THE Weekend - Escape Room, Taiwan Little Chef, Goku Raku Ramen & Sentul Ah Yap Hokkien Mee

Escape Room

It's the end of another weekend and it's been a great one. On my Saturday morning, I went to CelFit as usual to work on the treadmill and had my very first floating yoga class ( it was pretty challenging since we had to hang ourselves upside down and all XD ). After that, I attended a high school gathering at Setiawalk which started off with an Escape Room session. Thanks to the traffic, I was 20mins late so I joined them in the midst of their escape. It was pretty awkward since I haven't met some of those guys for about 6 years since high school and when I entered, it was so dark, and I was like "Hello" *smiling* looking at their silhouettes in the dark LOL. We continued looking for the hints and all, and since we missed the briefing, I had no idea what was going on so I just scanned the wall and I was so excited when I saw a red button thinking it was some secret button to the answer. I pressed it enthusiastically and a staff came in. It turned out that the red button functions as a hint button which you press to get a hint when you have no clue on how to solve the code. That was pretty stupid haha. Luckily my team needed the hint at that moment. Otherwise, it would be wasted since we we were given a maximum of 3 hints throughout the game. Unfortunately.....we failed to escape. And so we had our "Losers. Losers Everywhere" moment XD Tadah!

    Emotional losers moment.

"Escape Room Is Malaysia's First Real Life Interactive Escape Game. There are 6 Outlets With More Than 20+ Theme Rooms. The challenge, should you choose to accept, is to engineer an escape in a tight race against the clock in 45 minutes. This game requires 2 to 8 players and we strive to keep your adrenaline rush going by changing the themes of the rooms periodically."

- Escape Room Malaysia -

Escape Room, Setiawalk Puchong

Unit 2, 3 & 4, Level 3, Block K, Setiawalk Mall, 
Persiaran Wawasan, Pusat Bandar Puchong, 
47160 Selangor Darul Ehsan
Tel: 1700 816 218
Email: info_puchong@escaperoom.com.my

Hours: 11am-1am

Taiwan Little Chef (台湾小吃店) 

What's the point of a high school gathering without a longggg chit chat session right? After the game, we had our lunch at Taiwan Little Chef (台湾小吃店) and the food was nothing much to shout about. I had bean paste noodle and the taste was average. 

   Bean paste noodle

Goku Raku Ramen (Edo Ramen)

Today, after an hour of flexibility yoga class at CelFit Mid Valley, my friend suggested Goku Raku Ramen for lunch. However, the name of the restaurant has been changed to Edo Ramen although it's basically the same restaurant. Apparently, ramen prices on their menu have been reduced up to RM10 compared to Goku. I ordered Ultimate Miso Ramen while my friend ordered Ultimate Tonkotsu. The difference between the two is the broth. Ultimate miso has miso in pork broth while Tonkotsu has only pork broth. 

   Ultimate Miso Ramen 

I am pretty satisfied with my Ultimate Miso Ramen especially the larva egg and pork slices that melts in my mouth. Yum yum XD however, please note that I am not exactly a picky eater so I am normally happy with most of the food I consume haha. So you should judge for yourself XD 

Prices: 

Ultimate Miso. Ramen (regular) RM16.90

Ultimate Tonkotsu Ramen (large) RM17.90

Green tea(hot/cold) RM2.90

Sentul Ah Yap Charcoal Hokkien Mee Restaurant, Grand Shanghai Food Theme Park@Setiawalk

As for dinner, we had the popular charcoal fried Hokkien Mee, fried glass noodle and fried sang mee at Sentul Ah Yap Charcoal Hokkien Mee Restaurant, Grand Shanghai Food Theme Park@Setiawalk. Thought it's a restaurant, but it turns out to be a food court decorated like a Shanghai street. Thumbs up to this restaurant cause my fried Hokkien Mee tasted like the masterpiece of a true chef XD mind you, portions are pretty big so you may wanna share unless you're really hungry!

   Charcoal fried Hokkien Mee @ RM8.90

   Fried glass noodle @ RM 9.90

   Fried sang mee @ RM9.90

   Apart from Setiawalk, they have many other branches as well!

Madam Kwan's KLCC review

So last Friday, I had a brief catch up with a friend of mine who used to be my senior during my university days. We sort of just walked around Kinokuniya bookstore and chatted non-stop till it was time for her to get back to work. #girlsbeinggirls HAHA! After that, I joined mom for lunch at Madam Kwan's KLCC and needless to say, both of us ordered our all-time favourite nasi lemak! I would normally come back for this rich, flavorful and aromatic Malaysian cuisine at times when calories are non-existent in my vocab. 

   Madam Kwan's nasi lemak @RM17.90

    Another highlight at Madam Kwan's would be the cendol and sago gula melaka(malacca brown sugar). Prices range from about RM7.90 to RM8.90 for these desserts. 

    My outfit of the day with fake spectacles from. Vincci XD

Madam Kwan's offers a vast variety of Malaysian cuisines, but trust me, you would never go wrong with its nasi lemak! Other than KLCC, Madam Kwan's is located at the following malls as well :) Enjoy!

Journey to Bali (Part 4)

Day 3 & 4: Nusa Dua Beach, Ubud market and Kuta market

Our final 2 days at Bali were basically just chilling and shopping. One can take a break from a fatigue day of walking with a Traditional Bali Massage that is offered everywhere at Ubud and Kuta at extremely low prices, ranging from RM20-RM40. 

   Rise and shine - barely awake faces at breakfast

    Ubud market

    The famous dirty duck dinner at Ubud

   Dirty duck feast. I prefer the fried one (the one at the bottom), more aromatic. Price ranges from about RM40 for a dirty duck course. 

   The great ambience of the restaurant.

During our final day at Bali before we catch our evening flight home, we checked out and travelled to Kuta in the morning for a final splurge XD It makes sense to schedule Kuta as your final destination because it is extremely near to the airport. 

    Kuta market

   Super painful reflexology. Should have gone for foot spa instead XD 

So yes, that marks the end of my Journey to Bali. Hope you'll find it informative if you're planning to visit Bali for the very first time. If I ever visit Bali for the second time, 3 days should be more than enough cause I'd rather skip all the sightseeing and stick to shopping, eating and getting myself a therapeutic massage. Tourist attractions at Bali are located pretty far from each other (it took us about 1 to 3 hours to travel to different locations) so most of our time was spent in the car. The whole Bali experience may be less favorable if you are someone who tends to get car sick.

That's pretty much it! Good luck!

Back to blogging (again) / Journey to Bali (Part 1)

Hi readers! I'm back to blogging (again). Honestly, I have lost count of how many times I started and deleted a blog because of my (very) busy life as a student. LOL... Well,  I have unofficially graduated from Sunway University (like finally), and my convocation is yet to come in October. Can't wait!

Currently self-studying for my upcoming level 1 CFA exam in December, I thought of starting up a blog to de-stress a little by writing on random topics of interest. Once in a while, I enjoy spending time going through blogs by some of my favorite bloggers such as fourfeetnine, timothytiah, xiaxue, cheesie, bobostephanie, kennysia, and etc.

Since I had a trip to Bali two weeks ago,  I shall share some of my travel experiences as my very first blog post. I will try to make it as informative as possible so that it'll be helpful for those who are planning to have a trip there.

One of the more popular ways to travel around Bali would be to hire a local driver. I got the number of the driver from a friend of mine and contacted him through whatsapp to let him know about our travel details. The price was pretty reasonable for only USD35/day. For those who are looking for a local driver, you may contact the one I hired; Wayan Sudana (+6281337040630). Although he may be a little quiet, he's pretty responsible :)

Day 1: Sunset at Tanah Lot

It took us around 3hours to fly from KLIA2 to Bali. Upon arrival at the airport, there were many local drivers who would be holding names of the ones who hired their service. I searched for my name, confirmed that he's Wayan Sudana, and we were good to go. Pretty convenient ;)

Since it was lunch time when we arrived at Bali, the driver took us to IIGA Warung Jimbaran for the famous pork ribs. Oh yes, if you fancy pork, Bali will be your best destination. They do serve real good juicy pork meat, marinated with heavenly smoked BBQ sauce. Price was affordable, a portion of pork ribs was priced around RM30+ before tax. What makes dining at Bali expensive is its tax at a whopping 21%!

   Pork ribs @IIGA Warung Jimbaran

After lunch, we continued our journey to Tanah Lot temple to catch sunset. The place was beautiful. I did not bother to enter the temple because of the super long queue. And one important thing to note is to buy whatever souvenir that you would like to buy right there at Tanah Lot. You would notice that the stalls at Bali sell similar goods, and from what I observed, Tanah Lot offers the cheapest price for the same goods. I regretted not splurging at Tanah Lot. I had no idea cause it was my first destination at Bali. 

    Sunset at Tanah Lot

   Tanah Lot temple

   Oh, and did I mention how amazed I was to see dreamcatchers everywhere??

   I'm an avid fan of dreamcatchers (don't you think they're so pretty??)

   and of course, I bought quite a few dreamcatchers there and then. 

   Couldn't control myself XD 

   Happy apple face haha.

Yep, so after our trip to Tanah Lot, we travelled to Ubud and checked in to our rooms at Dewa Bharata bungalows. If you're looking at a basic, affordable accommodation, then this place may be right for you since it's within walking distance to Ubud's Main Street. However, I would not return to this accommodation for the following reasons: bed sheets smelled weird, lousy breakfast ( newbie cookers like me can cook wayyy better) and worst of all, we couldn't even get a proper shower due to water shortage.We were told to wait for an hour or two for the water to be pumped into the tank every night when we complained that there was no water. Wth.

   Outside view of my room

    Swimming pool at Dewa Bharata that I never used

I guess that's about it for part 1. Stay tuned for part 2!

Journey to Bali (Part 3)

Day 3: Dolphin-chasing at Lovina, Git Git Waterfall and Lake Bratan

On Day 3, we departed from Ubud at 4am and headed to Lovina. The journey took us slightly more than two hours. Upon arrival, we were led by one of the locals to ride on a funny-looking dolphin chasing boat (picture above). The whole experience was ethereal. 

Please bear with the following low quality video screenshots of our dolphin-chasing experience.

So basically, there were many other boats idling in the middle of the ocean, and all these boats would respond to the slightest movement of the dolphins by chasing them. We were joking about how we were like paparazzi chasing the dolphin celebrities. The whole experience costs us about RM125 per person (450,000rp/pax). It was definitely worth it. 

We spent the rest of our day sightseeing at Git Git waterfall and Bratan Lake at Bedugul.

Git Git Waterfall

    Bratan lake @ Bedugul

    Tsk tsk tsk. My face spells TIRED. 

Next up, FOOD! For lunch, we had Babi guling at some random warung. Babi guling is basically roasted pork with rice and some vege. 'Twas real delectable! 

   Babi guling

For dinner, we had pork ribs at Warung Nuri's at Ubud. We visited this same place twice for dinner cause their pork ribs are just finger lickin' good! Drooling now. Nuff said. 

Warung Nuri's pork ribs at Ubud

Haha. Wait, there's more. After dinner, we headed over to Indus, a pretty luxurious place, for their famous dessert, caramel coconut creme. Indus is just less than 5 minutes walk from Nuri's. 

    Indus

   Caramel coconut creme 

That wraps up part 3 of my Bali journey. Sorry for making your tummies growl ;p

Journey to Bali (Part 2)

Day 2: Kintamani, rice field and coffee farm

Day 2 of our trip was pretty slow and easy. We headed to Kintamani from Ubud to a famous temple that overlooks a deadly beautiful volcano. Speaking of the weather, I am extremely 'thankful' towards my friend who advised me to bring my face and body sunscreen to prepare for the excruciatingly hot, cloudless weather at Bali he encountered when he was there a week or two before my trip. And there I was, ready for the worse and sprayed all over with Sunplay SPF 80+. But guess what, throughout our five days at Bali, the weather was similar to Genting Highlands and I could barely survive without my jacket (lucky I brought one)... According to the locals, it is usually the coldest in July and August. Lesson learnt. Will bring thicker clothes during my next visit. Thanks buddy T_T

    Kintamani temple

   Volcano view

Next stop, we went to a coffee farm at Bali Pulina Plantations to try the famous Luwak coffee ( aka cat poo coffee). At first I was reluctant to try at the thought of drinking coffee made out of coffee beans that are expelled together with cat poo. But after a briefing by the guide at the coffee farm, I understand that there is a coating that is removed from the coffee bean, so the coffee beans are not actually contaminated by the cat poo. So yeah, cat poo coffee is hygienic enough to drink. 

   The so-called kitty meow

One of the reasons why the whole coffee farm experience was perfect was the great hospitality we received. Friendly staffs greeted and briefed us through the farm and served us with free drinks! (Picture above) Of course, we felt quite paiseh to drink only the free drinks so we ordered two cups of Luwak coffee that cost us around RM18 per cup I think. Luwak coffee is known to be the most expensive coffee anyway.

   My 'tai-tai' pose while holding my cup of Luwak coffee

After coffee farm, we went to a paddy field which was really pretty. I remember learning about the 'staircase' land (tanah bertingkat or sth like that) that is shaped the way it is to prevent corrosion during Geography class back in high school (how time flies...)

   Showing off my Brandy Melville inspired #OOTD at the paddy field LOL

That's about it for Day 2! Will update part 3 real soon :)