Tag Archives: weekend activity

Earl Grey Tea Cake with Lemon Glaze

Posted in Everyday Life, Food and Drinks by

I rarely bake. I am not a good cook either. My first exposure to Earl Grey flavoured cake was from the Japanese Konbini (コンビニ) FamilyMart. What I had back then was a really good Earl Grey rolled cake.

I tried to find local bakers who could recreate the cake, but to no avail. Hence, I have been scrolling through Instagram, searching for easy-to-follow recipes for the cake. I found and saved a few reels. I managed to bake one today. The taste was OK. Perhaps I should find a recipe that infuses the tea flavour into the cake rather than just incorporating the tea leaves. It is because after the lemon glaze, it felt more like a lemon cake instead of a tea cake. Nevertheless, it was still delicious. I hope to send some to my MIL next week. She seems to like lemon-flavoured cake.

I am hoping to try making some cinnamon rolls or a chocolate cake in the many months to come. Maybe something in purple since BTS is coming to Kuala Lumpur in December. Baking is about precision. If you follow the steps to the dots, it is fail-proof. Sometimes, I lack patience. Which is why, for amateurs, it is best done when you have the time. It calms you down as you go through the recipe meticulously, and just let your thoughts sink into the process. As a bonus, if it turns out fine, you get to feed your family with delicious home-baked goods, which would probably cost me RM30 if I decide to buy them from a baker.

I did my baking just after I did my laundry and cleaning of one particular windowsill. The latter was on my to-do list since my last birthday. While waiting for another load to finish in the dryer, I decided to bake this cake. It took me at least a good 30 minutes for me to assemble the ingredients and go through the process. I was slightly frantic when the recipe asked for the oven to be preheated to 370. My oven only had numbers till 280. I then realised that it was in Fahrenheit instead of Celsius. Silly me.

The cake was finally done just after I had my lunch of rice with chicken curry.

Amverton Heritage Resort Melaka – an escapade for exhausted parents

Posted in Good Things, Leisure & Travel, Reviews by

The room, food and activities are nice for exhausted parents with energetic children. I booked a room with two single beds on Agoda. Com. Total was RM 442.45 including tax and fee for a 3D2N stay. This time I did not include breakfast. I wanted to see whether the menu is nice. If not, we will have our meal nearby. This resort is located at Ayer Keroh. Thus, near a few main attractions and MITC of course. That is where the food is. However, we did get 2 free waterpark tickets (priced at RM15/each). I bought an additional 2 tickets.

We checked in on Friday just after our Rejab Iftar at Mi Tarik Lanzhou. Mr. Husband brought his inflatable mattress. We pushed the single bed next to each other, giving enough room for the Queen-sized mattress. There were the usual expected amenities: FREE WIFI (with a very long password), a mini fridge, an iron with a board, and a TV. Plus points, a bathtub, and room service! Although we do not need it, the idea of it being available made me happy.

Even chilling at the lobby is nice. The breeze, the ambience is just relaxing and cooling.

In-house breakfast started at 7am. The price was RM30 for adults and RM20 for children. The options were satisfactory. They had bread but not other forms of pastry. The bihun and curry were delicious. There’s nasi lemak, lontong, congee etc. I loved that they provided mugs for our hot beverages and not those tiny cups. That is the way to go! Mr Husband had a meeting that morning at a nearby hotel, so I didn’t bring the kids for a swim due to safety reasons. I worry that I won’t be able to keep an eye on both. But we did play at the playground and the kids’ zone. The entry bracelet could be worn for both days we were there. In other words, you can enter and exit the park no matter how many times you like, as long as you wear the bracelet. We went to the waterpark later in the evening once Mr Husband came back from his meeting. The employees even use the stapler to make it easy to remove and fasten again.

Our humble breakfast buffet.
After breakfast, I brought them to the playground near the waterpark. For Vitamin D.
There’s also an indoor playground – the Kids Zone. With a mini library and lots of little tables for self-activity.
There’s also a little sand area where kids can build sandcastles and stuff. There were lots of slides too. My daughter tried the ‘tall’ one. That one is only for kids between 6 to 10 years old.

That’s why I believe this is an excellent spot for tired parents. Personally, I don’t have the stamina to spend over four hours at a water park just to get my money’s worth. But at Amverton, we could enjoy an hour of water play, take a break for a meal and a nap, and then head back in the evening for another session. Later, we’d pause for dinner and even continue the water park fun the next day until checkout. It’s perfect for parents to sneak in some much-needed rest between activities. I believe the adults would enjoy the swim at the huge pool just beside the mini water park. I’ll do that with Haneem once she’s a bit older. Amverton is also lenient with swimwear. I love that we can wear T-shirts instead of a burkini.

The normal swimming pool roughly 4ft over here and the waterpark just beside it.

We used GRAB for our lunch and dinner. There’s an in-house restaurant and cafe where you can have your meal. I might consider that during our future visits. Yes, we love this place so much that we’re thinking of making it our getaway place at times when we feel that we need to go to a kiddie-themed waterpark.

The Everly Putrajaya Hotel – meeting my prospective stepmother

Posted in Everyday Life, Leisure & Travel by

My dad is driving me nuts with his holier-than-thou attitude. I am trying my best to not snap back at him like any respectful daughter should be. So is news about Fattah Amin. How do I stop reading about him on my feed? It has started to become so irritating to see the public putting him on a moral pedestal.

On a different note, my dad introduced us to his girlfriend a few weeks ago. We had tea together at Secret Recipe, Alamanda Mall. Our prospective stepmother is from Acheh, Indonesia. They were introduced to each other via a mutual friend. She comes across as a lovely lady, a single mother who single-handedly raised 2 children for the past 10 years since she divorced. She earns a decent income working in administration to support her living expenses.

On the day, we exchanged pleasantries. My younger sister and my niece joined us too. Throughout the meeting, I couldn’t help wondering why is it of all the ladies that my dad could have met, he decided to go for a relationship that crosses international borders. To be honest, I have some concerns about how my dad plans to navigate his life as an elderly, married man with 2 stepchildren later on. However, I think it is something that we will address later on. We ended the session amicably and parted ways.

Although the meeting was short, I took the opportunity to bring my husband and daughter together with me to Putrajaya. I booked a room at The Everly Putrajaya Hotel. This time hoping for a better experience than the one we had before. Indeed, it is much better now. The hotel and Alamanda Mall are so close that I could walk there. We had dinner at Sepiring that night out of curiosity. Mr Husband had his nasi lemak pandan and my daughter went for curry noodles. I had the kid’s menu mac and cheese. We had a really rested night afterwards.

The Deluxe room
Dinner at Sepiring

The Deluxe Twin Room was priced at RM 299.92 per night. Breakfast was included for 2 adults. I had to pay extra for my daughter. There’s a mini fridge and we get two key cards. I love that the hotel is putting in an effort to become more sustainable by serving their drinking water in glass bottles. Which could be refilled from a water station near the elevator.

The hotel lobby was quirky yet welcoming. The aroma of coffee from its cafe was so enticing. The check-in process was incredibly fast. So are the lifts despite the high volume of visitors using it during the peak hours of checking-in.

Breakfast was satisfactory. Nothing very memorable or nasty either. However, I do have to mention that they have a huge selection of pastries to choose from. The seating arrangements felt a bit crowded though. The space from one table to another is quite narrow. Just enough for a pair of buttcheeks to walk by. The coffee dispensed by the machine tasted horrible. Even instant coffee sachets were better.

This hotel is convenient to choose if say I wanted to go to Alamanda Mall for a mini staycation. Although the mall is not that huge as compared to IOI City Mall, the shops there are still OK for families to go to and enjoy their weekends. Sadly, the GSC cinema has closed down. So the only thing that can keep you entertained is yourself with your family. Ha ha ha.

Parking is free. Just hand in your touch-n-go card to the reception.

Lexis Port Dickson

Posted in Leisure & Travel by

I thought my daughter was joking when she said we were sleeping at the hotel for the night. It was after all a Friday evening and I have just completed my work day. Naturally, I was knackered and just wanted to get dinner over with. I’ve even got my weekend planned out with submitting my IOP assignment at the top of the list. Turns out, she wasn’t joking.

Mr Husband had some vouchers for a staycation at Lexis Port Dickson. Which means I pack the bags reluctantly but excited at the same time. I lugged my very slow laptop with me (I need to either have it repaired or get a new one). We reached Port Dickson just after 8pm. Thankfully I have ordered Shopee Food for dinner back in Melaka – Zikgu Burger. So, we brought that along with us.

Tired faces. My daughter slept in the car.

Our staycation was not those Chalet ones but the room was still huge. The layout was a bit odd because upon entering the door, we were met with the bathroom first. Then, there was another door from the bathroom that leads to the main bedroom, which fits 1 King Bed and 1 Double Bed. The bathroom has a separate toilet, shower and tub. Then the usual amenities include a small pantry with a mini fridge, a TV, FREE WIFI, complimentary bottled drinks and beverages, a hairdryer and toiletries.

The odd entrance into the hotel room

My daughter really enjoyed the bathtub.

Our package came with Free Breakfast for TWO adults. We paid for our kids separately. The breakfast spread was great and they even have cards that show how many calories each food has. I did not take pictures of the food because there were so many people and I did not want to hold the queue. I loved that they had mugs for our coffee. It is more satisfying than a miserable cup. After breakfast, we walked around the chalet area where the sea view was so beautiful. Then we stayed in the room all day apart from going out for lunch and dinner. The kids enjoyed watching movies with their dad on the projector we brought with us while I did my assignment. Alhamdulilah, I managed to submit it before the time deadline.

Overall, it was a great stay. Perhaps later when I am less obese and look better in a burkini, I would go for another stay there and enjoy the pool. They have a dress code there. I am looking forward to another staycation but I hope it will be less of a surprise trip.

Mudzaffar Hotel, Melaka – now a 3-star hotel?

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I was really looking forward to a posh stay at Mudzaffar Hotel, Ayer Keroh Melaka. The type of stay where I can cuddle in with room service food.

I booked a Deluxe King room for 2 with my daughter including breakfast. I was on leave because I needed to complete my assignments. My daughter has conveniently finished her academic year at kindergarten which means that she is ‘available’ on Friday. We checked in immediately after I fetched her from school on Thursday.

Check-in was a breeze as I had already paid online. I just needed to pay an extra RM2 for tourism tax. Parking was easy and the hotel was within walking distance to various places to eat. There is also a swimming pool at the hotel but we didn’t bring any bathing suits. Simply because our room already has a bathtub. So, my daughter could easily dip in the tub no matter how many times in a day. She brought her toys to play with and she had a great time soaking in it. The interior decor of this hotel is dark. It would probably look majestic at night but we didn’t step out of our room to actually see what the lobby looks like at night.

I wished they had a mini fridge in my room. I missed having my iced beverages. There were small hiccoughs in the room – the lingering pandan scent (reminds me of a ghost), the non-existent feet wiping the bathroom mat, and the blinking aircon panels. Otherwise, most of the services provided are okay. The staff were exceptionally gracious and polite. They do not come across as pompous at all.

For dinner that night, we walked to a place called Ceqlapaq Restaurant and ordered Laksa Sarang. It was delicious and the broth was rich in fish bits. Another plus point is that it is not spicy making it children-friendly. The portion was too huge though, so my daughter couldn’t finish it.

The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel. Because my daughter wants to do her Number 2, we have to eat very fast. So mengada this daughter. Thankfully, the spread was delicious although most of its options are Malay delicacies. I loved the coffee and the nasi lemak sambal was not spicy.

Overall, the stay wasn’t that bad although I did feel ‘cheated’ that there was no mini fridge in the room. I took it for granted that a hotel of such prestige (I thought this is a 5 star hotel) would not have a problem in providing a little fridge for their guests especially when I had paid RM 247.77/night including taxes, fees and breakfast for two. Turns out other 3-star hotels could do better.