Featured on Sin Chew Newspaper!

w00t!


Mum said I look 40 years old here. Perhaps ill look like this when I’m 40.

You can read the article at Sin Chiew’s website or download the article here. It’s a 2 page article posted on the Cyberworld section. I didn’t write the article but I contributed the cases – which took me an hour to compile. I wasn’t expecting anything, probably a small acknowledgment. I didn’t expect my face to be there.

Frankly, I can’t read or write Chinese well. I have a general idea on what was mentioned in the article but not in detail. Aaahh whyyy wasn’t I sent to Chinese schoooolllll…knsss

p/s: got a new client through the article!

[Edit: A rough translation of the article in English can be seen here]

Kota Kinabalu 2009: Restauran Malaysia @ Beaufort

After our trip to Kuala Penyu, we stopped by Beaufort, a small town located outskirt of Kota Kinabalu.

We initially wanted to try Beaufort noodles at one popular Chinese coffee shop but it was closed.

We ended up at one Muslim restaurant by the name Malaysia Restaurant. Although a Muslim restaurant, it is run by a Chinese Muslim man.

The recommended dishes of this place are their Butter Pao and Kuih Bom.


Yam cake! So-so only though.


Pao is served on a plate. Take as many as you like. The rest you can leave it there.

The butter pao is filled with butter but ‘lai yau’, a yellowish sweet filling. The bread is green in colour. It tasted damn good. So good that I had 2 pieces of it!

Kuih Bom on the other hand is an egg shaped pastry (supposed to look like a bomb though). The outer layer is as hard as an egg shell. I had to use force to crack the layer. The filling of kuih bom is hollow with few strands of turnip inside. It was my first time seeing such item and the taste was rather unique. It wasn’t sweet but it was salty.

Map (rough estimation)

Address
Restoran Malaysia
Lot 14, Block B,
Beaufort Jaya,
89808 Beaufort,
Sabah

Tel: (00)(60) 087 223 548

Website: http://littleitaly.fortunecity.com/cremona/18/

Kota Kinabalu 2009: Menumbuk

Menumbuk is a small village located not far from Kuala Penyu.

It has a small port which allows people to take a boat to Labuan Island. We made a trip down to to the port to check out the scenery.


Rusty Ship…

The name ‘Menumbuk’ means punching in Malay. There are 2 legends which gave rise to the name ‘Menumbuk’. The first being through a fish by the name ‘menumbok’ fish according to local dialect which was extra ordinary huge. Second version is about a time when a river which flowed to the sea during high tide and caused a punching effect. Doesn’t make any sense to me though.

There were not many things to see in Menumbuk port.


There was a Chinese temple cum car park though.

The other end of the port has a small beach which one can see Labuan Island.


Hmm..where is Labuan..

Barely an hour in Menumbuk, we left for Beaufort for lunch.

Kota Kinabalu 2009: Kuala Penyu – Part II

KP town only has few rows of shop. There are couple of convenient stores and coffeeshops. There’s also a video arcade filled with kids. Got Daytona. Not bad.

We had drinks at one of the coffeeshops in the town. Nothing good to eat. Their yao char kuai tasted like bread as it had too much flour.

As we will be heading to Menumbuk (in Malay it means punching), we took a toilet break at the coffeeshop. The owner found an ingenious way to replace their broken lock I.e with a string and long nail.


tadaa~

Next stop: Menumbuk

Kota Kinabalu 2009: Kuala Penyu – Part I

Kuala Penyu (KP) is a small town located around 2 hours from Kota Kinabalu City.

Driving around the outskirt of KK City was relatively quiet and easy. There was not much traffic on the 2 lane roads except for some occasional slow coaches on the road.

The drive to KP had loads of interesting sights. Villages are mostly inhabited by natives while the towns are mostly Chinese. It is interesting to see Chinese villages and towns in remote places of Sabah.


Caught Mat Rempit in action


G*Mart – Now everybody can shop! (similar with Air Asia’s tag line, Now everybody can fly!)


When we were about to reach KP, we ended up on a dead end. There was a river in front of us.

The only way to get across is a chained ferry.

The ferry, made of metal, pulls a metal chain which cuts across the river.


It could fit around 8 cars per trip.

Cars have to line up to wait for their turn as there is only 1 ferry and it takes around 10 to 15 minutes to get across.


You can take a small boat across as well


There was only one life boat.

The service is free as it is maintained by the government.


We were there…


Kuala Penyu on sight!

Kota Kinabalu 2009: San Sui Baru Restaurant

Before embarking on our journey to Kuala Penyu, we stopped by San Sui Baru Restaurant for breakfast. Apparently, this place is well known for its Tom Yam noodles.

This place is located along Lintas Highway. It was packed when we arrived.

We ordered their well known tom yam prawn noodles and black pepper beef noodles.

Tom yam in San Sui Baru is not your usual spicy and hot tom yam. It comes in a sourish bowl of soup with prawns and beans sprout in it. It tasted like assam pedas.

Nescafe came with a thick layer of condensed milk. Tasted so-so.

I’m not a big fan of tom yam hence I ordered their black pepper beef noodles. It came in a Cantonese style gravy with of black pepper mixed inside. The beef was tender and soft but overall the dish was mediocre.

The overall experience with this restaurant is average. Nothing to shout about but if you’re on Lintas Highway, perhaps you can drop by to try their unique Tom Yam noodles.

Related link
A Daily Obsession: Come Eat With Us: San Sui Baru Restaurant

Cameron Highlands: T Cafe @ Tanah Rata

T-Cafe had been raved on the blogosphere as a good and cozy restaurant. T-cafe is located at Tanah Rata, just above Marry Brown restaurant.

Some parts of the cafe has loads of notes and letters from people all around the world thanking the owner for her good food and hospitality.

We were fortunate to be served by the owner. However, we got told off by her for putting our wet umbrellas on a side table. We were directed to put our wet umbrella into a rubbish bin instead.

There were also a few letters recommending T-cafe to the Lonely Planet. I’m not surprised with that as the restaurant had load of letters and awards being paraded.

We ordered chicken chop, lamb chop, scones including strawberry scones and tea.

Chicken and lamb chop came with a pot of gravy served separately. It was ok but would be better if we are given more gravy. Yut Kee’s chicken chop and Steven’s Corner lamb chop are so much better.

However, their strawberry scones were excellent. It was served warm with butter and whipped cream on the side. It was also not too dry.

Tea on the other was just so-so. I wonder what were the past visitors raving about this place. The food and drinks were mediocre. In fact, the Gardenia Butterscotch that we brought along tasted so much better.

If you’ve visited this place and had something good, please let me know so that I can try it the next time.

New Climbing Gym – Mad Monkeyz Climbing Gym

My friend Hon San (also reader of this website) and a few others started a climbing gym by the name Mad Monkeyz. This gym is dedicated to bouldering and movement training for climbing.

It’s open 7 days a week. I can’t wait to check out the place! Here are some pictures of the place.

Location


Click for larger image


Wikimapia map

19-1 & 19-2, Jalan Metro Wangsa,
Section 2, Wangsa Maju,
53300 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Telephone: 603.4142 0698
Facsimile: 603.4142 0697
Opening Hours: Mondays to Fridays 2pm to 11pm.
Saturday & Sunday 10am to 7pm.
Website: http://www.madmonkeyzclimbing.com

Back from Kota Kinabalu

After 5 days in KK, I am finally back in Kuala Lumpur.

It was a relaxing holiday. I spent most of my time relaxing, meeting with friends and also eating. There was never once I had nothing in my stomach. There were just too many good stuff to eat!

I managed to have my all time favourite Fook Yuen roti kahwin and also Teh Madras.


Milo “Kaw” (Good stuff!) and Teh Madras

I also managed to make a road trip down to Kuala Penyu and its surroundings.

More details soon!