McCafe Malaysia...a cheaper and yummier alternative to Star*****, Coffee **** and the likes

Ahhh...finally McD opens up McCafe in Malaysia. I think they are still in the testing the market stage because the cafe is available at selected stores. The place that I always frequent is the one in McD Kota Damansara.

McCafe reminds me of my stay in Hong Kong. Every morning before going to the office, I would buy a cup of coffee normally a latte. It's more expensive in Hong Kong though, here, a large latte only cost me RM6.xx (can't remember how many cents).

The only difference here is that they don't sell sandwiches like in HK. Here, they only have a small selection of cakes and muffins. I guess that's okay for a start. I still love it though. Tastewise, well for me it beats Starb****' coffee any day. Sebab si Sbux tu is a bit too thin for me and no, I don't ask for extra shots. 

Feel like having a large cup of McCafe's latte as I'm writing this. Oh yum.

Swiss Garden Damai Laut Review

Hello Hello!
Again we went on an impulse getaway. But this time around the impulse was no good. We didn't quite like the place.
Actually, I've been wanting to see this place for quite some time..like since 2,3 years back.  So finally we managed to book a place for 1 night only. Thank goodness for that. (man! I should have just booked a room at Sepang Goldcoast as the room was on offer at RM400 ++ per night..lagi worth it..boo!)

Anyway..haihhh..the journey to this place took forever. Started the journey at 10.15am and only stopped at Tapah for a quick lunch. Only reached the hotel at 3pm! Phew! And of course with the help of our trusted GPS.

In a nutshell, all I can say is. There is nothing there! Nothing. The food places are too far from the hotel and if you go out for dinner, you have to be willing to drive back in the dark (didn't see any street lamps along the way  to the hotel..only trees :p )

Price
For the money we paid, certainly it was not value for money. RM270 per night with breakfast. We also had the buffet dinner at RM55 per head so that was another RM110 burnt. Bummer.
Oh and don't forget about the petrol and toll. In total I think we paid about RM120 for petrol ( a comfortable level as we refuelled as we reached the hotel) and approximately RM44 for toll.

SOOOO in total we spent about RM550 for the trip. Argh, what a waste! Should have just gone to Genting Highlands or Melaka. Well, at least I know now that we will not be going back to this place.

Food
If you're a hungry person like me..make sure you tapau or buy some food before getting to this place. If not you have to wait for dinner time to eat. You can always eat at one of their restos or order room service (room service menu is very limited), but I regretted not buying McD when we passed by the UTP area.
Tastewise - buffet dinner was okay. Spread was limited but the pepper prawns were yummy. I can say the food was okaylah.

Service
Normal. Nothing to shout about. Quiet fast maybe because there was not many people. And now wer know why there were not many people..right.

Cleanliness
Room looked new, so it was quite clean except for the bedsheet. I shall reserve my comments on that. Erk!
Bathroom - the tub was...it was in need of some cleaning. But the toilet was clean so that was ok.

Activities
They have many activities but I don't see many people participating in any of it. There was an ATV service as well, but I came down with fever and flu so we had to forego that. Was not in the mood.

I think if there were other interesting things at this place and the food places were easily accessible maybe we could have enjoyed our stay.  Then again, to each his own.  Maybe for some it would be an enjoyable stay.  Maybe.

Jalan-jalan by the beach.

The powder room and the bathroom

Our room. 

Grand Lexis Port Dickson fka The Legend International Water Homes

Last weekend we went for a short getaway at Grand Lexis PD. 2 days and 1 night. Very short. Hehe. I didn't take many pictures maybe because I just didn't feel like it.

We paid about RM770 for the stay, with breakfast for 2. Our room was called Garden Pool Villa. Basically it's like a one-storey house with a swimming pool and it's not located near the beach. I still love the place though, love the privacy and the roominess of the room.

Price
Expensive la i think..for 2 days 1 night right? Nevertheless we booked this place because hubs can claim from the company, part of the benefit for the employees. Yeay!

Food
We didn't order room service while we were there so I cannot comment so much. We only had the buffet breakfast which was ok. Not bad for our liking. Good spread and all.
We went out to buy goreng pisang at this makcik - super duper yummy!!! but I only bought RM3 worth of goreng pisang..boleh? Haih...
For dinner we initially wanted to eat at Seri Mesra Ikan Bakar which is our fave spot tapi ramainya manusia. Ended up eating ketam at Nasreen Songkhla Seafood. Hmm..next time.
On another note - don't eat at Bangi Kopitiam which is located near the Petronas (and next to satay kajang hj samuri). Seriously tak sedap langsung. Wasted RM30 on the place, and the lalats..u were fighting to get the food in your mouth without having the fly go in as well.

Service
The checking in and out was quite fast. Is it because it's not the school holidays? Maybe. But all in all they were quite good and the buggy driver was very friendly.

The Pool
Well, if you want a bigger pool, I think you can book the premium rooms that they have, but of course it comes with a higher price. Ours was small but still ok. I mean hey, I get to be in the pool for hours and no one could see me. Love the privacy.

Cleanliness
Very clean. The bathroom, the room, the sheets, towels are all satisfactory.

Parking
They have ample parking at the main tower but we parked near our 'house' because we had many plastic bags of food to carry..hehe..

Activities
I think they have a lot of games for the guests (saw the segway thingy which hubs wanted to try tapi tak sempat), but hey, we had the pool, why would I wanna spend time outside no? Lol.

I would recommend this place just for a short getaway from the city and work. Kat luar PD tu memang nothing much to see la..it's a great lepak place with your partner and/or your family :)

The pool. That guy does not come with the package..hehe :)

Got microwave ok. And a minibar, stock of tea & coffee sachets. Yes, two king-sized beds just for the two of us.

The shower with the toilet next to it.

Tadaa! This is what you see when you brush your teeth...nice eh?





Longchamp Victoire line - RED is My new LOVE

Trying to save enough money to have my new love. (that's why in my previous post I said I rarely say no when he wants to buy gadgets..it's because I have a weakness too!) 

This is under the Victoire line.  Sis in law offered to find one for me (hence I have to make sure I have the $ and can get her help to buy it for me overseas)..when I showed her the picture, she liked it too. Well red is her favourite colour anyway. So yeah, save save save.. must get my hands on this baby soon!

Prefer the long handle..but too lazy to google for the right pic.

Till then, toodles.

The Ipad 2 - time for it to find a new home :)

Well, I have never been a real gadgety person. But whenever he wants to get the latest gadgets/techy stuff..as a supportive spouse (as long as he has the ka-ching for it) then I won't disagree.  Tapi deep down, I knew this relationship of his with the ipad won't last... kekeke.. takat nak surf FB, surf websites, smartphone dah cukup.

But I knew his love for the Ipad won't last long.  It's more of an accessory, something that he wanted at that point of time and not something he needed to have.  After a while, he grew bored ( I think) of the ipad.. download applications banyak-banyak pun boring jugak.  We already have our own laptops so yeah, I don't see a need to have the ipad.  Plus he has S2 so if he wants to surf on the go, I think that it is sufficient enough.

So, we're trying to find a new home for this baby.  It's 64gb, never jailbroken, with wifi and 3G.
Hope it will get its way to a person who needs it more than we do. :)

Ipad cover, the ipad 2 box and the ipad 2. A wholesome package :)

Travel light - Bvlgari Omnia miniature perfumes

In the current job, I need to travel in and out of KL nearly every week and I decided that I have to find a way to travel light.

What I will always bring:

• Toiletries
• Change of clothes
• Office clothes
• Hair dryer (because sometimes you don't know if the hotel has functioning hair dryers)
• Shoes
• Slippers
• Jeans

One way of reducing the weight of the luggage is by bringing mini perfumes (which I now also place in my handbag in case I need to smell nice after a long day in the office).  Bought this at one of KLIA shops. They come in 4 colours = 4 different smells. Bought Omnia once before and I really liked it. So now I have all 4 for RM152. Btw, gave the green one to my sister so I'm left with only 3 bottles now.

Good way to travel light and smell nice all day. Hehe...

Yummy smell from Bvlgari :)

When My Hong Kong Friend Comes for a Visit

My good old buddy Helen had some work in KL and she had been trying to meet up with me for a long time but our schedule would often clash. Helen used to be in the same department at our I** Regional Office in HK..that's where actually I got to meet her. I initially thought she was fierce..hehe.. but she's cool and funny! She was here during the 1.5 weeks towards the end of Ramadan and I just could not find the right time to see her.

In the end, I managed to squeeze in some time and picked her up from Shangri La right after buka puasa and brought her to Jalan TAR to eat the Nasi Briyani at Insaf. Mind you, this was even the first for me, visiting Jalan TAR days before the Raya celebrations. So many people I tell you! I felt like a tourist myself..always hanging on to my bag and watching over Helen.

We had our yummy dinner and then moved on to see some Baju Raya clothes and to show her around. Really felt like a tour guide as I explained to her a lot of things about Malaysia and especially about Hari Raya.. unfortunately there was nothing that I liked there, so I went home empty handed. Nevertheless, I bought for Helen a very nice scarf at RM7.. so cheap right? Btw, I really salute those who brought kids to do Raya shopping at Jalan TAR.. phew! penat I tell ya. Tak boleh nafas terlampau ramai orang..

Miss Helen Ha and I at Restoran Insaf Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman