I started with lunch at Vivo. I ordered a salmon dish, a slice of pistachio cake and a soda. I took the time to chew my food because even V Bangtan chews his food more than 40 times. I wanted the digestive system to warm up properly. I was surprised with the huge turnout at Vivo today – patrons were singing ‘Happy Birthday’ from almost every corner of the restaurant. After the satisfactory lunch and leaving Vivo a 5 star on Google Reviews, I started my stroll in the mall. There was a clearance sale at Komai-So’s branch at Aeon today. Komai-so is planning to move a level up because the current space will be rented out to another store. The items were on sale for up to 50% so I got a few birthday party items and cute stationeries. I also bought tumblers for the kids since they were always hinting for one when I got one for myself and my husband.
This was my favourite pick from the clearance sale. A banana milk memo.
I also went into Kaison to look at the cute stuff. I ended up buying a few hair clips for myself and my daughter. It was a great, uninterrupted lunch break at the mall.
We had a list of places we’d like to go : Lavendar farm, Flora Park, Butterfly Park and the market. The market is a good place to buy sweet potatoes, jagung susu or jagung mutiara, strawberries, hybrid guava/apple fruit and boxes of local tea and chocolate. However, the rain kind of inhibited some of the mood, dampens the energy, plus the kids prefer food over anything else. Maybe we will go next time when we are on leave during a warmer season. Still, the visit was worthwhile and we did our best in the soaking weather.
KHM STRAWBERRY & JAM
This was an accidental place of interest. We used to enjoy going to AGRO Farm before but somehow we stumbled upon this place. So, we parked by the side of the road not knowing what to expect. It was a fruitful visit. Turns out people flock here for it’s scones and jam. I loved the citrus tea a lot. The kids enjoyed the strawberries dipped in chocolate sauce.
BOH SUNGAI PALAS
Despite opening a new cafe on the lower ground, there still isn’t enough place for everybody. We kind of missed out on having its selection of cakes with tea.
Perhaps I should try going to the other tea brand place, Cameron Valley. It also has a platform to take pictures of the tea plantation just like Sg Palas. Cameron Valley’s tea has flavours of which strawberry taste best.
Anyway, when we arrived at BOH Tea Centre, we endured the climb up to the place and I bought some specialized tea as a momento. I chose the hibiscus tea (spa-infusions) and two other flavours from the Seri Songket series: Green tea & Earl Grey + Tangerine tea.
CAMERON CENTRUM MALL
This was an impromptu destination. I mean, who would want to go to the mall when you have Cameron Highland tourist spots everywhere? But we did just that. We wanted to find lunch and hey hey hey.. the concourse was so lively with so many people and activities. My husband and I tried pani puri for the first time there. We tasted this bread thing from Rollney’s cause it is too much effort to go to Mahkota Parade for that in Melaka. Hahaha.. mengada.
Lunch was nasi campur and gosh it was amusing to see my daughter sitting beside her father, having the same gestures and such. My daughter merajuk for a while when we were there because she wanted those colourful hats that you could squeeze the ears – so Mr Husband bought it for her.
For dinner, we went to this area where there’s a lot of steamboat, shell outs and grills. Google for ‘adik Aisyah steamboat’ for the prime location. We had our steamboat at a different place than Adik Aisyah cause this AA place is so popular and the queue is so long.
Looking forward to more staycations in 2023. Tq Cameron Highlands 🤗
GrabFood and FoodPanda have always been the ones we go to. Then the usual fast food outlets and pasar malam food of course. There wasn’t much stuff sold in our clinic’s Food Whatsapp Group that I wanted to try. So, let’s see where we ate as a family this year. A glimpse of it. Nothing extra special. Do not expect long, food blogger-ish reviews.
MAMAK FOOD : You can never go wrong with mamak food. My favourites to get recently is the tosai cause I liked the white, yoghurt sauce that comes with it. And the usual Neslo. BAYVIEW HOTEL HI TEA BUFFET: It was one of those rare days when we felt like eating something at the hotel. The adults’ payment is RM 48/pax, children RM33/pax and senior citizens RM37/pax. There were a few grave reviews on the FB page but honestly, it is priced at less than RM50. I mean what do you expect, grilled lamb and steak? Of course lah tak.. the falafel and western dishes were delicious. sushi was a bit dry but mostly it was OK for a low-budget HI-Tea. SAI KEE KOPI 434 MUAR (Melaka Branch): I accidentally ordered 2 glasses of its iced Hainan coffee and got a massive headache from it. It was an unusual mix of coffee and santan. Like omg.. I could die. We ordered mi bandung and kaya toast. The noodles were a bit too spicy for us. Both of us have a very low threshold for spicy food. The toilet was cute and very fashionable. Very Instagrammable but I didn’t take any pics of it. NANDOS : This is a family favourite for its tender chicken and delicious sauces. I especially love the Garlic and wild Herbs sauce on my lemon chicken. GPR All you can eat: Located in Kip Mall, Melaka. You can order as many times as you like at RM19.90/pax for food with an extra cost for drinks (unlimited). I feel that the charcoal burger was a menu worth ordering multiple times already. the Korean chicken was lovely too although the sauce was too heavy on the flavour side. Kind of salty. Delicious but salty. GPR Food as well.ME’NATE: Posh yet family-friendly. It was my first time ordering lamb quesadilla and it was delicious. The pizza too. In fact, everything was great. I have to admit. the food is mouth-watering. MELANTAK : This is another place to go for Western cuisine. Like Me’nate, it’s got steak and stuff. The servers are robots. Which was cool. The kids loved it. I think I ordered something sizzling here. TRULY TWO CAFE : Went here for my son’s birthday. It seems that they serve hot dishes too nowadays. which is a good move cause I can’t stand the all sweet, too-sweet dishes. I kind of stopped at the sight of glasses being plastered with chocolate and sweet sauces. I just can’t. Maybe other people can. The nachos were weird. It’s like they microwaved the whole thing cause the nachos underneath the cheese are not crunchy. the huge croissant was to die for and I loved the beef pepperoni pizza. However, I am on an ongoing diet. So, I really watched my portion.
I had this intense craving for Bing. Especially their chicken panini and coffee latte. Perhaps it’s the sauce, the mustard? Or the right amount of crunch to it. We don’t have Bing in Melaka but we do have Bing in Kuching. I missed it so much that as soon as we landed, I ordered it via Grabfood and had it delivered to the hotel. We devoured it straight up after checking into our room. In a way, this was to give my husband a glimpse of what I liked during housemanship, during my lunch ‘dates’ or weekend ‘dates’ with Stella. The taste, amazingly even after more than a decade is still the same.
Of course, it is not a visit to Kuching if you don’t go to Topspot. How can you skip Topspot?
TOPSPOT
As usual, it is Shop No 25. The evergreen menu is midin belacan, ambal kari, udang (shrimp) Nestum, bawal 3 rasa, oyster egg and salted egg crabs. We ordered a bit too much fruit juice. If you order a large jug, it is actually enough for 10 adults to have at least 2-3 standard glasses each. It is that much.
THE REEF
This is my first time coming here. My dad loved it so much. He ordered at least 10 dishes from mixed vegetables, prawns, squids, crabs, chicken and all. We were so full.
GULA APONG ICE CREAM
It doesn’t matter which shop you want to get it from. Just try it. It is no longer a Sarawak delicacy though cause we’ve got brands sprouting in Semenanjung. I particularly enjoyed the ice cream Mokti which is available in Melaka.
EAT AT THE WATERFRONT
I had the nasi goreng dabai and ‘sirap’ which is a different cordial from the ones you get in Semenanjung. In Kuching they use the Grenadine cordial.
MOM’S LAKSA
I used to enjoy Madam Tang’s Laksa at Spring Mall. I haven’t been there for a while so I am not quite sure if it still exists. Mom’s Laksa is not bad either. The broth is kids friendly meaning it is not that spicy or too herbal. Foreign tourists would enjoy it I think. Here, you not only can order Laksa Sarawak but you could also order Mee Kolok.
KOPI O KORNER
The breakfast here is great. Of course it is the usual Laksa Sarawak, Mee Kolok, Mi POk, Mee Jawa! In the afternoon they have nasi campur. At night, they are open for the goreng2 dishes.
Special mentions
Lok Thian (thai restaurant), Rumah Hijau and Singapore Chicken rice. I mean there’s probably more but I’d have to stay in Kuching to be able to sample it all. Ha ha ha.
We traveled all the way from Melaka to IOI City Mall Putrajaya last weekend in Starving Mode just to try this outlet since we heard so many positive reviews about it. Especially from the Butterfly Project Malaysia members.
The buffet restaurant is located outside the mall on the G FLoor. That would be FYI for those who are not familiar with this mall. Ntah berapa kali belek email, betul ke ni.. betul ke.. terus rasa mcm nak makan kaki baby..
PakJohn is certified HALAL by JAKIM.
It boasts of having over 160 selections of food to choose from. With 6 different soup to cater our preferences. For a buffet, I feel that the price is affordable if you can spare at least over 60 minutes there to just eat. We spent about 90 minutes there. Sebab nak makan semua.
Mana satu kuah yang tak pedas (not spicy)?
Chicken, prawn and miso..
We opted for chicken soup.
Rich selection of poultry and seafood. Because I was kind of like on a diet – I ate a lot of protein on that day. Mr Husband had rice and the kids well, I was surprised that Ninie could also enjoy the food. We were so worried that the kids would vomit. The experience of this indoor BBQ gets more delicious as we tried the many sauces and dips from the sauce station.
My best attempt to be a thick skinned blogger and take the video of the sauce station. Cepat sgt sis keliling.
That would Ninie, the girl who ate and ate and ate. And can you see that burnt surface of our BBQ tray? Well.. they even replace those things from time to time so that your BBQ will not be hangus despite the many margarine you lather onto your meat. Nice touch, kan?
There are also rows of vegetables for constipated people those who are into healthy food and needs more vitamins for better bowel movements and skin complexion.
Mr Husband had 2 helpings of the white rice. There were also fried rice and bihun. And gosh, you should have seen the ramen counter! You just want to sit there for 24 hours and try everything.
My son Ee went wild over these sticks of fried balls and such. Freshly fried foodbites dipped with the many sauce, is that not foodgasm??!! BUT THAT IS NOT THE END OF IT. Wait till you see what they have as part of their premium selection of which the is already included in the price you paid for. No caj asing2.
I personally love the Lamb Slices and Smoked Duck. I think its a good idea to have these items ordered over the counter to prevent wastage. I also tried the dim sum which was new to me as I wasn’t very sure on how to eat them. But it ended in my stomach anyway. hehehe..
For dessert, we had those fluffy waffles (which you also order at the respective counter). The waffles are really that sedap because my husband say so. For someone who thinks everyone else’s cooking is horrible including those viral ones you see circulating over the internet – that waffle compliment is a thumbs up. Hey pakjohn, I want batter recipe.
On top of the waffles, we had multiple cups of ice cream, cendol and cakes.
And to wash it down, of course, unlimited supply of drinks at the drink station from soda to juice and plain cool water. They even have hot drinks and Mr Husband wrapped it up with a cup of hot MIlo. I of course had my Pepsi. Diet lah sangat.
Thank you Pak John and The Butterfly Project for the recommendations. We were so full and bloated that we decided to stay the night in Putrajaya. Well we kinda had an idea that we will need an afternoon nap anyways after the great food. Plus, we could visit my sister at Panglima Garang as well.
So if a good day eating outside A LOT and NEVERENDING for at least 2 hours with the family and friends is your kind of thing eventhough you are on a diet… Do have Pak John Steamboat and BBQ Buffet in mind. There is always something for everyone.
Minci Moss 