ 16

Growing up in the land of good hawker food (Ipoh) sometimes is not really a good thing. Why? Because our tastebud is so spoilt with good food, hence when I first settled down in this new land where fine dining and international cuisines are of abundance, it was both a good and bad thing. Good- fine dining and international cuisines, hello?? Bad- The local fu pei here is just pure beancurd skin, no fish paste :(

Ever crave for those lovely beancurd skin ('fu pei') just out of wok, fried to perfect golden brown, crispy , and *most importantly* with fish paste enveloped in it?

Like this.


Crispy golden brown fu pei freshly out of wok- 90 cents a piece cut into 3

Unfortunately this d'lish comfort food is not available in the menu, but because the owner is my aunty, this was complimentary on the house for us. After landing in KL for the past 7 years or so, I have noticed that 99% of fu pei sold here are just beancurd skin, just like those you dunk in bak kut teh. Most of the time, I don't really enjoy fu pei (or some call it 'fu chuk') with bak kut teh. So once in awhile, if we're lucky, my aunt will dish out some of her signature fu pei for us. The satisfaction is something money can't even buy!


Dry pan mee


Soup pan mee torn into bite size


Mix of pork balls and fish balls- 40 cents/piece

One of my regular orders whenever I drop by for brunch on Sunday would be the soup pan mee with the noodles torn into bite size. My absolute favorite style of the noodles as it is something special, rather than the usual slurping on long strand of noodles. My sister once brought us to Taman Berkeley in Klang for the famous 'meehoon kuey' and it was served like this, torn into pieces. I instantly fell in love with it, for in my humble opinion, it is the bestest I have ever eaten!

The dry pan mee fares okay too but I would say the pork and fish balls take centerstage. They are hand and home made with no preservatives (no melamine! Haha). Unlike some other places which sell fish balls that are either unfresh or soggy, my aunt's fish balls are tangy, springy and ingredients are always fresh! The pork balls are something our family enjoys too, most often we will takeaway the fish and pork balls as ingredients for our maggi mee cookouts on days when mom is too lazy to cook.


Pricing

Hope you had a great weekend folks!


Ah May Noodles
@ Restoran Vest Inn
Jalan USJ 16/2F,
Subang Jaya.

[disclaimer: the opinions expressed here are based on my personal views, tastebuds and preference and may vary for others. please dont sue me, i dont have money. kthxbye.]

European fare @ TJ Haus

How was your Raya holidays? I was told that Malaysia has the most number of holidays in the world (I don't mind hehe). True to Malaysian tradition, everything in work has been put off until "after Raya". That's the most commonly used excuse for the month!

"Eh, when want to deliver the goods?"
"After Raya lah..."

"Eh, when want to discuss this new project?"
"After Raya lah..."

"Eh, the invoice when can give me ah?"
"After Raya lah..."

"Eh, when wanna makan, take bath, drink water?"
"After Raya lah..."

Gawd, don't we all love this country and its people? Procrastination IS our forte :D

What better way to celebrate this joyous occasion with our Muslim brethren than to have a good meal? On Tuesday afternoon, Kenneth messaged me asking if I will be interested to have dinner with him, a few other mates we know and Mr Alex, their lecturer. I was tasked to find a good place for dinner, so as usual lah I'll do my 'research' online... and I found this "hidden gem" in the familiar neighborhood of Subang Jaya: TJ Haus @ SS18


Crispy duck (German style)- RM23
Grilled 1/2 duck to perfection with brown orange sauce, served with red cabbage and boiled potatoes, "chef's recommendation"!

Crispy duck, German style? Interesting... While I have had Pork Knuckles, German style before, this is something I have never tried. Listed under the poultry section, the crispy duck is done almost the same way as crispy skin chicken with pinkish crackers in those typical Chinese weddings. The only difference perhaps is, it is duck and the meat is much more tender and very flossy-like. The skin is crispy with a perfect golden brown tan, earning a high 8/10 rating from me. The only downside to the meal is the pairing of red cabbage as a side. The red cabbage salad had a strong sourish taste to it, I suspect there were hints of pickles with it. The boiled potatoes balanced my disliking for the vege as I love anything and everything potato!


Cordon bleu chicken- RM23
With seafood and cheese stuffings, curried cream sauce, served with butter rice and vegetable, "chef's recommendation"!

Our friend, Ivan had the Cordon Bleu Chicken which I found to be interesting. I have never seen any CB Chicken done in this style- with curried cream sauce and butter rice. From the picture, it looks more like a nasi campur meal eh.


Pasta a la carbonara- RM17.50
Spaghetti with beef bacon and mushroom in rich creamy sauce

QFung had the Pasta a la carbonara. Again, from presentation the pasta didn't look all too creamy and loaded with button mushrooms with bits of beef bacon. A pasta that is too creamy, a pizza that is too cheesy, or a bar of chocolate that is too milky is something we Asians are still finding hard to swallow. However, seeing that QFung had no problems licking the plate clean, I suppose the level of creamy-ness is acceptable :D


Lamb shank- RM24
In spicy BBQ sauce served with vegetables and mashed potatoes, "chef's recommendation"!

I showed Kenneth a link of a review by another blogger and he said everything looked so good that he didn't know what to order! He kept going, "Eh you know that picture on the blog... which one is that ah? Very nice wan..." I am not sure if it was Lamb Shank he had in mind but Lamb Shank it was that he ordered in the end. As written by the man himself, I quote "And as for the food, it was good, not fantastic, but good, and enjoyable."


Roast beef- RM29
With whole grain mustard sauce, roasted potatoes and vegetables

Last but not least, actually I am not too sure if it's Roast beef that Mr Alex ordered cos I didn't manage to catch what he said to the waiter. Assuming that it is, I think the dish looks too good to be eaten! Soft and tender beef roasted, just imagine the juices and meat that melts in your mouth, a burst of flavours! Again, roasted potatoes are potatoes and I love potatoes! I wouldn't mind trying this out the next time.

Ambience is very nice and homely. Felt somewhat like a place for family dinners, a small setting but excellent service. Parking is ample especially at night. TJ Haus is truly a hidden gem.

Other reviews:
The Bong Joint
Dig into authentic European Fare
Her Royal Highness

Are you working today? I am :( But on the bright side, it's Friday!


TJ Haus (Pork free)
27A, SS18/1B,
47500, Subang Jaya.
Tel: 03-56364508
Business hours: 11am-2pm, 6pm-11pm
(row of shops opposite the Subang Kewajipan flyover and SS17 Police Station. 1st floor above TD2000 Showroom)

[disclaimer: the opinions expressed here are based on my personal views, tastebuds and preference and may vary for others. please dont sue me, i dont have money. kthxbye.]