Coffee Breakie

Having an early lunch is a bad idea. Stomach started grumbling by 4PM (before work ends). There's nothing much I can do about it until all work is done. By that time, it's almost 5PM. In order not to get caught in the traffic, with a rumbling tummy, I drove all the way back to Penang. The moment I reached Penang, food is all I ever wanted. The initial plan for today was to try out the recently bought camera in Straits Quay. Due to the rain, the plan was adjourned. So, we had a quick dinner in Nasi Kandar Deen Maju.

We first spotted this shop while driving past it. Long queue can be seen all the time. Why is Nasi Kandar Deen Maju always packed with customers? To answer that, we'll have to find out ourselves. Here we are today, standing among the whole long queue waiting eagerly for our turn. There's a variety of dishes to go along with the rice.

You may opt for the white rice or tomato rice. We decided to try the tomato rice and that's the best decision ever made. The rice was covered with the aroma of tomato and spices (MUST TRY). I chose their famous ayam goreng merah with some turmeric cabbage and onion omelet. This time around, I did not go for the salted duck egg. I must say, the whole plate of rice is just so YUMMY. That explains the long queue seen all the time. The price is fairly cheap as well.

Nasi Kandar Deen Maju (RM6.40)

After the scrumptious dinner, we head on to Coffee Smith. There, we ordered some drinks and a cake. It has a nice ambiance and warm feel. The staffs were very friendly. First up was the Honey Apple Tea. If you can see, there are bits of finely chopped fresh apples in it. It quite ordinary and tasted like Zapple from F&N. It's qute a huge glass of drink.

Honey Apple Tea (RM9)

A friend tried the Espresso which comes in a cute pink cup. Nothing to brag about as it's just like any ordinary espresso.

Espresso

Here's the Iced Coffee. Quite a nice presentation. Love the colour shades. Sugar is needed for this drink unless you prefer the coffee bitter :)

Iced Coffee

As a chocolate lover, how can I miss out their Potted Coco. It's actually chocolate blended and topped with small bits of oreo. I love the chocolaty taste and I'm truly satisfy with it. Worth the price.

Potted Coco (RM9)

There's also Potted Smoothies. We tried the strawberry this time around. It's blended strawberry topped with vanilla ice cream and some strawberry syrup. A little too sweet for me.

Potted Strawberry Smooties

Last but not least, we ordered an oreo cheesecake. One of the best oreo cheesecake I've ever tasted. The cakes are not listed in the menu. you may order from the counter depending on the cakes availability for that day.

Oreo Cheesecake (RM7.90)

All in all, it's a nice place for gathering with friends. Love the environment as well as the food. Shall drop in again soon :)

New Toy in D Haus

I've been wondering all this while whether I should get a camera or not. Some friends mentioned that handphone alone is enough while others mentioned that it's necessary as to get good pictures especially when we are travelling (a good point there..battery usually exhausted halfway during your). So, I took this opportunity to survey on the camera since there's a fair this weekend. My main option still lies between Canon and Nikon. Yet, there are many others with many different features. I could not get what I wanted from Canon so while I was wandering around, I found Casio.

It comes with three colours (Pink, yellow and white). I'm really attracted to the pink as the colour is really catchy. As the staff explained more on the features, I'm getting more attached to it. Truly, I would straight bought it if it weren't for the price (RM1500). It's way over my budget and too pricey. For that price, I'll top up a little and settle with a DSLR instead. The thing that caught my attention most for this Casio Exilim EX-ZR1500, was the ART mode which works like instagram. It saves a lot of time editing in an apps before uploading. Plus it's with wifi and it works well as a selfie camera.

Persuaded by a friend, I decided to survey for other cameras. It's always best to look around and survey first to get a better deal. I went on to the next station---->NIKON. Here, I found what I wanted. I was skeptical at first as my mind was still filled with Casio. As I get to know more of the features, I'm more convinced that this camera is what I've been searching for. All in a good package. The price is alright, it looks good and has all the features I wanted. The staff manage to do a great job in explaining the functions and features.

I've learnt my lesson not to jump into conclusion. I had it in my mind now what I wanted. What's left to do is to bargain for the best deal. It's not cheapest to get something during a fair. Sometimes, it's cheaper during sales. So, I went to search for the best deal and got myself a NIKON COOLPIX S6900. I bought it at a good price in Harvey Norman and there's a free gift (notice the teddy bear??)

My new toy with teddy

I settle with white as black looks too common and the pink wasnt attractive enough. If the pink were the same one as the Casio, I would make a different decision then :)

Nikon Coolpix

s6900

There's a build in stand which is very useful in taking wefie :) ..I'm totally loving this new toy of mine. Shall play more with it soon :)

A Short Vacation

Vacation is the greatest way to relax. Nothing more refreshing than having a short trip with your love ones. This time around, we decided to drive up to Genting Highlands and stay a night there. On the way to Genting Highlands, we made a short de tour to Ipoh to grab the famous Funny Mountain Beancurd as well as Nasi Ganja.

First Stop is the Funny Mountain Soya Bean Curd. It took us awhile looking for the place as I'm a road dinosaur (even with GPS..hehe). Finally we found it after a few turns here and there. Luckily we reached quite early (about 11am). The shop opens at 10.30am. There's two cars in line waiting already. We were the third car and the best part is......this shop offers DRIVE THRU service. From here, we just stayed in the car and place our orders from the staff who will go from car to car picking up orders.

Funny Mountain Bean Curd

There's also a long queue besides the car waiting in line. Usually, customers will just finish their beancurd while standing along the shop. We ordered eight bowls of tau fu fah (beancurd with sweet syrup). One bowl is not enough. It's just too YUMMY.

The long Queue

The beancurd is so smooth and soft that it melts in your mouth. The sweet syrup has just the right sweetness with the pandan leaves aroma in it. Once you’ve finished, just hold the empty bowls outside the car window and automatically the staff will come and collect it. Simple as that.

Tau Fu Fah

 Next stop, we went to the famous Nasi Ganja. It's a few blocks away from the Funny Mountain Beancurd. It's rather hard to get a carpark so we just parked by the roadside. The queue had already begun. 

Variety of Dishes

Dad went to booked a table as the place is packed with customers. If you've got a table, you may place your order from the staff however it's faster to queue (if the queue is quite short). There's a lot of dishes served ranging from fish, chicken and even salted egg. It's quite similar to the nasi kandar in Penang I would say. The famous dish would be the fried chicken. The drinks and food will have to pay separately. Compared to the nasi kandar in Penang, it's relatively cheap here. For a plate (as below), it's about RM5 (you cant get this price in Penang).

Nasi Ganja

After filling our tummy's, the journey begins. We reached Genting Highlands about 3PM. It wasnt as cold as it use to be. But we still enjoy the cool weather. For dinner, we had the Fish and Chips, Vinegar Pork with Rice & Hainanese Noodle in Hainan Kitchen. It happens to be sis's birthday so mummy get her a slice of cake from the bakery (The Junction). The cake is very tasty.

Raspberry Ganache (RM10.50)

The fish & chips is a little too oily. The portion is rather big. So perhaps it can be shared by two persons.

Fish & Chips (RM23)

The Hainanese Noodle is tasty even though it looks a bit plain. It also comes in a big portion for two.

Hainanese Noodle (RM19)

Dad had his vinegar pork with rice. The vinegar is a little too sweet and oily at the same time. 

Vinegar Pork

All in all, the dinner wasn't that bad afterall. Sis was surprise with the cake and all went well. Great day indeed. The day after, we catch the Sesame Street live performance.

Four VIP Tickets (RM158 per tic)

The ticket is rather expensive. It costs RM158 per person for a VIP seating. Since we can't get all the four seats together, we separate into two. Mum and dad took the seats from BC while sis and I took seats from CC. Guess the best seats are still CC as the view is almost at the center of the stage.

Can you see my favourite Cookie Monster???

The whole performance revolves around making music with anything. Quite disappointed as my favourite character (Cookie Monster) only appeared very few times (not more than 5 times..sob...sob.....sob) However, it was a very lively show and we all had fun. Many young children came with their parents but my parents came with their two young adult daughters.  Well, we may not be that young but all of us are young at heart :)

Lunch at Hou Mei

We had a quick lunch at Hou Mei Restaurant. Since the portion of food is really huge, we decided to ordered three dishes and share among ourselves. We had their chicken rice, fish porridge and herbal duck noodle. The dishes were all nicely presented but the two drawbacks lies on the SUPER SLOW service plus all of them were TOO SALTY. We waited for the food about 35min. As the saying goes, good food takes a long time to prepare. In this case, bad food takes a longer time to prepare. Kinda disappointed with the service and quality of the food. Hope they will improve in the service and quality in future.

RM2 chicken rice

The title says it all.......YUP, it's RM2 for a plate of delicious chicken rice. When I first heard of it, I couldn't believe my ears. Since I'm nearby Taman Kheng Tian, I've decided to search for the much talked about chicken rice. I need to see it with my very two eyes to believe that it's really RM2. The chicken rice is served in Restoran D'House (the name of the restaurant is quite small) just below Block B. It has a nice ambiance and the service is supreb.

I went in and ordered a plate of the chicken rice together with lo han guo for drink. Added a plate of ladies finger with oyster sauce and chicken floss to go with the rice. Firstly served was the cabbage soup. It comes with a big bowl and some cabbage in it.

Cabbage Soup (free)

Next up is the chicken rice. They are generous with the chicken and the portion is big. Very cheap for the price of RM2. The chicken is very tender with sweet sauce.

Chicken Rice (RM2)

Lo Han Guo (RM3)

The ladies finger is well prepared. But I think the combination with chicken floss is not too well. It's still best to go on with the oyster sauce and garlic.

Ladies Finger with Oyster Sauce and Chicken Floss

While dining, the staff will pop in and asked if we were to refill the soup. Now, that's what service is all about. Clean and spacious place with good food. Finally, the chicken rice is proven to be RM2 as mentioned. This offers available until Chinese New Year (CNY) of 2015. So, quickly grab this chance before its too late :)

Delicious Cafe, Penang

A dream come true. Finally I get to have lunch with mummy ;) Having lunch with mummy is the hardest as she's always busy. The only rare chance happens today :) ..Thinking hard on where to eat because the answer mum given me was, anything is OK (worst reply). In the end, I've decided on where to go ------> DELICIUOS CAFE. It's the first time I've step into this cafe since it's opening. It was situated opposite of Queensbay Mall before shifted to Bayan Baru (opposite the Bayan Baru Market).

Delicious Cafe offers a variety of western and local cuisine. Look out for their offer of the day as it'll be cheap and worth the price. Mum ordered the Fried Rice with Vegetables and Caramelized Chicken while I took the Fish Cordon Blue.As for drinks, we ordered Apple Juice (without ice) and Hot Honey Green Tea (offer of the day).

Apple Juice (RM3) and Honey Green Tea (RM1.50)

While waiting for the food to reach the table, we were served two piece of  lovely cakes. Believe or not, the cakes are on the house. They do know the best way to please their customers, don't they? You don't get this service often in other cafes. The cake has a fine texture and it's not too sweet. Perfectly made.

Lovely Cake

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First up is mummy's Fried Rice. The portion of the rice is huge. Mummy wanted to eat half of the rice as she's on a diet. However, the rice is too yummy that she finished the whole plate. There goes the diet (hehehehe). The vegetable came a little late so I wasn't able to take a picture of it. If you notice, the caramelized chicken is burnt (charcoal black). Nonetheless, the taste is still bearable. Hopefully they'll do it right the next time. This rice set costs RM6 (offer of the day).

Fried Rice with Vegetable and Caramelized Chicken (RM6)

The Fish Cordon Blue comes with a generous portion of fries. Good thing it's not too oily. I find the layer of breadcrumb is a a little to thick and I wish they have more portion of the fish. It'll be prefect if they can dribble a little mayo or french vinaigrette on the cabbage instead of serving it raw without any dressing. 

Fish Cordon Blue (RM12.90)

For all ala carte, a 10% discount will be given. The service is good so I think I'll drop by again some other time for lunch. The only drawback is the carpark space which is quite limited (2-3 cars in front of the cafe). 

Santorini Cafe, Penang

Wall Deco (tiles messages)

Here's a write up on the cafe which I used to frequent last year. It's a small and warm cafe which serves many delicious foods. What catches my attention most is the wall decoration. There are many tile with wonderful messages on it. My friends and I prefer to dine our lunch in a cozy corner. Just enter the cafe, walk all the way to the back and you'll be surprise.

Tatami seating (Cozy Corner)

We notice there's birthday decoration on the right of the wall (someone must have celebrated their birthday recently) while on the left side, it's a huge love with a loving couple plus a few cupids :) (aint that sweet?)

Birthday Decoration

Love Wall

We ordered the set lunch as it's cheaper. Just add RM2 to the price of the main course (they have both western and oriental) for the set which includes a selection of drinks and ice cream :) We ordered a Chocolate Milk Tea, Honey Lemon (lost the picture of the drink..sob..sob.....sob) and Honey Coffee for drinks. The Chocolate Milk Tea tasted just like every other milk tea. I couldn't taste the chocolate while the Honey Coffee tasted the same. As for the Honey Lemon, it's superb. Guess the best choice is still Honey Lemon after all.

Chocolate Milk Tea & Honey Coffee

For main course, we settled with Buterine Prawn Mantis Rice and Kam Heong Prawn Mantis. The Buterine gravy has a very unique taste and it leaves a buttery after taste in your mouth together with it's aroma. There's also a slight hint of spiciness in it. I'm totally in love with the Buterine Prawn Mantis Rice. A must try for butter lovers :) As for the prawn mantis, it's fried with green capsicum and bird's eye chilli (do look out for them). Sadly, the prawn mantis is very few in amount :( Wish they'll put more of it.

Buterine Prawn Mantis Rice

The Kam Heong Prawn Mantis Rice is slightly more spicy than the Butterine. It's nciely prepared with the right amount of spices.

Kam Heong Prawn Mantis Rice

Next, we ordered a homemade Yu Wat Soup. According to a friend, it's a fish paste soup. This is my first time trying and it's YUMMY. It's sweet, juicy and tasty. Also a must try :)

Homemade Yu Wat Soup

My friends and I totally enjoyed our lunch here. The whole lunch ended with a scoop of chocolate ice cream. It's definitely a nice place for a meal in a cozy environment. The only drawback of this cafe is the carpark. Very limited space (2-3 carparks in front of the cafe) or you can park at New World Park and walk over.

Selfie Time

I'm not a fan of coffee however this particular cafe attracts my attention since I first heard about it from my friends. So, what's the deal??? S-E-L-F-I-E...Before I share more on this cafe, let me introduce one of the best street food in Penang.

Wantan Noodle (RM3.50)

This is the famous Chulia Street wantan noodle. The stall is situated by the busy roadside along Chulia Street and it opens as early at 6.30pm. The noodles are springy and the sauce is fragrant with sesame oil and lard with just the right amount of sweetness and saltiness. They are quite generous with the garnishing as you can see from the picture. ONE bowl is definitely NOT enough. After filling my tummy with wantan noodle, I'm heading to the next station--->SELFIE COFFEE😀

Selfie Coffee

This is the look of the cafe

Selfie Coffee celebrates its grand opening just recently. It's strategically situated at Love Lane (a few blocks away from Chulia St Wantan Noodle). You may want to grab some dinner first before heading to the cafe as they only serve very little food (some cakes, pudding and sandwiches).  The cafe is rather narrow in space with limited seats.

Menu

For starters, we ordered Selfie Mocha and Selfie Chocolate. The whole process in making the selfie coffee is quite simple actually. All you have to do is....ORDER a drink of your choice from the menu, take a SELFIE and PREPARE to be amazed.☺

Selfie together

While waiting for the Selfie Mocha & Chocolate, we entertain ourselves by expressing our creativity on the table. Yup, you heard me alright...ON THE TABLE...Markers were made available on each table. My friends and I used to draw on our desks during primary school. It brings back the sweet memories of schooling (didn't know that we were so mischievous when we were younger. .hehehe)😅

Table with a glass top

Marker Pens

Creative Expression

We choose some cakes and pudding to go on with the drinks.

Chocolate Indulgence (RM8.90)

Oreo Biscuit Cake (RM8.90)

Caramel Pudding (RM4.90)

Personally, the cake is below my expectation😑. Both the cakes were rather dry. The look of it is alright but the taste is not. Also, the pudding is a huge disappointment😧. The so called caramel pudding has a strong milky flavor instead of caramel flavour as named. The caramel sauce is watery and the pudding itself is not cold enough.

Selfie Chocolate (RM13.00)

Finally the much awaited Selfie Chocolate has arrived..YAY😃 ........Well, I'm very happy with the outcome of the selfie on the milk forth :) ...I never thought it can be so Well DONE.....But sad to say, this image does not last long 😢(sob...Sob...SOB)...by the time we are done with camwhoring, we could hardly recognise ourselves😣. Somehow the image on the milk forth melted :(

Time for tasting....I found that both the Chocolate and Mocha drink is not as aromatic as it's supposed to be😕. There's only a slight hint of chocolate and coffee respectively😞😒. Guess the main attraction is still the S-E-L-F-I-E itself. Hope they can improve on the quality of the drinks and food.