isi perut in Kuching

yassssssss! it's been awhile since i went anywhere with the husband. let's go on a makan trip, shall we? so on Friday... i got to follow the husband on a short trip. guess where lilo is going?

guess where lilo is

usually i'd have to find my own transport to get to the hotel, like last year Emma and i took Uber, but this time i got to ride with the crew. haha. privilege ok, especially when you're a nobody in the airline industry.

10 years.

yep, back here after a year

always liked the rooms here

the only things I brought along with me

remember i mentioned (or maybe i didn't sorry) that i was afraid to take the boat across the waterfront because i was with Emma and i was afraid we'd fall in? haha. this time round we took the boat (read: a slightly larger version of the sampan, with a roof over your head) across the river for dinner! haha. sorry i is abit jakun. there are boat services all along the waterfront, you only pay rm1 one-way for the ride across. pretty neat, eh?

a crew member Elan was also on the boat (orang lain semua wet blanket huhu), so the three of us had dinner at My Village Barok. they say the kambing here is splendid, which it is! nampak je pedas when i first laid eyes on the dish. ordering sayur is a must too. nasib dating awal sikit, the place was filling up fast.

midin belacan

scallop bakar

nasi kambing ketok

after a very satisfying dinner, we stopped by Mira's cake house to get kek lapis. i totally forgot to take photos, ruginya -___-. got so many types of kek lapis to choose from here. i've forgotten already which ones we chose, but i particularly remember one that had chocolate chunks innit. so naiiiiiiis!

the next day the husband had an early morning flight (reporting at 7am sighs) so like it or not i had to haul myself out of bed too. told me to find this nice roti canai place, but since he couldn't remember the name - he told me to look for MASTURA.  if you're looking for something to eat for breakfast nearby Hilton you're out of luck - there are barely any shops open at 7am except for this 24-hour place named Warung NUSANTARA.

i don't know how NUSANTARA can be mistaken for MASTURA, can you?

had roti canai and three layer tea - gula apong yey.

heck even my sister's shop isn't opened at this hour. better yet, i didn't even know she had a shop. bila Aya bukak kedai?

BAHAHAHAHHAHA

bila aya bukak kedai?

the husband and Amirul (my walking MAS Wikipedia =P) also mentioned that there was another nice place nearby called Uncle Lim that had good mee kolo/ cendawan (or was it mushroom soup?), located somewhere in between the alleys nearby the hotel but I CANNOT FIND IT T____T.

breakfast

after tummy is full, i went a-walking. cat statues are still there, probably with a fresh paint job haha. last year i was with Emma, this year it's just me and my big fat heavy bag stuffed with kek lapis Sarawak. just as i arrived at the waterfront, it started to rain T___T.

cat statues... still there

took a stroll on the new Darul Hana Bridge (yep, that's the official name of the bridge ok). Darul Hana means a place of peace and tranquility in Arabic. my photo does not do justice to the bridge, it's much more majestic-looking in real life. it was still drizzling when i was walking around the waterfront, so please excuse the crazy lady dragging a luggage bag behind her while trying to juggle a pink umbrella with one hand. why the heck did i not think to just leave my bag behind at reception? #blondemoment

the Darul Hana Bridge

if the skies were sunnier i would've headed off to the Sarawak Cultural Village, but given the lousy weather (and me being alone, no fun - who's going to take photos of me?? lol) i decided that that should be kept for the next time i get the opportunity to go to Kuching again. whenever that is. haha.

so my friend Shasha was in Kuching recently so she told me to look for this Old Court House in the middle of nowhere which was walking distance from the waterfront. just standing from the outside you wouldn't even realize that there's a café tucked nicely within the walls of this court house. they're currently upgrading the place, so even the washroom tiles are amazing! haha.

the Old Court House

fancy toilet / wc

the patrons at the time were mainly mat sallehs dropping by for a cuppa while waiting for the drizzle to let up. so if you're a fan of what they call café hopping, then you might want to stop by. tried their lemon poppy seed cake, to which i find the frosting a bit too lemony-sweet for my liking. practically spent an hour backdating my Hobonichi Weeks here =P.

lovely interior

poppy seed cake

took a Grab to the airport after 2pm-ish because i didn't want to stand around at the airport too long waiting for my ticket to be issued. they put me in the middle seat, and i was all ready to start fuming (because who likes to get stuck in the middle seat? lol) when the husband showed me his ticket (he's paxing back abandoning his set crew haha). coincidental much? turned out we had the whole row to ourselves anyway.

coincidental?

and who comes to Kuching without sampling all the yummy food that you cannot find / does not even come close in the Peninsula? (me apparently, during my first time in Kuching last year. bahahahahah *roll eyes*) the Golden Lounge in Departures serves excellent Laksa Sarawak and Mee Kolo. next time must order big size and must not share with Mister Pilot! (tak puas makan oit) =P~~~~ although I'm sure you can find these dishes at other nice places outside the airport, only i je yang tak jumpe kat mana lagi. lol.

mee kolo and laksa sarawak

so, that concludes my KCH trip and last kopek for 2017; i doubt i'll be going anywhere else until the new year comes rolling around. til next time!

24 hours in Bangkok

received not so favorable news a few days ago, so i'm ditching my current life to follow the husband to Bangkok for a day. gosh i just love last minute trips like these, don't you? LOL. or maybe not. there are pro and cons to short travels like this. i take what i can get.

food. yums.

trying to be artsy

apparently Novotel Bangkok Suvarnabhumi has the largest lobby in Asia. serious. i love the lobby, it's huge. the Captain was so nice for exchanging rooms with us though in my opinion, it wasn't really necessary (because why waste your life cooped up in the room when you can go out and stuff your face??). there were only the two of us, but the room was big enough for a futsal team to camp on the floor. see for yourself.

big living room O_O

spacious fluffy bed

took the train out into the city and headed off to Platinum Mall. i love how they have walkways connecting most of the shopping areas here. all you need is comfy shoes and enough energy kalah Energizer to keep you walking the whole day =P.

weather forecast: sunny and hot.

traffic jam

gosh my hair so red

jalan2 in Bangkok

Platinum Fashion Mall reminds me of Sungei Wang - floors and floors of women's fashion and accessories. the downside is that most of everything is payable in cash, so be prepared to have lots of cash at hand if you plan to buy anything here.

first stop: to isi perut at the foodcourt located at the topmost floor. the husband already forgot which stall he went to last time, so we randomly chose a stall and ordered. i liked the tom yum! (gosh i'm getting hungry again as i type all this) to me tom yum is always more enjoyable in Thailand, be it red or white. hee~

the husband had to have meat in the fray, hence the chicken rice. the dessert was nice! and you'd think the strawberries would be masam-ish, but they weren't - which made me wonder if they were actually artificial strawberries to begin with LOL.

tom yum seafood

halal chicken rice

dessert

there's this famous place in Bangkok that i must try some day called Usman Thai Muslim Food. crew would always go there.

address: 259/9 Sukhumvit Rd, Khwaeng Khlong Tan, Khet Khlong Toei, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon 10110

the husband purchased a velvet watch storage box to keep his collection of watches. i went home with a dress, and a little something for Norley's Imaan. hmmm is that all we bought?

for his watch collection

another place i wanna visit the next time I'm in Bangkok is Asiatique the Riverfront, which opens from 5pm onwards. we ended up not going because got tired of walking around waiting for the place to open, haiz.

they say Healthland is the best place to go for a massage so off we went in an Uber to the branch in Sathorn. mind you, the prices here are way steeper than back home ok. plus they expect you to tip the masseurs too. makes you so glad that your home country doesn't exercise the tipping system; i'd be cracking my head open trying to figure out how much to tip everytime. huhu.

Healthland Sathorn

Healthland

the flight back was in the morning; am really glad the airport was walking distance, it's always a pain trying to figure out how should i get myself to the airport sometimes, especially when you can't simply saunter in last minute like how crew does it. LOL #youaintcrew #beranganjelalilly

the husband bought me sticky mango rice at the airport! ok i lie. he was purchasing this for the rest of his crew and i happened to pass by when he was busy paying for it. bahahahhaha. so kena la kasi bini satu kan?

sticky mango rice

i only wished i took the time to get some good Thai tea before departure!

flight back's practically empty

grilled beef fillet

sampai je terminal already terserempak with two of his batchmates. they were rushing to get to their next flight, whichever gate that is, but still got time to take photo. haha.

mini reunion

usually if the husband has routes to continue before completing his duty on the same day I'd be the one to lug his freaking heavy Tumi luggage bag (plus mine!) to the car first. on this particular day, i guess it was fate that he forgot to pass his bag to me, because guess what, his flight back from BKI got cancelled due to a technical glitch, so he's stuck for another night away from home. haha.

flight cancelled LOL

cameron highlands '17, day 1

the husband is a huge fan of Cameron Highlands, specifically the strawberries. so naturally since the kids were off from school and the roster was clear last weekend, off we went. he even went to purchase his own plugged-in chiller box (all the way from Jakarta lol), we even brought a gigantic cooler box for the trip.

our first pit stop was to get to our homestay in Tanah Rata that i managed to find through friends and the internet. the husband didn't want to spend too much for accommodation (konon) and asked to see if there were any available homestays about at a reasonable price. frankly there are a lot of homestays here, it all depends on whether you're happy or not with its current conditions. if you're a particular person about everything - got aircond or not? got hot water or not? (like my husband) then you're better off checking into a hotel. if possible he wanted to bring the entire contents of his bedroom T__T. at this rate we might as well just rent a U-Haul =D

i got the place for rm250 a night. the owner was a very nice person. informed her what time we'd be arriving, handed over the keys and went on her way. what i didn't know was that her homestay was on the topmost floor of the apartment, specifically the FOURTH floor. with no elevators.  hahahahahhahahahahhahahahahha adeiiiii imagine all the heavylifting of bags up four freaking flights of stairs of seven individuals. die lar.

the weather was awesome, although i think it could be slightly colder. it was slightly drizzling as we arrived.

scenic view from our homestay

The Lord's Cafe, Tanah Rata

it was already 4pm by the time we got everyone settled, so we headed off to the café that i never got to go the last time i was here due to wrong timing. i even messaged the café in advance to ask if they were still open to avoid disappointment =P. as it was, they were still open, yay!!!! the café was really tiny and cozy. not to mention very antique-ish.

btw, do tell me of any interesting café that sell awesome scones, will ya? this is my first time scone-hunting in Cameron (seriously, before this it's always about the sightseeing, vege and the strawberries lol) and i'm open to more scones-cafehopping in the future.

the crazy / famished husband ordered FIVE SCONES for us. one for the maid, one for the husband, one for me, and two for the kids to share. unfortunately despite having an English father-in-law, they no have the England blood in them. i ended up having to polish three of them in one go. #sconesoverdose

my friend Munira always raves about how scones should always come with proper clotted cream if you want to gain the whole scone-eating experience. scones should be eaten warm, for starters. and they should also be served with a slightly larger helping of jam, butter and cream. see the photo? they charge if you want extra sides.

scones!

the Lord's Cafe

budak grumpy baru bangun tido

just before leaving we took a photo of the kids just outside the café. out of nowhere this old English lady joined the crowd and became an extra in the photo. LOL. seems like Sophia's got herself a new grandma! hahahahha.

LOL!

Taman Abang Steamboat & Grill, Tanah Rata

my roommate suggested this place for dinner. in fact you can google and there'd be a lot of good reviews for this place if you're looking forward to a steamboat dinner. steamboat's practically staple here in Cameron Highlands.

Taman Abang Steamboat main entrance

the place was nearby the homestay, but since it was a weekend, we couldn't book in advance, so we headed out early , because we anticipated that the crowd would be huge that night, and we were right. the procedure here is, you have to pay at the counter first before they will give you a table. we were lucky they managed to get a table large enough to seat the 7 of us. everything was free flow. we paid rm175 in total, cash basis please. kids ages 6 and below eat for free.

i didn't take a lot of photos because with four hangry kids you  really need to utilize both hands to tend to them AND to the steamboat (if not, who's going to cook dinner?). they had a considerable amount of choices to eat here, all kinds of veges, meat, seafood, noodles - to mention a few off the top of my head - including ice cream, which was inclusive the total price.

some of the food available

the only photo i have HAHAHAHA

so that's it for day One. it was already late and we wanted to get an early start tomorrow. nanite!

British Airways safety video - director's cut

dreaming of baju raya

... and it's not yet even Ramadhan yet. hahahaha!

Nurita Harith has just released some of her RTW designs on FashionValet. i just love her designs! my only wish is that the cut flattered me better without having to do alteration (for someone short and a stick like me lulz).

i've picked out three of my favourites (on the basis that i'm also color-biased haha):

Azalea Set in Peach

Ixia Kurung Set in Mauve

Nigella Kebaya Set in Icy Blue

if anybody buys these in my size and wants to sell them post raya, please think of me, yeah? =D

because dreaming is free

raya is coming. the fasting month is just around the corner (have you ganti puasa yet?)
most importantly, the time to figure out which-outfit-from-which-designer-shall-we-break-the-bank-for is coming too. kee~

you know it's addictive to watch instatories on instagram, right? a few people i've known from #dUCkfever recently attended the rizalman for zalora 2017 fashion show of the sorts and posted a bunch of videos taken during the event.
this morning out of sheer curiosity, i decided to visit Zalora to 'cleanse my eyes' from all those test cases i've been staring at all day in the office (lol, alasan).

these designers pandai. time their releases right, get customers into a frenzy - should they buy, should they wait? if wait nanti sold out, if buy now later other designers release nicer designs (and then menyesal), if no buy later all sold out then nothing to buy, if buy all later bankrupt, how lahhh?
#womenproblems

wahahahhahahahhaha. *proceeds to unfollow all designers on instagram to save myself from torture*

is it just me, or is everything beautiful fetching a higher price these days? O_o
anyways, if you got the moolah to splurge, i say check the collection out, they're really pretty, not over-the-top iykwim (you can't imagine the kind of fashion people pull off these days, especially the ones where you wear your nightie on the outside LOL). #ihavenosenseoffashion

after skimming through rizalman's collection, i decided that i love the following two designs as below (photos taken from zalora.my btw). my heart nearly stopped beating when i saw the price though. #wayofoutmyleague

but berangan itu free, yes? =P
(wah, dah lama tak buat wishlist post).

cannot wait to see what other designers have in store this year for Raya.

so... have you clicked your way to happiness yet?

Jamila Kebaya

Melha Nyonya Kebaya