Kuala Lumpur: Birch @ DC Mall

Birch @ Damansara City Mall is the new, famous cafe hopping place for brunch lovers or Instagrammers. I have been seeing people checking in and my friend who tried, told me that they serve good food (coffee just so-so). Two weeks ago, I finally get to try this place out with a friend. 

DC Mall is a quiet mall and hence parking wouldn't be a problem. And guess what, the parking rate is RM1 per day for weekends! That's a plus point as you can spend quality time with your friends without worrying of your parking fee that will increase exponentially.

They offered us bar seats or else we have to wait for table. As we were quite free that day, we decided to wait for table instead. We left our number and walked around the mall for about 10 minutes. Since there are nothing much that we can see, we waited in front of the cafe and surprisingly was called immediately to our table. Lucky! Note: It would be safer if you call to reserve a table if you have a large group. I observed that a lot of tables were reserved and that's why we need to wait. 

Simple 2 pages menu - Immediately spot for Eggs Benedict that my friend recommended. XD 

Birch Benedict (RM26) -- served with spicy pulled chicken, BBQ sauce, hollandaise sauce!

Favourite combo and it is really good! Finally a brunch place that satisfy me.

Shakshuka (V) (RM25) - Baked eggs.

We shared our meals so I get to try this too! Surprisingly good and better than Breakfast Thieves and VCR in my opinion. My friend who loves meat like this as well. =D 

Petaling Jaya: Milligram @ Taman Mayang Jaya

A catch-up session with friends should be matched with good environment and good food! We were thinking where we should meet and finally decided to try out a cafe at Taman Mayang Jaya which we found out months ago -- Milligram.

It was a Friday night but we don't have much parking problem in this area. Great! It was quite pack when we arrived and managed to get a sofa seat.

It was not difficult for me to locate this place. Waze brought me there without much hassles.

As I arrived slightly earlier than the others, I ordered a cup of coffee and read my book while waiting. The coffee was of usual cafe price range (RM10) and pretty decent.

They have mains (e.g. sandwiches, pasta), cakes, waffles, cute macaroons and drinks (e.g. tea, coffee). Their macaroons are really cute! However, I am not a macaroon person, so I didn't try. We ordered three different mains, cheese macaroni, pork sausage carbonara and bacon carbonara. Overall, the mains were quite nice and I personally preferred my friend's pork sausage XD (but didn't manage to a photo of that).

Here's mine - Smoked Pork Bacon Pasta - it was served with poached egg. The taste was quite nice - slightly saltier than usual and cheesy. 

Overall, the service here was nice and we enjoyed the environment here. It would be a good place to chill for some conversations over coffee. =)


Address:             8, Jalan SS26/4, Taman Mayang Jaya, Petaling Jaya, Selangor
Opening hours:  Mon-Thurs 11am-11pm; Fri 11am-2am; Sat 10am-2am; Sun 10am-11pm

Kuala Lumpur: Merchant's Lane @ Petaling Street

Thanks to the change in job scope, now I have much lesser or almost no free time to spare for this blog. Deeply sorry if there is anyone who follows this blog and is hoping for an update these few months. I am back here today as a method to release my stress. =)

So yeah, here's to share my cafe hopping over the past few months in KL! Let's start with a famous one -- Merchant's Lane.

Merchant's Lane is located at first floor's of a corner heritage shop lot. I was lost when I tried to find my way to this cafe, even after friend's guide from upstairs through the phone. I was walking along that row of shops for several times and still missed it. Indeed, the entrance is rather small and with green doors (Maybe that's why I didn't notice, not obvious to me. Finding excuse XD). It is actually the same row as ChoCha Foodstore (which I tried few weeks after visited Merchant's Lane).

If you still can't imagine what is Merchant's Lane so special about, this is the place where a lot of people posted photos of them on a wooden string. But unfortunately, I did not take any instagrammable photo when I was there. As I was there to meet up ex-colleague for an overdue catch-up over a short time.

Their menu has food with fancy names but not much choices like most cafes in town. I ordered South China Sea as this is recommended in many food blogs whereas my friend ordered their burger. Rose honey milk that was served to my friend was really beautiful, not sure how it taste though. My cappuccino was rather normal only.

Look at this beautiful rose honey milk. So girly!

My dinner! South China Sea - poached eggs, salsa and crispy hash. 

To be honest, this is very disappointing! I can't appreciate/enjoy such combination. Taste is just so-so. Overrated dish.

After finishing up our mains, we decided to give their dessert a try! They have a dessert named "Better than Sex" and we were interested to try out. Haha! 

RM300 for a 2D1N Hatyai Trip: Day 2 Itinerary

Let's continue with Day 2 Itinerary for 2D1N Hatyai Trip (Click here to read on Day 1 Itinerary)

FIRST STOP: Kim Yong Market

We woke up early in the morning and walked to Kim Yong Market, which is located about 800m away from our hotel. It is a local market, so expect to see people selling vegetables, fruits, kuihs, etc....

Uncle, why you photobomb me. =(

Outdoor area, Kim Yong Market.

Huge mangoes are everywhere! 

Indoor areas of Kimyong market.

Sis bought a corn as breakfast. Our all-time favourite - corn!

Barbeque pork! Must have for all Thailand trip of mine. XD

We also bought some kuih (dessert) to try. Some are different from those in Malaysia. Yumzz... You need to walk and see carefully to look out for hidden gems. Coincidently, we met our cousin and family there! Had a walk with them and ate our food in their hotel room @ Asian Hotel, which is just 2 minutes walk from the market.

After that, we planned to go to another market to buy nuts and chips back. However, no Tuk Tuk driver is willing to fetch us there because there are only 2 of us T_T. Hence, we decided to cancel that plan and proceed to Lee Garden area for last minute shopping. 

SECOND STOP: Burapha Bird's Nest-Shark's Fin (东方燕窝-鱼翅)

It is walking distance from Lee Garden and we stopped by here for a bowl of bird's nest. Shark's Fin is a BIG NO NO. We ordered the cheapest bird's nest to enjoy as our morning tea break. Haha! The main reason that we stopped by Burapha is that the shopping malls are not open yet and we need something to pass time. Clothes aren't attractive out there hence we decided to EAT!

The menu. Oh man! The shark >.< Poor thing

Here's our bird's nest (RM10 each) and they served us some ginseng tea as complementary drink. Nice. =)

They are selling different type of bird's nest and you can purchase if interested. 

THIRD STOP: Last minute shopping!!

At 10am, we left for last minute shopping at Odean, 7-11 and Watson. After that, we rushed back to hotel to clean up and pack our luggage. We checked out at 12 noon sharp! XD After keeping our luggage at the lobby, we walked to our lunch place.

FOURTH STOP: Kan Eng Restaurant (甘英餐室)

Kan Eng Restaurant is a famous restaurant for Thai food among tourists. We wonder how good is it hence we decided to give it a try. This restaurant is located on the way to our brunch place on the first day (Chok Dee Dim Sum). We spotted it on the first day hence we have no problem to find our way there for lunch.

Small shop with yellow signboard

It was so crowded when we reach. Luckily we found an empty table to fit 2 of us.

We ordered 4 dishes to share. Yes. 2 girls, 2 rice, 4 dishes. =P 

Seafood Tom Yum. 

This is quite a decent bowl of  Tom Yum as it suits my taste (spicy, but not too much)

Minced pork with basil leaves. This is a typical thai dish and it is very well cooked. Nice.

My all-time favourite stir fried coconut (椰心) with prawns. 

Sweetness of the coconut melts my heart away. 

Taiping: Le'pak Kitchen

#throwback

If you want me to count how many nice cafes are there in Taiping, it will be an easy task! There are so few cafes here and good or beautiful ones are even lesser. Today, I am going to share a decent cafe, located near Taman Kaya in Taiping. They served Malay + Western fusion style and also photogenic desserts. I've seen a few people posting photos of this cafe and hence I went there to try about a month ago. Sorry for the delayed update! XD

Not hard to find. It has a very spacious parking space, but.... it still gets packed. 

Woods and bricks.

I ordered a photogenic dessert, which serves with bueno chocolate bar. However, I had too high expectation on this. It ends up just so-so to me. 

Craving for some mango sticky rice and so we ordered one to share! This dish looks so flooded as compared to our normal mango sticky rice. And it comes with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!! Yumzz...

Grilled chicken chop served with salad and potato wedges. (around RM9)

This is quite a decent plate of grilled chicken. =)

Chicken Chop served with mushroom sauce (RM5)

This is cheap! But it has too much flour. I prefer grilled chicken as compared to this. Of course, the price also doubled. 

Nasi Komando (if i don't remember the name wrongly). It is combination of nasi paprik and nasi pattaya. Ordered this because mom and aunt never try nasi paprik before and I personally like pattaya. Haha... So yea. This plate kills 2 birds with 1 stone =D

Kuala Lumpur: Village Park Nasi Lemak & Tsujiri @ Damansara Uptown

#throwback

Village Park Nasi Lemak @ Damansara Uptown

Always wanted to try Village Park Nasi Lemak as it is so famous! Finally, I get to try this 2 months ago! Sorry for the late update! It is known as the best Nasi Lemak in Klang Valley and I am really interested to try. 

Village Park isn't hard to locate, but parking is difficult! I made few rounds before I get the lucky spot. We were lucky to be able to find a table for 2. Ordered their signature fried chicken nasi lemak and a cup of teh tarik. Feeling so Malaysian! 

Ta-daa! The famous plate of nasi lemak! The chicken is huge and crunchy. Nice plate. But.... If I have to queue for this, don't think I'll come back again. Not too special to me.

However, I'm still happy to have this plate! Coz I was really really hungry at that point of time. 

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Tsujiri @ Damansara Uptown

Tsujiri from Kyoto landed in KL and it became a hit spot for matcha lovers. As I'm a matcha lover, I am so tempted to try it! Seats are quite limited and we will need to wait for seats. It is located at similar area as Village Park. So it may be a good choice to visit both together. I explored Damansara Uptown few times this year, which I never did when I was in KL last time. XD

Tsujiri (located opposite Texas Chicken)

I chose Parfait and a cup of Matcha Latte to share with sister. 

Friend's matcha float with hojicha soft serve. They said it's pretty good.

Thailand 8D7N Trip: Day 5 Damnoen Saduak Floating Market, Grand Palace, Central World (Kum Poon & After You Dessert)

Day 5: Damnoen Saduak Floating Market, Grand Palace, Central World (Kum Poon & After You Dessert)

Initially, we planned to do day tours for floating market and grand palace for consecutive 2 days. Then we went to the hotel reception to ask if we could get a huge taxi for 6 persons. We were lucky that we chose to ask the hotel reception instead of walking out to the street to get taxi by ourselves. Why so? The hotel receptionist suggested us to rent a car for a day, which can fix 6 persons (or more), to go to both Damnoen Saduak Floating Market and Grand Palace in a day. It costs us THB2500 in total and we are allowed to decide wherever we want to go. This is such a great deal! We managed to save time and also the price is reasonable too.

We wanted to go Amphawa Floating Market at first, but the driver and hotel receptionist highly recommend us to go to Damnoen Saduak Floating Market. So, we decided to listen to locals. 

Damnoen Saduak Floating Market is the most famous floating market, which is about 100km southwest of Bangkok. This floating market is routinely crowded with hundreds of vendors and purchasers floating in their small rowing boats selling and buying or exchanging their goods. Most people live densely along both sides of the canal from one end of the canal to another. Majority of these people are agriculturists. (Click here to read more)

Upon arrival, the driver dropped us at a counter, where it seems to be a boat company that drive tourists around the floating market. We paid the boat fee and then get on board to start our floating market tour. ^_^ We have one boat for ourselves, which is good as we can stop freely whenever we want. Before we depart, the person in charge reminded us to stop the boat if we found anything that we want to buy. If not, the boat will just drive past.  

Amazing view of the floating market.

Bought a coconut ice cream as breakfast!

 This is so unhealthy but this is the first food stall that we found and all of us were starving that time. >.<

There are many vendors, some are on the boats and some are static ones. 

The boat stopped us at a coconut sugar farm for us to observe how they make coconut sugar.

This is quite similar to the one I've seen in Mekong River Tour, but this one at Damnoen Saduak don't have much things to see. 

This is the most happening part of the floating market, where people can get down for the hawker stalls. But our tour did not allow us to get down of the boat. Well, we aren't keen to get down anyway as the food here are really expensive. 

We ordered a plate of Pad Thai to share and this costs us THB200. Super overpriced. 

Tourist spot, what to expect? Hmmm.... And it is bad. =(

Friends were craving for some mango and we spotted a stall! Got this plate for THB50. Price is still reasonable and it is sweet! 

Sinnah and me enjoying the mango and boat ride. =D

We enjoyed our stay at Damnoen Saduak Floating Market but it gets really hot towards noon time. We quickly ran into the car to get some air cond. XD

Then, we asked the driver to drop us to a place for lunch. We managed to fill up our starved tummy with thai food, which are quite good. Maybe we were too hungry! XD Thanks to the driver. 

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NEXT: GRAND PALACE

We reached Grand Palace around 2pm. The weather was really hot, hot, hot! 

For your information, Grand Palace has very strict dress code. Visitors are required to dress appropriately. Clothes that are strictly not allowed:

• Shorts, mini-skirts, short skirts, tight fitting trousers, and tights
• See-through shirts and blouses, as well as culottes or quarter length trousers
• Sleeveless shirts or vests
• Sandals (without ankle or heel straps)
• Rolled-up-sleeved shirts
• Sweatshirts and sweatpants, wind-cheaters, pajamas and fisherman trousers

I made such mistake and required to rent their shirt and "sarong" for THB200 each, but the money is refundable. So no worries. But it wasted us a lot of time to queue up to rent the clothes. And it was really hot to wear double layer. 

What is so nice about Grand Palace? 

The Grand Palace is where every visitor must pay a visit, at least once in their lifetime. The Grand Palace served as a significant royal residence until 1925 and is now used for ceremonial purposes only. It is divided into 3 main zones: The Outer Court (home to royal offices, public buildings and the Temple of Emerald Buddha); The Middle Court (the most important residential and state buildings) and the Inner Court (exclusively reserved for the king, his queen and his consorts). (Click here for more information)

Tourists are everywhere. So crowded! It is really hard to explore the place in peace. There will be people bumping on you, at any time. 

Yes. I'm covered up for sun protection but it is so HOT!

The buildings inside are really beautiful and well protected. 

We spent about 90 minutes here and decided to run out of this place. One of the reason is that the place is closing soon and we are too hot to stay in there. XD

Our day trip ended because we were all wet and tired. The driver kept asking us, "Are you sure you all want to go back already?" He really wanna make our trip worthy. Such a honest and great driver. =) 

We went back to the hotel and rest. We were a little hungry and tried out the Meiji milk that we bought from 7-11 the night before. They are good and cheap! I love it. =) 

I prefer the original milk rather than the chocolate milk. 

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Dinner time @ Central World

Central World is within walking distance from our hotel, so we decided to walk there. In Bangkok, any place that is within walking distance and if you can walk, please walk! The traffic is really bad in Bangkok and you might spend more time and money to travel if you decided to take a cab. 

Central World entrance is strict where people will check your bags prior entering. 

First wefie in front of Central World.