Koon Kee Wantan Mee

it’s been some time since i last ate here. i guess it’s been more than 2 years.

after thinking what to eat on friday night, we decided to head to Koon Kee for a wantan mee since we are in Petaling Street

i don’t remember it was so expensive man… a glass of mostly diluted sugar cane drink is RM3, a plate of wantan mee is RM4 and a bowl of Sui Gao (6 pieces) cost us RM5. all in all, it cost us RM19.

if you asked me, i would say the noodles is good. but not to the extend of heavenly good. in fast, i can get a good wantan mee + sui gao + drinks for two at a cheaper price.

well, i guess that’s what happens when you get famous. but then again, the rentals on the shop may have gone up too.

anyway, we might go there again if we crave for wantan mee in Petaling street and have extra cash. it’s ok to splurge once in a while in good (but not spectacular) food once in a blue moon, right? haha!

tiring journey on CNY 2011

yes. nuff’ said as the CNY holidays are on thursday and friday. not to mention tuesday was FT Day which makes it a long holiday for ALL malaysians.

both of us are unfortunate to only go back to Perak on thursday although both of us had taken a two days of leave prior to that. but due to some errands, we are only able to leave KL on the 1st day of CNY

which means we are courting trouble…

the moment we paid the toll, we encountered a ass-wrecking jam. ass-wrecking in the sense that my ass will definitely feel numb after the long hours of stuck in the jam.

 

jam jam jam till we can’t see the end of the line. most of the drivers were non-chinese as the chinese would have went back to their hometown at least a day before CNY

in fact, it was so jammed that PLUS gave the drivers the permission to use the emergency lane! before that, there were staff standing under the hot sun directing the drivers too. but we did not take the risk back then as we did not know what were they trying to convey.

after being stuck in the jam for half of the journey, we thought it was the end of it after the highway was cleared.

little that we know two days later we encountered the same highway jam on the way back to KL. this time is worse as PLUS even dismantled the barrier and created a counterflow to ease the jam.

heck, even the toilet in the R & R were jam. you know there is something not right when you see guys queuing up for their turns to ease themselves and some of them went to the palm oil plantation as they couldn’t hold on any  longer.

all in all, that’s a great eye opener.

not to mention ass-wrecking. haha!

Petronas Twin Tover Skybridge visit (03.02.11)

it is still pre-CNY and we are already on leave. and yeah, since i’ve been itching and bugging my wife to go with me for so long, it is finally the right time to go!

and so the day started very early as the tickets are limited (less than 2000 tickets if not mistaken) and get snapped up very fast. first come first served and no booking in advance. in fact, i think i wake up earlier than i do on working days.

we reach the ticketing counter at 7.30am and it will only open at 8.30am. the queue is long. the photo above is an understatement as the queue goes zig zag and the counter is not visible. haha! most of the one queuing for the tickets are foreigners. there are only a few insane malaysians who would want wake up early for this…

apparently, the ticket to the skybridge is not free anymore. they started to charge people fees since october 2010. i guess the management had finally thought of making money out of the skybridge. haha!

 

in fact, you can choose from the 3 packages as per the above. and just like any tourist attraction in Malaysia, the charges differs between MyKad holders and foreigners.

• skybridge only
• skybridge + observation deck
• skybridge + observation deck + meal

you’ll be going up to one of the towers (higher than the bridge of course) for another view if you choose the package with observation deck.

we finally got our tickets at around 9am for a 9.40am visit. that also is because the staff are offering those who wants to go to the skybridge only the privilege to get the tickets first. else, it would take us another half an hour to queue.

i can see most of the people are queuing for package 2 or 3. which is expected as they don’t come here often and are able to pay for it (if they are choosing the third package).

 

while waiting for our turn to get to the bridge, there is a room where they have exhibitions on the architecture and some games too. but what i loved the most is the video of how the tower was built.

5 minutes before time, there will be an announcement for us to proceed to the skybridge!!! woo hoo!!! but not before a video presentation. boo!!!

the group will be given two tags, one in red or black as to differentiate the lifts that we are taking later. he above is my tag. apologize for the crappy photo as it was taken in the video room.

before taking the lift, we were ushered into another room for a video presentation. this is for me the boring part of the visit as the video was highlighting the ONLY the achievements of Petronas. looks like a propaganda if you ask me. haha!

anyway, we were finally ushered into the lift after 5 minutes or so. in  matter of minutes, we have reached the 42nd floor. it was so fast that i did not feel the lift was moving!

once people are in the bridge, most of them are either busy snapping photos or just admiring the view. we are only allowed to be there for 15 minutes, so have to enjoy/make use the most of it.

i think i just let my photos do all the talking once we are in the skybridge.

along the skybridge

snapping photos

view of the park

one of the annexes for the tower. looks empty.

Jalan Ampang. or is it Jalan P. Ramlee???

from the bridge to the top of tower

bottom of the bridge

empty space for rent anyone

 

view of the KL Convention Centre.

by the time we left the bridge and reached the ticketing counter at around 10.15am, the crowd was still there.

i think we will go there for a second next time. we haven’t got to go to the observation deck yet. and also the lunch/dinner (if i can afford it. gulp!).

but please, spare us the video propaganda. opps, i mean presentation. hehe!

Tanjung Sepat (01.02.2011)

feeling bored since we are on leave and chinese new year is still two days away, wife has decided to bring me to Tanjung Sepat for some sightseeing and makan.

being the lazy ass, i just dragged along (although i’m not driving. haha!) and went for it. the journey itself took us 2 hours.

1st stop, as everyone would have guessed it it is Hai Yew Hing Pau

it is sin not to come here i guess, after all the reviews you get from the TV and bloggers. the photo above is the new shop. their old shop is located just opposite of it. enough about the shop. let’s venture on the pau instead.

at that time, the only pau they have is ‘sang yook’, ‘mui choi’ and red bean. all of them are priced at RM2.20/piece. we opted for ‘sang yook’ and ‘mui choi’

above is the ‘sang yook’ pau. there’s a half of hard boiled egg too!. the taste is good!!! i wished there were more gravy though. but then again, it might be due to us eating it way later after we bought it. we resteam and only eat it once we are back home at that time.

next up is ‘mui choi’ pau. fans of ‘mui choi’ will definitely love it. no kidding. but wife wished there are more minced meat though. but it tasted good nonetheless.

free advertisement for them in return for the good pau. not that they needed it anyway. haha!

take note though, it is best to eat it while it is hot as somehow the pau get cold and hard fast. we noticed about it while we were at home. although we just steamed it, it will get cold fast.

next stop is seafood Bak Kut Teh. i am always skeptical about seafood bak kut teh as i don’t think seafood and the herbs will ever match. but since Tanjung Sepat is famous for this too, so why not try it?

but…

they had finished selling it by the time we were there. and guess what? it was only 11 something in the morning. either they are that good or they cater for small crowd only. next time then.

we proceed to Gano Farm next. it’s my least favourite place that day because it’s boring to me… ling zhi and mushrooms does not interest me much. haha!

the entrance to the farm/factory.shop and also homestay

i guess when we were there, the ling zhi season is not there yet. so, we only get to see fake ling zhi. too bad.

and then there’s this bridge that everyone seem to talk about. go search in Google and you’ll find lots of blog post about it. some call it Lover’s Bridge.

starting point

about 3rd quarter where the bridge are made with planks

and towards the end of the bridge.

i wouldn’t say it is a bridge, in fact, it is a mini jetty, not a bridge. and one more, i will not even declare it as a Lover’s Bridge as i will not go there for a date. haha! but it’s a good place for photography though.

since Tanjung Sepat is a fishing village, it’s time to scourge for a place that sells marine products. or to be precise, fish balls and yong tau fu for steamboat dinner. more on the steamboat later.

after going round the small town, we finally found one!

remember this signboard!

this is the place. if not for the signboard, i don’t think people will be able to find it

the moment you tell the employees that you want to buy fish ball from them, you will be ushered into the manufacturing place. uh… actually you will see them around making fish balls and stuff

'making ‘fucuk’ with fish paste fillings

this guy is scooping fish paste into fish balls and then into the water. this process raised my wife’s curiosity as why did the paste did not disintegrate the moment it is in the water. apparently the worker told us that if the fish paste is fresh, it will harden almost immediately.

either that, or she made that up to please my wife’s queries. haha!

some of the fish balls will be fried

and then left to dry and also to get rid of the excess oil

feels like eating it at that time.

they also made a lot other products, a lot of yong tau fu stuff. but unfortunately most of them are not ready yet. i did not take photos of it too…

and so… it’s the end of our short trip. but before that, we made a small stop at :-

Morib Beach it’s just a few kilometres away from Tanjung Sepat on the way back to KL. why not have a look?

but but but… the beach it lousy, to say it mildly, maybe because it is near to mangrove i guess? but at least the beach is mostly clean

nothing much here. it’s good enough to take a small stroll along the beach.

but this Memorial is one thing that catches my attention most in Morib beach. apparently the British had landed here on an operation back then. but when i look at the date, it seems to me that the Japanese occupation had stopped.

and so i made a Google search and found out that this operation is called Operation Zipper. but the operation was deemed obsolete as the Japanese had surrendered earlier. they landed here for nothing. hahahaha! but at least they don’t have to fight for war!

and so, there’s a lot more to go in this Tanjung Sepat trip. lots of farms and factories and seafood restaurants to explore, but i guess we’ll have to go again next time.

and oh, lastly for the steamboat, this is our ‘catch for the day’ :-

out of all, the fried fish ball is the best!

got bored of the usual tom yam / clear soup base, we opted for ABC soup base. the end result? Mama mia!!!

what a great day to warm up for Chinese New Year 2011!