Dinner at New Dragon Gate Seafood Restaurant October 9, 2017 bizadmin I just had dinner at New Dragon Gate Seafood Restaurant with my business partner and spouse, inside Red Rock Hotel, formerly known as Mandarin Hotel along Macalister Road. It is located conveniently near our condo and we were out for dinner at around 9:00pm where most of the eateries are closing. This lights of fortune with crystal ball on top caught my attention and I took the opportunity to snap it for posterity. It has the shape of Chinese money of gold nugget. That’s me seated on a carved wooden chair at the lobby of Red Rock Hotel just before dinner on the first floor. This is the ambience with lilac coloured covered chairs with white ribbons and red lanterns suspended on the ceiling. This is the printout or design of the restaurant serviette with address, logo, etc. This was the first dish of black and yellow Japanese tofu, topped with fried mushrooms, spring onions and red chilies. It was quite delicious, with soft texture that is ubiquitous of tofu. Here the second dish was served consisting of scallops with sliced lotus root, green peas, asparagus and carrots. This was the third and final serving of 2 piecces of cod fish with black Japanese sauce, garnished with honeydew melon scoops, radish flower and green salad on the side. These are some of the appetisers like peanuts while waiting for the main dish to arrive which was tofu with chilies, pu-er tea, on an embroidered table cloth. Here are free fruits on the house consisting of cut watermelon, honeydew and papaya. This green leaflet put on the table for the taking show the various set meal combinations with respective prices. Overall, the food was good with plenty of privacy – just the 2 of us were dining in an entire empty restaurant that can cater to a wedding banquet. I shall be going down south tomorrow morning to Kuala Lumpur and by Friday, will be down south further and come back to KL to attend the Mooncake Festival sponsorship dinner table of 10 that was paid for by our company in a hotel. Hence, this blog may or may not be updated for another week as I shall be on the go all the time traveling for work.
Dined at Ah Yat Abalone Restaurant, Genting Highlands September 29, 2017 bizadmin 2 days ago, I stayed at Tower 3 of First World Hotel with triple beds, a double and single beds for only RM 110 per night to take a good break from work. We drove to KL, met with some clients and then drove to Genting Highlands where I booked the room using my membership card. Above was lunch with red table cloth at a restaurant halfway to Genting Highlands mountain and located near Goh Tong Jaya where there is a cheaper hotel and rows of eateries. We ordered simple meal like prawns omelette, stir-fried vegetables and steamed fish. I also bought myself oblong grapes and blueberries for $25 total. The grapes caught my attention, as the normal size is usually round, but this is apparently cultured and longish in shape. The photo on the left shows the menu of $99++ / person with a set of 6 dishes; starting with sharks’ fin soup, then followed by abalone in thick gravy with vegetables, fried fish fillet, rice wrapped in lotus leaf, almond soup and egg tarts. Above is the abalone in sumptuous gravy and pak choy with fish maw. It was delicious and ambroisia. Till the next post or thereafter, I will show photos of the ambience and our room.
My 100% Silk Scarf and Mooncakes September 6, 2017 bizadmin Above is a picture of 100% silk scarf from China, a gift from my supplier for many years that we have been doing business as a client. The silk scarf cost RMB 699 or Ringgit 455 each piece. It was so thoughtful of him to pass this scarf over to my boss and gift it to me. Well, I plan to wear it casually over the shoulder and let the material hang down decorating my simple attire. 🙂 Now, that’s heavenly. I called this ‘Blessed”! Above is an awesome and pretty structure at M Mall on the ground floor of Penang Times Square Phase 2, to celebrate the Mooncake Festival. It is adorn with lovely flowers of a phletora of colours and faux blooms as eye candy. Happening to pass by, I decided to take this shot for posterity. Above are some samples of cut mooncakes that I tasted before purchasing. They are more affordable at around RM 17 which is the normal market rate now as compared to the first store that I tried, costing RM 25 per mooncake! And they taste the same! More photos above! I finally bought myself 2 mooncakes – one is filled with an assorted peanuts while the other is the normal white lotus paste without egg yolk and less sweet. Total cost = RM 35.50 This was my dinner last night at M Cafe – a fish fillet cheese baked rice with dragon fruit juice without ice and sugar. Yum!
Going for BBQ Buffet Dinner Tonight November 12, 2016 bizadmin Tonight, I shall be going for a BBQ buffet dinner with my spouse and family for 5 persons at Paradise Hotel’s restaurant. We will use the Club Membership card for 30% discount and there is no ala carte today since there is a BBQ buffet tonight from 7:00pm – 10:00pm. I specially requested for non-smoking area with a nice view. There is a discount for senior citizens at RM 53 net and RM 55 for adults after the discount. Otherwise, it is RM 79 per adult, which I think is a bit pricey. Currently I am also busy with sending out 2017 calendars for next year and printing out the address labels.
Classic Teddy Cafe at 1st Avenue Mall July 2, 2016 bizadmin Classic Teddy Cafe recently opened on the 4th level of 1st Avenue Mall in Penang. It is a British establishment with a teddy bear theme. This photo was taken at the entrance with the famous UK soldier with a tall black hat and rifle in red blazer and black pants. It is located opposite Sakae Sushi and near the rest rooms. The place was left vacant for some time until it was refurbished for the new cafe. For starters, I ordered mushroom soup for RM 10 per bowl that comes with thick gravy and chopped button mushrooms and perhaps some black shitake mushrooms and soup cream outlining a teddy bear face. I also had Earl Grey tea in a cute teddy bear designed mug while my friend ordered strawberry smoothie topped with whipped cream in a clear container. The mushroom soup tasted delicious with plenty of mushrooms flavour in a thick soup. The Earl Grey Tea was just right and I had a sip of the strawberry smoothie that was pleasant and sweet. For the mains, I had pan-fried seabass with florets of broccoli and carrots on the sides. There was a scoop of mashed potato drizzled with gravy together with the seabass that came in a big portion. My friend had barbecued chicken breast with the same vegetables on the side. I think the seabass would have tasted better with a slice of lemon to squeeze out the juice for that extra kick and more sauce like lemon butter or even thousand island cream. As it was quite new, except for another table and our table, the rest of the place was empty, perhaps due to its pricey selections. In case you’re interested in knowing more info on laguiole pocket knife, stop by laguiole-french-knives.com Barnsley Hypnosis & Counselling helps adults, teenagers & children to change thoughts, feelings, behaviours. Proven therapy for anxiety, stress, panic, anger, PTSD, fears, depression, OCD, confidence, weight, smoking, alcohol, drugs, gambling & more. Best hypnosis hypnotherapy CBT counselling psychotherapy click: www.barnsleyhypnosiscounselling.com. Discover real verified client feedback reviews from happy satisfied clients. Supporting Barnsley, Penistone, Rotherham, Sheffield, Doncaster, Wakefield, Pontefract, Leeds, Huddersfield, Holmfirth, Dewsbury, Bradford, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire.
Interesting Places to Visit at Penang Hill June 28, 2016 bizadmin This is Penang Hill’s entrance, the most and only famous hill patronised by tourists worldwide in Penang. There is Bellevue Hotel right at the top since time immemorial and I am not sure if they have also refurbished the old hotel, but under DAP’s rule, things have certainly look much better than it was before with more attractions and improvements. Waiting time is about 20 minutes or less with a long queue; hence the train is much faster now. When you reach to the top, this is the view you will encounter as you disembark on the left side of the train if you are facing the hill. There is Owl Museum and Cliff Cafe. If you would take a walk up to the top of the above structures, you will encounter ‘Love Locks’ similar to the one in Paris’ Love Lock Bridge. But this is safer and will not weigh down the metal holders as they are made of pink plastics. You can sign on the pink love locks with your name and that of your loved one or husband or spouse to seal your eternal love and bonding. Simply look for an empty one. Tired of walking? Just pay RM30 for the buggy service with a tour guide cum driver to ferry you around the place and along the way, you can see a few privately owned mansions atop the hill, with one supposedly owned by Ananda Krishnan, Maxis’ head honcho, a Malaysian businessman and philanthropist. Nicknamed A K, currently he is estimated to have a net worth of US$7.9 billion according to Forbes’ latest annual report. At the end of the route, there is Monkey Cup walk-about tour with commentary from a guide. For the adventurous, you can also access Penang Hill by hiking up via Moon Gate in Tanjung Bungah or take a 4-wheel drive or SUV up the hill road. Take a walk in Penang Hill’s latest experience called ‘The Habitat’, experiencing breathtaking vistas of a fragrant jungle walk. After some walking around and viewing ‘The Habitat’, you can have your food at Cliff Cafe near the train station. This is a banner showing the wide repertoire of delicious desserts ranging from RM4 to RM20 to choose from. The local desserts will quench your thirst after some exploration around the hill. Inside the Cliff Cafe are 2-3 souvenir shops selling a plethora of fridge magnets, including Hard Rock Cafe Penang t-shirts, plus a host of other memorable items. The ambience is made of wood and you could feel like you are in Papa Rich Restaurant, well known for its wooden interior. After a round of chendol at the Cliff Cafe, take a walk downstairs to Owl Museum. The first museum of its kind in Southeast Asia, the Owl Museum displays a collection of owl-inspired artifacts, sculptures and paintings created by various artists across the continent. There are souvenirs related to owls including t-shirts and fridge magnets for the buying. At the exit of Owl Museum, take some flights of stairs up to reach another food cafe where you can see hand wax art as shown above. Simply dip your hand into the warm wax for it to form the shape and the process is fast with your model hand wax finished in a jiffy. You can make your own hand wax creation in various colours too. As you come out from Cliff Cafe, you will hear loud chirps of a cockatoo and a blue-and-yellow feathered parrot that seems to call out “come take photos with us”. For RM15 you can take your favourite photos holding the birds. There is also an iguana in a cage for the bold-hearted and a python which we did not see. On the way up from exotic pets instant photo taking, you can walk up to an upmarket restaurant called David Brown’s Strawberry Hill @ Penang Hill. We had the signature dish – chicken and mushroom pie for RM48 with Virgin Pina Colada without alcohol and a cappuccino for RM94 total, including 6% GST and 10% service charge. There are several binoculars at RM1 for 2 minutes of viewing at the viewing deck. Stools of various heights are catered to children of various ages for them to see the whole of Georgetown. Perched atop Penang Hill at a breathtaking 800 meters above sea level, visitors will literally get a bird’s eye view of the island. As you walk nearer to the train station, there is a high lift to take you down to the ground, around 2-3 storeys height, instead of using the long stairs for more nature walk. And if you are tired, just head for the lift up again. There are rest rooms at the station before taking the train down back home again. That wraps up your visit to Penang Hill.
Why You Should Try Ming Garden Restaurant, Penang at Least Once June 24, 2016 bizadmin Ming Garden Restaurant is situated in Phase 1 of Penang Times Square on the second floor. Every week, it is fully packed with diners due to Chinese Weddings, and you’d be lucky to get a table for walk-in patrons. Above is ‘kailan’, a Chinese name for Chinese kale or Chinese broccoli, cooked in 2 styles – One is julianned and fried with salted fish and small prawns, the other is stir-fried in garlic. Above is a large grouper, steamed with scallion sauce and garnished with spring onions. This dish alone cost RM 156, which I think is way too pricey, but then again groupers are supposedly more costly compare to other fishes like pomfret, etc. This fish was very fresh, straight from the water tank, gut removed and into the cooking wok. This is 5 seasons consisting of stir-fried baby squids in sweet-sour savoury onions, deep-fried soft shelled crabs, mocked prawns and fried real prawns. Another dish is the green peas stir-fried with scallops, button mushrooms, carrots and ginger. It was delicious with 5 varieties of dishes. The cold platter was around RM 60 which should be affordable for Singaporeans due to the exchange rate. The last dish was braised ee-fu noodles with very little crab meat and some ‘shitake’ black mushrooms and vegetables on the sides. It came in a big serving, so we had to take away and pack some back. There were 5 of us and Ming Garden Restaurant is the biggest Chinese Restaurant in Penang co-owned by Bali Bali Seafood and Fong Wei Restaurant.
Christmas Dinner at Matsuki December 27, 2015 bizadmin My second sister had done a review for The Star as a stringer at Matsuki along Cantonment Road and further up called Jalan Pemenang. Well, this Christmas, we had lunch there with their Christmas bento set for an affordable $35 and the bill came to about $271 for 7 persons with 10% discount for my sister. It was set in an old colonial single storey white bungalow with some parking spaces. The bento consists of mushrooms rolled with salmon and avocado, meat burger, chawan mushi, miso soup and some garnishings here and there with tea – hot or cold. On boxing day, my niece celebrated her wedding at Rasa Sayang Hotel with about 5 tables for the guests after the tea ceremony. It started with 4 seasons platter, followed by crab’s meat soup without the sharks’ fins to save the dwindling population of sharks, and other 8-course-meal with dessert at the end. The food was not too bad but CRC is still better and value for money.