Tuesday 1 December 2015

My skincare routine - since end Oct 2015

Changed my skincare products and routine once I got back from Seoul.

Been on this routine til present:

Morning:

Cleanser
1. 1028 Visual Therapy PH 5.5 Deep Cleansing Milk (Taiwan brand) - lightly rub it in circular motion on dry skin if skin is very oily in the morning. Then add a bit of water and rub some more. Wash off with warm water.

2. Kate Sommerville Detox Cleanser (Sephora) from late Oct til mid Nov.
    Papulex Soap Free Cleansing Gel (Menarini, pharmacy) from mid Nov til present.

Toner
3. a) Klairs Toner (WishTrend) - pat in or wipe with cotton pad  (OR)
    b) Etude House Pore Freshner 10 in 1 (Seoul) - wipe with given cotton pad.

Essence
4. LJH Tea Tree Essence - to soothe troubled skin & moisturizes skin lightly.

Spot treatment
5. Papulex Spot Treatment Gel (sample from Menarini).

Moisturizer
6. I'm from Vitamin Tree Gel (WishTrend).


7. Cosrx Centella Blemish Cream (WishTrend).

Sunscreen
8. Heliocare SPF50 (Klinik LP Tan - RM 130).


Night Routine

Cleanser
1. LJH Deep Cleansing Oil (LeeJiHam Clinic, Seoul) to remove make up.

2. 1028 Deep Cleansing Milk (OR) Sephora Triple Cleansing Water with cotton pad to check it make up residue.

3. Skinfood Rice Cleansing Scrub (Seoul) for whitening. Started using Olay Pro X Cleansing Brush recently with it.

Toner
1. Klairs Toner (OR) Etude House Pore Freshner.

2-3 times a week Exfoliation
2. Stridex Maximum Strength BHA wipes




Laser at Estee Clinic, Kepong

Estee Clinic Kepong is running a super promotion for November. Negotiated for a super worthy package with them via the phone after getting a consultation from Dr Pang a week ago.

Went there to do my 1st treatment - ND Yag Laser & Long Pulse Laser for my acne and acne marks. Actual laser treatment only lasted for about 10min or so. But before that, the beautician cleansed my face thoroughly, then applied some clear solution (looks like some ampoule) on my face for 8 min.

The ND Yag laser felt very similar to what I experienced from Klinik LP Tan - the Revlite machine, back in July 2015. The ND Yag laser uses heat to penetrate into the skin and it felt like 'Sparkles' on my face (think CNY sparkles)... Dr Pang explained that the lighter heat penetrates about 10mm deep while the stronger heat penetrate the superficial layer of the skin only - maybe about 4mm deep.

I also requested Dr Pang to get rid of the fine hairs on my upper lip with the laser to avoid looking like Ms Moustache! Then he uses a pulsing heat (Quasi Long Pulse Laser) to kill off acne bacteria I think.

The beautician put on a sheet mask for me after that - the sheet mask is supppeerrr nice smelling! Then she turned on a blue light over my face to calm my skin. after the treatment, my face is not very red! I actually didn't feel the need to quickly put on makeup to hide my lobster face!

Doc gave me a type of gel for spot treatment morning & night.

Here's the package I signed up for:

7 x ND Yag Laser & Quasi Long a Pulse Laser for RM 2800.

Normal RP for 1 session is RM850. I did my previous laser at Klinik LP Tan, TTDI for RM 750.


Made appt for next session for 7th Dec.

Tuesday 24 November 2015

Juicing for a healthier body

Started juicing since yesterday morning after I got motivated from watching Get It Beauty 2015 on Astro TV.

Drinking fresh fruit juices is a common quick fix to a healthier body. Since I'm no longer seeing a TCM doctor who strongly opposed against drinking fruit juices, I've decided to try juicing for a while to hopefully detox and clear my skin.

After deriving recipes from the Korean beauty program and some googling, I found out that Kale - a type of green leafy vege not easily available in M'sia is a super vege. Packed with many types of vitamins, and chlorophyl. 

23rd Nov - 1 green apple, 3/4 of a lemon, 1 Japanese cucumber, 1 inch of ginger, a bunch of Kale, and 1 carrot.

I drank on empty stomach and had a bowl of blueberries and nuts with plain yogurt 30 min later for breakfast. 

I felt bloated and sleepy the whole day - thought the juice will give me more energy and get rid of any feelings of slump at work. 

Will update after trying for a while more...

Sunday 22 November 2015

Blindfolded DH for his surprise dinner

Wanted to give DH a birthday to remember this year.

Since the economy is really bad this year, we've agreed to save more and spend less. So we've decided to do away with spending a lot on lavish gifts that we do not necessarily need - and we only agreed upon this recently.

So I googled for good food and for a different type of cuisine so that DH will remember his 34th birthday. I made him put on an eye shade during the ride to the restaurant with my Waze on mute. But halfway thru the journey, he unmasked himself as he was feeling dizzy already.

Arrived in Palms PJ Sports Centre and the restaurant - Out of Africa quite easily. It's a restaurant situated in the sports centre where an Olympic size swimming pool, squash, gym, physio centre and  Modestos were at too.

I was overdressed for the place as the restaurant settings were like a resorts cafe, with seatings overlooking the swimming pool and many Caucasians and their kids playing in the nearby playground. We were there at 6 p.m and were the only ones sitting in the secluded aircondition area.

Our first impression of the restaurant wasn't so good - there were mosquitoes flying about in the aircondition room; the white table linen on our table had black pet paw stains on it, and the next table had spilled sand on the table linen; and the furnitures were old.

The food turned out to be quite good. I placed order based on what was most recommended on blogs and tripadvisor. Will update pics later on...

Beauty Sweeps from Seoul

What we ate in Seoul

This post will entail about the food we had during our trip to Seoul.

Friday 6 November 2015

Trip to Seoul for 4th Wedding Anniversary Celebration!!

I can't believe I didn't write for the whole month of October! I have been soooo busy! In Oct, I was  busy with finishing up my work before my holiday, as well as busy planning the itinery for my 6D5N trip to Seoul with DH to celebrate our 4th Wedding Anniversary on 22nd October 2015.

Then, there were also time spent on researching on what to buy (food, souvenirs and skin care); where to eat (recommendations from food bloggers); where to go (somewhere we haven't already been to during our past 2 trips to Seoul); how to go and how to speak basic Korean since most locals don't understand English.

As this is our 3rd time visiting Seoul (previous visits in Autumn 2012, then Summer in 2013), we already know what we want to do and where to go this time round. We were really excited to go as we have very pleasant memories of Seoul from our previous 2 trips and we really enjoyed the food and shopping and sightseeing there.

Of course, we were glad to be away from the hazardous haze caused by the massive open burning in the woods of Indonesia. The haze have been affecting us for many weeks now, and Klang Valley had it the worse in the mid of October 2015 (and we heard that the haze was gonna stay until beginning of next year!) Fortunately, the hourly API (Air Polution Index) went down from 'Dangerous' levels (above 300 API if I'm not mistaken) to 'Good' level (an average API of below 50) as I write now.

I foresee I'm going to write a lot in the next few posts about my holiday to Korea, as I took thousands of pictures and bought lots (and I mean, LOTS) of stuffs back! While I shortlist the pics, I'm going to post about our itinery here first.

Details of our trip...

20th Oct 2015 - 25th Oct 2015 (6D5N)  - Autumn Season  (Temperature ard 9-22deg C)
Airasia D7 506     KL - ICN      Depart: 1.00 a.m.   Arrive: 8.20 a.m.     20kg  (midnight flight)
Airasia D7 505     ICN - KL      Depart: 3.55 p.m.   Arrive: 9.40 a.m.     50kg

20th Oct (Tue)  - mostly Sunny
  • Arrived Incheon Internayional Airportt, had breakfast at the basement, then took the Airport Shuttle Coach at Lane 7 at Arrival Hall.
  • Arrived Ewha Subway station about 50 minutes later, but we weren't sure if it was the right stop so we didn't ring the bell to alight. Bus went on without stopping and we only got off the bus, 2 stops after that (only after I insisted, as DH still naively think that the bus will go back to Ewha Station after that!). Bus driver got off the bus to help us with our luggage stored in the luggage compartment of the bus. We then lugged our bags (1 large with a cabin bag inside and another cabin trolley bag with a hand carry bag on top) passed bridal shops and carpentry shops (weird combination, if you ask me) back to Ewha station Exit 4 in the sunny weather and we were both perspiring already. I thought October is supposed to be cool..!! We regretted our packed wardrobe of long sleeves and jackets immediately!
  • Managed to find the hotel - Ever 8 Sinchon Residence another another 10-15min of lugging our bags around the streets of Edae (locals call Edae - the shopping district at Ewha University). Kept our bags at the concierge as we were only allowed to check in at 3 p.m.
  •  Had lunch at Samyeupsal, Sinchon - superb! Details will be laid out in another post about the food we ate in Korea.
  • Back to the hotel around 4 p.m. to check in and freshen up. Hotel staff wasn't the friendliest - just average. They'll answer your queries, but without a smile. Oh well, as long as the room is satisfactory.
  • Oh, boy! The room was way beyond our expectations! The room is mostly white, it's clean and functional, and it comes with a very complete kitchen essentials - induction cooker, the thingy above that absorbs smells when you cook, 2 plates, 2 pairs of chopsticks, 2 spoons, 2 mugs, a kettle, a pan, a pot, a cutting mat, medium size knife, a full fridge with complimentary 2 bottles of water everyday, a washing machine (but no detergent) and a microwave! 
  • The bathroom was average with basic amenities like shower gel and shampoo, and a bar of soap only. Everything else is not available... BUT!! The toilet bowl comes with an impressive auto-flushing mode! LOL...
  • Had dinner at Two Two Chicken, Myeongdong. DH didn't mention, but I knew he was really looking forward to shoe-shopping in ABC Mart in Myeongdong. And I was just looking forward to snacking in the lively streets of Myeongdong. Turned out, DH was disappointed with the selections that were available and did not buy any due to the falling RM - it's so expensive now, compared to our previous trips. 1000won = RM 38 for this trip. :-(
  • As for the weather, it wasn't much cooler at night, DH went out with only T-shirt & jeans. 
   
21st Oct (Wed)

  • I was too tired to go Everland today as I was on a drowsy cold medicine the night before - forced to take it as I was having a lil runny nose and only managed to sleep by 3 a.m.
  • Since we said we weren't gonna rush thru this trip like our previous trips, we took our time in the hotel and I even had the time to put on makeup properly this time round..  :-)
  • We headed to Euljiro 3-Ga for our lunch at a chinese restaurant called Andongjang
  • Then we took the subway south to Seoul Uni on the Orange Line and then transferred to the green line to Gangnam for the indoor shopping mall where I bought dresses and shoes in my previous Summer Shopping in Seoul trip. This time, I didn't get anything at all as all the stores were selling mostly sweaters and jackets, getting ready for the cold season. We ended up having a nice blueberry ice cream smoothie and I bought stuffs from Etude House and they were sooooo generous with the samples!! Will be posting about my damage on beauty products in another post separately.
  • Took the train back to Myeongdong to go back to The Saem near Two Two Chicken to complain about the Snail Essence the salesgirl recommended me the night before as the pump wasn't working very well. Will document what happened in a later blog when I write about my beauty product spree.
  • Went to a nearby coffee place called A Twosome Place few doors away to freshen up as we were both 'sugar crashing' and feeling sleepy. 
  • Walked up the path as directed from the minimal signage available to the Namsan Tower Cable Car. 
  • The cable car to Namsan Tower or Seoul Tower as they now call it, was a very short one. They allow about 20 pax or so in a car and there were no seats in it. Everyone will be busy taking pics or videos during the short uphill ride anyway. It was really stable thus I wasn't freaking out even though I have height phobia. Nevertheless, DH was slightly tensed... haha..
  • We arrived at the base of the tower in the evening, around 5.50 p.m. The sun seems like it was going to set or is already setting. We could see lots of trees turning colour and dried autumn leaves already.. Oh, I love the colours of Autumn! My mom loves looking at colourful flowers, but I love looking at trees.. even the dried ones.. LOL!
  • We were looking for the Love Locks to 'lock our love' just like the Koreans, and we didn't have to look far. There were locks all over the place - in every imaginable creative way! A few even climbed high to lock their locks on lamp posts! Some lock their locks on other people's locks, some simply lock them on any steel railings they see. We, too searched for a safe place we could remember well so that we could come back and visit it many years later, if the authorities don't bring it down like the French authorities did on the love locks on Paris' bridge, if I'm not mistaken...
  • So, we went prepared as I've bought our lock with the biggest surface I could find from MR DIY for only RM 7.60 and I've painted & decorated it prettily for this function (DH contributed to the writings on the side of the lock). It costs 10000 won for a medium size lock if you buy it there, and it comes with a permanent marker as well. 
  • Alas, we've decided on the spot and made history there. We were supposed to do it tomorrow on our Anniversary Day, but we swapped the program with Everland. So, we officially locked our love on the Eve of our Anniversary instead. Then we deposited our keys in one of the postboxes on higher grounds where we found the ORIGINAL location where the locks were supposed to be locked at. However, there weren't any available location left unless you have the time to really scrutinize every inch. And most of the locks there have already turned rusty and faded in colour. Also, I'm afraid they may take those down in the near future as they don't really look pretty anymore. So, we were happy with the location we chose. 
  • The lights to the tower came on about 6 p.m. I think, but you can only see how beautiful it is when the sky turns dark around 7 p.m. onwards. But during that time, we both were enjoying ourselves in a 3D Alive Museum, busy posing silly poses with the creative 3D paintings! I didn't think DH will enjoy this kinda things, but he was acting silly with me.. LOL. There were 2 parts to the museum, by the time we finished with Museum part 2, we were starving as it was around 8 p.m. already.
  • We quickly took a bus back down to the city and we stopped at Myeongdong subway station and quickly headed for dinner at Yoogane for Dakgalbi.
  • Since we were in Myeongdong already, what was stopping us from walking around that lively place? Nothing! We strolled about again and DH bought a pair of jeans from Forever 21. We didn't think Forever 21 sells men's attire back home, but in actual fact, they do (after checking it out when we're back, but the selections here are really limited and miserable).
  • Back to the hotel to rest....

22nd Oct (Thurs)

  • It's the day where we feel like kids again at Everland Theme Park! It's also our 4th wedding anniversary day! I've been to Lotte World once while I was flying last time, so I've chosen Everland this time round. This is also the park where the super long roller coaster featured in Runningman is. Of cos we did not try!
  • We had to take a bus no. 5002 about 500m walk fro Gangnam Subway Exit 10 and the bus ride was around 50 minutes. Then we transferred to a free shuttle bus to go up the theme park.
  • We only reached Everland around 3.30p.m. or so because we waited around 30-40 min for bus 5002 earlier on. And the whole time, we had to see this super-glued couple flirting and showing lots of PDA (Public Display of Affection) queuing in front of us!
  • We've printed out a 50% off entrance fee coupon from the website before we came so we only paid 48000 won for 2 admissions. 
  • We grabbed a burger in a nearby burger joint for lunch and I was longing to try a not-so-thrilling ride with DH, but he said he'll stay on ground and take pics for me. :-( So I pushed that thought away, thinking that I'll be back after the Safari. 
  • We headed to the Safari first cos this is one of the highlights of the park, esp for people like DH and I, who dare not take most of the thrilling rides. 
  • We were all seated in a caged bus and we saw many tigers, lions, hyenas, bear, and even a Liger (Lion + tiger) roam free. Then the bears even showed their talents like posing 'sexily' when prompted by the driver; slam dunk a basketball; and even knew how to blew us kisses when prompted. Very impressive and we all enjoyed the short ride.
  • We also went on the Amazon Express, DH's all time favourite. It's a ride where we share a big float tube with 4 others on a man-made river. Wore our wind breaker as the water could splash into the tube. 
  • It was already 6 p.m. when we finished with the rides. We grabbed some snacks and strolled around the beautiful place and had dinner before all the restaurants close around 8 p.m.
  • We also bought tickets for a special Horror Safari for an additional 5000 won each since Halloween was near. That is why the park is also fully decorated with spooky halloween decorations. The ride was at 8.30 p.m. and we enjoyed it even though the event was carried out fully in Korean. Basically we were sat in a bus with dark tinted windows and went inside the Safari park we went on earlier. Only this time, no wild animals were roaming free, but there were 'zombies' and dead bodies instead. The zombies would suddenly bang the window next to you while the 'host' was talking away to frighten you, or zombies would suddenly come up the bus and pull someone down. A girl was freaked out to bits and was seen crying after the ride. LOL.. 
  • Remember the ride I wanted to try? Well, it was really late by the time we finished exploring most of the park and the Q for the ride was way too long by then. We've decided to call it a night then as it was already 10.30 p.m. and it's going to be a long ride back to the city... Ended up waiting about 30 min for bus no. 5002 and alighted at Gangnam, and took the subway back to Ewha. 

23rd Oct (Fri)


  • Went out around noon again and we went to the Noryangjin Wholesale Seafood Market today. It was easy to go there, alight at Noryangjin on the blue line and then follow the crowd and signs to the market. We also saw the 69th building (gold building) as a famous landmark of Seoul. 
  • The fishy smell of the market can't be missed and there were many many stalls touting us to buy their fresh seafood. Some of them tried to attract us by speaking chinese to us, and we were spoilt for choice! We chose a quiet but friendly Korean lady instead and ordered 3 x abalones for 10000 won, 3 x sea urchins for 10000 won, and 2 gigantic fresh shrimps for 20000 won cos it was too bizarre to try the rest - live baby octopus, elephant trunk-like seafood, water- squirting penis-like creature, and flat-bodied round fish! There were many huge crabs though, but we figured we didn't want to burst our budget on a big crab that 2 of us can't finish. 
  • We stopped by Lotte Dept Outlet at Seoul Station after that. Wanted to look for Cell Fusion skincare brand but realized this department store is really miserable and sell mostly local brands at a 'discount' but the price tags were still high. So we ended up shopping in the Daiso found in Lotte Mart at Seoul Station. Shopping in Daiso Korea is very worthwhile cos 1000 won is only RM 3.80 now. Back home, it's RM 5.30 for any item now inclusive of GST. We also bought Dunkin Donuts for our breakkie tomorrow and had coffee at Paris Baguette, Seoul Station.
  • Our next stop was Hongdae - home to Hongik University (their version of our Lim Kok Wing Uni I think). Very entertaining and interesting place - I love it here. This is where the youths love to hang out too - so you'll see plenty of cafes, clubs and pubs, small unique stalls offering accessories, handphone accessories, fashionable garments, etc. This place comes to live especially at night, when the students street perform - from playing musical instruments to performing magic shows! DH love it there 'cos he bought many accessories there. I also bought 2 rings where I place on mid fingers - a trend you see amongst Korean female idols. 
  • DH bought a pair of New Balance shoes - finally he got himself a pair of new shoes! Has been a tradition for him to buy at least 1 new pair of shoes from our trips lately...
  • We also managed to find Haha's restaurant - 401 and had BBQ there. 
  • Called it a night after the super filling dinner. Didn't even get to try the Tiramisu Cake with the long queue as we walked past.

24th Oct (Sat)

  • It's a free day today, nothing much planned as we said this is gonna be a relaxing trip. So we went out only in the afternoon and decided to drop by the Lotte Duty Free Dept Store at Myeongdong to try my luck at looking for Cell Fusion C Mist - read a Korean blogger who swears by it as the Holy Grail that calmed and improved her acne.
  • Lotte Duty Free was packed with many many Chinese tourists talking loudly and pulling out wads of cash making bulk purchases of skincare products especially masks! We gave up searching after 10 minutes. I felt the sales people working there weren't friendly as well, and some were particularly nicer to the big spenders. Most of the skincare products sold here were packed in bulk, at least 2 or more and they were all tagged in US Dollar rather than Won. However, you can always ask them to quote in Won, and the price will be cheaper.
  • We went to the Chinese street in Meongdong, same row with the Chinese Embassy and walked in one of the corner Korean restaurant to have our late lunch.
  • We walked around Myeongdong somemore and realized Myeongdong is actually kinda big. Although we've been here many times during this holiday (Tue, Wed, Fri and today!) we still weren't bored with the place and even found more streets we missed earlier on. So we both shopped somemore. I bought many more cosmetics and skincare products and some 1000won earrings while DH bought Jeans and even a sweater - not sure where he's gonna wear that to!
  • Went back to the hotel to freshen up and was supposed to go to Banpo Bridge to see the rainbow coloured fountain that DH was excited to see. But DH felt a bit under the weather once we got back the hotel and he took a nap. By the time he got up, it was kinda late for the long journey to Banpo Bridge...
  • Decided to go to Sinchon to the mart below Pizza Mall to buy snacks and instant noodles to bring back home tomorrow. Prices for stuffs were generally cheaper here compared to Lotte Mart. We also went in to one of the stores in Pizza Mall selling lots of creative and interesting gadgets and stationeries and gifts. We bought a few as Christmas presents...
  • In Sinchon subway Exit 7, there's a Daiso. Another round of last min shopping before we headed back to Ewha and settled down in a nearby café for dinner around 9 p.m.

25th October (Sun)

  • So sad to be leaving today... Wish the holiday wasn't so short. We had instant noodles for breakfast and checked out around 11.15a.m. as we had to take the hotel shuttle bus to the airport at 11.30a.m. We paid 8000 won per pax for the airport transfer which took about 5 minutes.
  • We checked in 3 bags - 1 large cargo bag, 2 cabin bags with a total of 42kg. We have 50kg allowance for check in bags.
  • Did our tax refunds in Terminal 1 and had lunch there before we took the airport train to Terminal 2 to board our flight.
  • The flight was unpleasant as the newly met couple seated behind us chatted for 6 hours nonstop, and they weren't exactly speaking softly! So we were both really restless by the time the plane touched down in KLIA 2 around 9.30p.m.
  • Reached home, unpacked and washed up and K.O. around 1 a.m. that morning. Back to work the next morning! Arrrgghhh!!!....



Wednesday 30 September 2015

Western Food at Morganfield's, Dave's, La Boca

Haven't been writing for a while - have been preoccupied with many agenda after work: busy trying to learn about trading; spending TV time with DH watching Big Bang Theory, Castle, Yong Pal, Oh My Ghost, etc; and recently got hooked onto knitting again.

So, I'll be combining my experiences dining in 3 different restaurants over the past few weekends in 1 post.


Morganfield's @ Empire Shopping Gallery, Subang Jaya

It isn't our first time here, but first time ordering the Platter to be shared amongst MIL, DH and myself.

We arrived there at 5.30pm and the place is empty except for 2 tables with Happy Hour drinkers. We love dining early so that we don't have to wait too long for our food (yes, we're impatient when it comes to food!) and we don't have to make reservations or wait for a table. This place can get really crowded on weekend nights.

Morganfield's is situated on the Ground Floor and we usually enter from the front whereby you have to take the escalator up outside of the mall - go to the end of the mall on Lower Ground Floor towards Coffee Bean or Empire Hotel and exit through the sliding glass door and you will see the escalator on your right.

We ordered Chilli Cheese Nachos for RM 22.90 for appetizer. The portion is big - 16 slices and they are very generous with the cheese and guacamole and sour cream. They were tasty but needs to be shared with 2-4 pax in my opinion as the immense amount of cheese can easily fill you up!


Chilli Cheese Nachos
 
 
Since Morganfield's tagline is 'Home of Sticky Bones', we decided to try their Sharing Platter - The Carnivore for RM159.90, said to be for 3-4 pax but the portion is HUGE, I'm telling you!


The Carnivore


The Carnivore Platter comes with (copied from their website):
1. A full slab of spare ribs - choose from Hickory BBQ, Garlicky BBQ, Smoked Peppercorn, or  
    Spicy Asian BBQ;
2. 1/2 Chicken - choose from Herb Roasted Chicken or Tequila Spiked Chicken;
3. Grilled Spicy Devil Sausage;
4. Grilled Herby Hog Sausage;
5. Garden Salad;
6. 3 x Grilled Corn;
7. 3 x Corn Bread;
8. Crispy French Fries.

:
Close up View of the Smoked Peppercorn Spare Ribs we ordered
 
 
In Summary:

I regret to say that the meal was not really enjoyable. The nachos were good, but not the best we've tried. Cheesy I good, but not too much (in my opinion) for an appetizer.

The Platter is huge even if we hadn't ordered the nachos, I think. Plus, everything were just too salty! The sauce for the spare ribs were too salty (we had to balance it out with a spoonful of corn with each cut of spare ribs!); both the sausages were too salty as well!

We couldn't even finish the fries and eat any of the Corn Bread and had to take away.

Back home, we were thirsty the whole night up to the next morning and we were all drinking water nonstop (Imagine the frequent visits to the toilet in the wee hours of the morning!) Mouth stays dry and dehydrated no matter how much water we drank! Not going to go back there for their Platter - feels reluctant to try other Platters in future too - Phobia!

Having said that, I wouldn't mind going back for drinks as they have a wide variety of beers and cocktails and I love their beer-battered mushrooms (tried that in another occasion). Maybe, back for their cheesy nachos too.. Without the Platter combi, of course!



Dave's @ 1 Utama Shopping Centre, Bandar Utama

Back to Dave's again for DH's cheat meal. What cheat meal, you say? Well, DH have been on a strict 6- day diet a week for many many weeks! So, Sunday is his only cheat day whereby we'll eat out most of the Sundays to satisfy whatever cravings he has. Then, it's back to dieting on Monday and for the next 5 days after. DH has managed to lose close to 15 kg of weight and even managed to have the 6-peck abs he'd always wanted. Although he is dieting, but his diet is the healthy kind and DH has never looked and feel better! A friend who hasn't seen him for a while actually thought he went for Botox 'cos he look much younger!

Anyway, I digressed. Back to our meal in Dave's. It's definitely not our first time dining here, in fact you may read about our last visit HERE, just a month back.




The interior of Dave's - simple and average looking.
 
 
 
I wasn't very hungry so I ordered a salad with roasted pork - Crispy Pork Belly Shavings Salad (RM 29.50). The serving was quite big so we shared.
 
 

  All the perfectly roasted pork were hidden beneath the healthy greens.
 
 
                                             The jewels in my salad - the roasted pork!


Just 1 more close-up shot of the delicious pork
 
 
 
DH ordered our favourite nachos and it's good, as usual...

Dave's Signature Nachos - RM 29.90
 
 
 
 
DH ordered Braised Lamb Shank (RM59.90) for his main course and it was really tender and flavourful!
 
 
 
 In Summary:

DH and I always leave Dave's feeling satisfied with our meals - Dave's never fail to deliver! I must say that Dave's lack some variety in food choices when compared to similar restaurants like Chilli's or TGI Fridays, but we find the food quality here surpasses many other restaurants around its price range. Will be back here again for sure!

Location: Lot G209, The Promenade, One Utama Shopping Centre.
Contact: 03- 7725 4017






La Boca Latino Bar - Pavillion, KL

Our second time dining here. La Boca gives me the feeling of a Mexican restaurant (erm.. not that I ever been to Mexico, but La Boca plays similar music to that of Mexico).

Here's what La Boca has to say (excerpt from La Boca menu):

La Boca is a colourful seaport town in Buenos Aires, Argentina; and a world famous Latin American Restaurant and Bar in Pavillion, Kuala Lumpur.


The restaurant is casual looking but serves superior quality food.


Casual setting of La Boca
 

The bar where they serve all sorts of funky cocktails and liquor.
 
 


'Hand painted original artwork depicting the rough brilliance of the houses in the Tango street of "Caminito" which was built with cast-off ship building materials and painted by local immigrants' (extracted from La Boca menu)
 
 
 
Part of the kitchen and a pic of their menu showing the different cuts of beef
 
 
Nachos are our weakness and we always end up ordering one. No regrets in ordering this! One of the best nachos we've had - not the usual triangle pizza-like pieces coated with meat and cheese top with guacamole and sour cream.
 
La Boca's Nachos Rancheros - RM 26 comes with crispy tortilla chips with plenty of meat, refined red beans, tomato slices, jalapeno, sour cream, guacamole and some other sauces. They are super delicious! Only thing is the dish lacks presentation and they are served in a simple blue bowl which kinda reminds me of a dog's food bowl... But the stuffs in it is really good, so who cares?!
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Location: Lot C3, 10-03, Level 3, 168 Jalan Bukit Bintang, Pavillion, KL








Monday 14 September 2015

4D3N Taipei - Street Snacks Heaven (Part 3)

Shopping in Department Stores

DH wanted to go shopping in a proper departmental store. Went to Sogo and we were both disappointed - kinda empty and everything was soooo expensive. Didn't feel like spending so much, as we have 2 more overseas trip coming up. (YES!!..)

Just to show some pics taken from the 9th floor in Sogo...





 
 
Went to ShinKong Mitsukoshi Department Store nearby our Hotel after Sogo. There are a total of 3 Mitsukoshi Department Stores, all as disappointing as Sogo. We were initially happy that our hotel is within walking distance from 3 buildings of Japanese Department Stores, but there's nothing interesting in the dept stores, really...
 
Back to the hotel after an hour of window shopping.
 
 
Next destination: Xi Men Ding
 
 
Off to Xi Men Ding we go...
 
We took the Metro to Xi Men Station (means West Door in Chinese) on the Bannan Line (Blue Line).
 
Xi Men Ding is one of the famous spots for youngsters and tourists, hence you'll see many locals wanting to show off their talents on the street - from playing the harp to break dancing.
 
 

 
There's a 4-Storey Watsons in sight once you get out of the Metro. Went in to buy buy buy!
 
 
 
 

 
Went to eat the famous 'Ay Chung Rice Flour Noodle'. There was a long queue but the line shortens quickly. Only 2 sizes are available - small for NT$50 and large for NT$65. You may choose to add vinegar or chilli (which is really spicy by the way) to your liking although the 'mee sua' is already very tasty on its own. DH is not very fond of 'mee sua' but had to admit that it was really nice. I on the other hand wanted to enjoy it as much as he does but burnt my tongue while eating the piping hot noodle! Nevertheless, no regrets!
 
 
 
I was admiring this talented artist spray painting while DH was queuing up for the famous fried chicken.


 
Loved this! The chicken meat were tender an very flavourful. Some of them had bones though.
 
 
Some other talents being showcased and sold in Xi Men Ding...
 
Caricature

 
All sorts of things made in scraps of metal

 
 Even my 3 yr old nephew Ethan knows this is Gundam.
 
 
 
 
Tried this super cute ice cream - Mini Melts



 
Basically just ice cream in mini balls.. Cute concept though..
 
 

 
Lovely BBQ beef cubes for NT$100 per serving. You may choose your sauces but we decided to choose the Rose Salt and it was perfect! Meat was tender and super yummy!
 
 
 
Guess what, I found the 'Little Three Beauty Store' in Xi Men Ding! Oops, it's actually called S3 Beauty Store. Bought some more face masks here.
 
Will do a separate post for all my beauty purchases later on...
 
 
 
The Next Day...
 
At the airport, we had our lunch in the first chinese restaurant we see on the first floor of Terminal 1.
 
 
Beef Brisket Noodle - I like it. A tinge of spiciness in it.

 
Seafood Noodle - a bit tasteless for me. Swapped with DH. :P
 
 
 
Alas, we were back on Airasia en route back to KL. Love taking pics of clouds in the sky when I get the window seat. They just look like cotton candies and icy mountains.
 



 
 
Short trip, but a very fruitful one! At least I get to convince Dh that Taipei is not that bad after all.. :) 

Sunday 6 September 2015

4D3N Taipei - Street Snacks Heaven (Part 2)

2nd Day in Taipei


The first half of the day was spent working, and then our generous business partner treated us to a nice full lunch course at Chamonix 夏慕尼- apparently belongs to the same parent company with Ikki - the one we went to on our first night for dinner.

This restaurant is slightly more posh looking when compared to Ikki. We sat right in front of the chefs and watch the skilful chefs cooked. It's a really interesting sight to see how the chefs cook various food in different techniques on the big iron griddle.



A bit of google and I found the following info on the restaurant. Chamonix is a mixture of traditional Teppanyaki and French Cuisine. It's a part of Wowprime corporation which is the largest and the most experienced local dining group in Taiwan.

Click HERE to view the set menu in English.

 
 
The set costs NT$ 1030+ per pax - about 8 course meal.

First they served Appetizers. It's not written in the menu so I think the appetizers change from time to time.

 
2 spoonful of appetizers: one with fresh rolled fish with a dash of caviar and fruit cubes;
the other was jelly with fresh shrimps and fruit cubes I think.. The waitress did explain, but they spoke in fluent Chinese and I couldn't pick them up! Nevertheless, 2 very refreshing and yummy appetizers there...
 
 
 
Bread was toasted on the iron griddle before being served with mayo and fish roe.
 
 
 
Soup was next. I chose Truffle-Infused Onion Soup as opposed to the other Seafood soups 'cos I'll be having lots of seafood later. :)
 
 
 
 
My choice of salad was Truffle and Mushroom Salad - lovely!
 
 
Thereafter, we were served with free-flow Lemon Sorbet to ease our digestion as well as to cleanse our palate for the next course. Sounds familiar? Same concept with Ikki (place we had dinner last night) because they belong to the same parent company.
 
 
 
That's our Chef preparing DH's dish - Grilled Short Ribs with garlic, and that's my fresh fish being fried, and somebody else's chicken.. My Taiwanese companion told me that it's an Ice Fish - meaning that the fish was caught in the ice. I'm not sure how true is that though.
 
My Main Course is an assorted Fresh Seafood Combo - a whole fresh 'Ice Fish', with one fresh oyster, and a fresh scallop.

 
The Chef served me the fish first after deboning the fish.
 
 

 
Fried Rice with crispy fried shrimps was served after. I couldn't finish it even though it was served in a small bowl only. Passed the balance to DH.. :P
 
Then I was served my Fresh Oyster and Fresh Scallop and they were simply heavenly!
 
Just as I thought I couldn't stomach anymore, the remaining of my fish was deep fried (the bones, to be precise) and was served to me! My companion warned me this was coming and I thought he was pulling my leg. But no! The Chef served it to me and said every part of the fish could be eaten. Nothing goes to waste!
 
 
 
 
I feel like a cat eating the bones of my fish.. But yea, it was so crispy that everything breaks easily in the mouth without trying too hard. The taste.. just merely tasted a bit like fried bones, a bit burnt taste, even. I didn't quite enjoyed it but was impressed that no parts of the fish goes to waste this way.
 
 
We were then moved to the dinner table on the other side of the restaurant for our desserts.
 
 
 
My dessert: Dark Chocolate Ice Cream served with Hot Passion Fruit Sauce. This was pretty cool. Vanilla Ice Cream was served in a ball of dark chocolate which will melt partly when the hot Passion Fruit Sauce is dribbled over it.
 
Last but not least, I had some hot herbal tea in my attempt to balance out my meal. Tasted funky.. :P
 
 
 
All of us were given a survey form with a free pen and some Lindt Chocolates after the meal.
 
 
Here's a list of the things we ordered in Chinese.
 
 
 
All in all, DH and I were very satisfied with our lunch. Only drawback was, the lunch took about 2 hours and we were super full after the lunch around 2.30pm.
 
Jesse (Taiwan Biz Partner) then drove us to a shopping mall (forgot the name) near his company (near Costco and Carrefour) to buy Almond Tea for my MIL.
 
 
At Yongkang Street...
 
We went to Yongkang Street (short walk from Dongmen MRT Station) after Jesse drop us off 2 stops away. Yongkang St is where the Original Ding Dai Fung is. We were there looking for a pharmacy/ beauty shop called 小三美日  'Little Three Everyday' at Yongkang St 2. This particular beauty shop chains are generally smaller than more popular ones like Watsons and Cosmed; but they do carry a wide assortment of brands that the former two pharmacies don't carry Eg: Annie's Way, 1028 (makeup line created by local celebrity), 3 Concept Eyes (3CE) just to name a few.
 
After searching for 15 min, a local from nearby 7 Eleven told me that the 'Little Three' moved to another location but not sure where exactly. So we gave up searching and went back to our hotel to freshen up before heading out for another round of makan trip - to the Shih Lin Night Market.
 
 
 
Shih Lin Night Market
 
 
Our trip wouldn't be complete without a visit to this famous Shih Lin Night Market, similar to our local 'Pasar Malam' or Hong Kong's Temple Street ('Miu Kai') and Ladies' Street ('Lui Yan Kai')- but Shih Lin is much more organized and has many more street snacks.
 
How did we get there?
 
 
We took the Taipei Metro to Jiantan Station on Tamsui Line (Red Line). There's only 1 exit once you reach Jiantan Station and you can actually follow the crowd towards the market from there. The market is said to operate from 5pm to about 11pm or some say 1am.
 
If you think you are lost, rest assured that there is a Visitor's Information Centre to your left once you exit the train station. Just for the record, Taipei Metro uses a blue coin instead of a ticket or card.
 
 
 
 





 
We bought this custard filling thingy in the shape of fish from the 'Sushi' store right outside the Metro Station as we couldn't resist the strong Waffle-like smell it creates. 8 pcs for NT$50 and they were yummy! Hot and sweet.
 
 
Once we're out of the station, walk straight and you will see the Metro Tracks above you, heading towards the next station - ShihLin Station.
 
 
Cross the road and you'll see shops and street food stalls along the main street already.
 
 
Our first stop was at the colourful fruit stall. We usually don't buy and eat fruits that are already cut 'cos they are exposed to all sorts of pollution and bacteria. After seeing the special types of fruits available and the large crowd purchasing them; we thought eating some cold juicy fruits in the warm weather isn't a bad idea after all.
 
 
Look at the colourful array of fresh fruits!

 
Taiwan's version of bitter gourd I think. Apparently less bitter than what we get here in KL.

 
Such cute Heart Shaped Guavas - they're my favourite! And large pink guavas next to them (not so sweet). We also bought Mangoes (super sweet and juicy), Starfruit (to reduce my body heat), and Milk Pineapple (another favourite - only available here and first time trying the pale coloured pineapple). Prices in this fruit stall is severely overpriced and they go by the kilograms, but at that moment, we didn't care so much.
 
 
 
Funky umbrella invention being sold - creative though!
 
 

 
Some R-rated snacks - and NO, we did not try them!
 
 
 
We bought the Deep Fried Ice Cream for NT$25 each. Nicely fried, but the ice cream wasn't flavourful enough.
 
 
There's a Food Court at B1 somewhere in the middle of Shih Lin Market.. We had Milk Ice Shavings with Mangoes and Oyster Omelette.
 
 
Milk ice shavings with sweet mangoes
 
 

 
'Or Jian' or Oyster Omellet - not as nice as the ones in Malaysia. Not as fragrant, but the many oysters were given, as compared to the Malaysia ones whereby you're lucky if you can get more than 4 or 5.
 
 
We didn't eat that much as we were still full from our heavy lunch.
 
Besides food, there were many shops (proper rented shops - not street stalls) selling a variety of things - clothes, shoes, ABC Mart, handphone covers, accessories, selfie sticks (the IN thing nowadays), bags, and etc.
 
We left the place around 11pm and were really tired. The crowd too has lessened by then.
 
Off we go to department Stores and Xi Men Ding the next day!
 
 
To be continued... (Part 3)