Sunday 1 December 2013

Christmas at Universal Studios Singapore

It's December!!!

Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle all the way~~

Want to experience snow fall? Want to meet the cute minions?

If you have not planned your Christmas trip or planning a Christmas trip to Singapore, check this out!!

 *Taken from RWS Sentosa

Event period:
Snowfall & dancing lights - 19 to 30 December 2013

Check out the rate or book here!

Note: Promotion available for online booking!

Saturday 30 November 2013

A Birthday Weekend Retreat to Kuala Lumpur - Part 2

Tea Break

And next on our list, FOOD!!!! More specifically, Tai Lei Loi Kei pork chop bun. Tai Lei Loi Kei originated in Macau with its signature Pork Chop Bun. It was brought to Malaysia as a fast food cafe, and started a few franchises around KL. We went the the one at Hutong Lot 10.

This is the Pork Chop Bun but with a cheese add on. Although the original Pork Chop Bun didn't come with cheese but I just add it on because I like cheese. This Pork Chop Bun is nice, I am not too sure how the one in Macau taste like but the one in KL in my own humble opinion, will be able to hold its own. Juicy and tender pork with crusty bread, I will be back for more.

Tai Lei Loi Kei we visited is located at:
Lot 10 Hutong,
LG Floor,
Lot 10 Shopping Centre,
50 Jalan Sultan Ismail,
50250 Kuala Lumpur.

Moving on, we continued on walking around a few mall in the area, a few other mall you should take note of in this area are, Sungei Wang, Times Square KL and Low Yat.

Complimentary coctail by Double Tree

After a short walk around the shopping mall, we went back to our hotel, Double Tree. Double Tree hosts a complementary cocktail from 5pm to 7pm daily at their Executive Lounge for their Executive guests, and it includes a wide range of free flowing alcohol beverages.

It's not all drinks here, it is basically a mini buffet being served. Pastries, salads, local snacks, fruits, and sandwiches are all available throughout the evening cocktail.

Whiskey, tequila, vodka or gin, the service staff will serve you the 'poison' of your choosing.

We poured ourselves a small glass of white wine, both of us aren't much of a drinker. But an alcohol beverage definitely seems more suitable for the atmosphere at the lounge. 

Dinner


Not much of a sunset on the 33rd floor because of the weather that day. We headed out for our dinner after dark. For our dinner, we went to a steamboat restaurant, Ho Ho Steamboat. Ho Ho Steamboat is well established steamboat restaurant with multiple branches in the Klang Valley, we went the the one in Jalan Segambut where they sell Yong Tao Fu during the day and steamboat at night. 

We apologies for the lack of picture to show you here, we were too busy eat the delicious food. Anyways I will try my best to bring out the flavours for you. Let's start with the base soup, we ordered the half and half, which is clear soup and tom yam soup. The soup base here is strong in flavour but still, it doesn't seems to be laden with MSG. All the ingredients are fresh and also served with a decent portion. A good steamboat isn't hard to make, a good soup base with fresh ingredients that you like. Ho Ho Steamboat is one of the places to get good steamboat. 

The Ho Ho Steamboat we visited is located at:
No. 67, Jalan Segambut, 
51200 Kuala Lumpur, 
Malaysia.

After that very satisfying dinner we had, we got back to our hotel. Knowing that we would only spend one night here. Taking in the picturesque night views of the hotel has always been on our mind. 

A view from the 33rd floor Executive Lounge, with the brightly lit Petronas Twin Towers and the KL Tower.

A stroll around the hotel pool at night.

Note: There are also gym and sauna available in the hotel, if you keen.

This is the view from our 32nd floor room window, it's the Ampang – Kuala Lumpur Elevated Highway, AKLEH, with the whole North-Eastern KL setting.

Some of the little extra things we got as an executive at Double Tree is the welcome fruit basket and also a serving of layered cake. Since we were busy filling our stomach outside the room most of the day, we only got time to get to it after a nice hot shower and got into our comfortable night wear. The gift became an excellent snack just before we went to sleep.

 Barely enough for me, the cake was gone in minutes.

Those strawberries are very nice, they are really worth the mention. I would swap all the other fruits for a whole plate of strawberries. 

The next morning has arrived, we had to reluctantly wake up from our slumber on the very comfortable bed. We didn't even thought of catching the sunrise,because a nice and well rested sleep is what we needed more. Thank goodnees we've got the late check-out. 

The hotel breakfast serves a wide varieties food for their breakfast at the Makan Kitchen, almost every kind of Malaysian breakfast, from nasi lemak, to dim sum and roti canai. And also a whole lot more than what we could eat. The breakfast is also served at the Executive Lounge specially for executive guest. 

 Both juice and coffee to kick start the day at Makan Kitchen.

Moving up to the Executive Lounge to continue our breakfast. With comfortable couches and executive services. You can even loan an IPAD for free from the service counter to kill your day.

One last drink before we leave this awesome place. We had a great experience staying in Double Tree by Hilton in KL and would not hesitate to stay here again. 

After leaving the hotel, we have a few hours to spare before catching our flight. We went on to a karaoke lunch at Red Box Low Yat and then took the KLIA Express out of KL City.

This is a truly relaxing and satisfying trip for us, and the 'Executive' experience at Double Tree has played a very big part on it.

A Birthday Weekend Retreat to Kuala Lumpur - Part 1

16/11/2013 - 17/11/2013

We went to Kuala Lumpur for a  relaxing and comfortable birthday retreat. We took an early flight from Singapore to make the most out of our very short weekend.

Transportation from KLIA

Upon arrival at KLIA, for RM 6.20 we took the the KLIA Transit to Putrajaya to catch a ride towards the city.

With proper cabin to hold your luggage on board the train, you can properly stow away your bulky luggage.

The KLIA Express and KLIA Transit has comfortable cushioned seats, comfortable leg room between the seats and also toilet on board. It is fast and comfortable, and in our opinion the best way to get from KLIA to KL City. Although the fare isn't exactly cheap, but it is considerably quite reasonable especially when compared to other alternatives. Click here for KLIA Express and KLIA Transit fares and other details.

Lunch


First stop on our list is Kin Kin Pan Mee. It's possibly the most famous chilli pan mee in KL. Kin Kin Pan Mee is highly recommended in multiple travel and food websites. Check out a TripAdvisor review on it. There are multiple branches of Kin Kin Pan Mee scattered around KL City, but for it's air conditioned and easy parking, we went to Kin Kin Pan Mee at Publika, Solaris Dutamas.

Only one of us has tried the famous pan mee before, so for the birthday girl, this will be her first time. We ordered the signature Dry Chilli Pan Mee with an additional mixed soup.

Before you begin to dig into your bowl of noodle. Let us walk you through the steps we enjoy our chilli pan mee.

This is the magic ingredient in Kin Kin Pan Mee, the chilli. A portion of this is enough to heat up your taste buds but not to a degree that it burns.

Step 1: Pour the chilli into the bowl of noodles.
Step 2: Break the yolk of the half cooked egg. (Very important as the egg yolk helps coat the chilli on to the noodles.)
Step 3: Toss the noodle, mixing all its ingredients.

Voila!! This is the final product, the flowing egg yolk glistening on the noodles with sparkles of chilli flakes.
Now enjoy your chilli pan mee!!!

Kin Kin Pan Mee has definitely lived up to all its hype. It's definitely a must try for all visiting KL. A well deserved 5/5.

Kin Kin Pan Mee is located at FC-11, Level UG, Publika Shopping Gallery, No. 1, Jalan Dutamas 1, Solaris Dutamas, Kuala Lumpur, Sri Hartamas, 50480. Google Map link

Accommodation: Double Tree by Hilton

After lunch we proceeded to check in to our hotel, Double Tree by Hilton. A very new hotel that had just recently opened. For more information on Double Tree by Hilton, click here.


Luckily for us, we got to enjoy a free upgrade to the executive room that comes with a whole range of executive privileges, from start to end. We got to enjoy special check-in on the highest floor of the hotel at the Executive Lounge. And very easily checked-in to our 32nd floor corner room. The weather that day wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. There were scattered showers throughout the weekend

A very spacious room that's clean and and full of natural light, a very welcoming sight once you stepped into the room.

This is the bathroom. The bathroom has a floor to ceiling glass wall, and a retractable blind for privacy. There is no bathtub, but it didn't bother us much as we don't really use it much. The overhead rain shower is more to our liking.
There are two things the the hotel boasted on its website as Special Comfort for its customers. The Citron bath products by Crabtree and Evelyn, and also Sweet Dreams mattress by DoubleTree Sleep Experience, more on that later. The bath product as you can see from above includes face bar, body lotion, conditioner, shower gel, shampoo and even tooth paste.

Every room also comes with a pillow menu, where you can choose 2 extra pillows from the menu. Some of pillows available other than the four feather pillow are rubber pillow, tatami pillow and foam contour pillow.

We didn't really got to explore the room much after setting down our luggage as we only had a day to go to the city. After freshening up a little bit. We took the hotel shuttle headed towards Pavilion KL. The hotel shuttles its guest from the hotel to some of the most happening locations in KL for free. The details on the hotel shuttle can be attained from the hotel lobby.

Bukit Bintang

It's Christmas at Pavilion KL!!! Even though it was only November the 16th when we went there, the Christmas decorations in Pavilion KL is already up (Lucky for us). After a quick stroll on the centre court where the 40-ft tall LED Christmas Tree is, and a few pictures later. We head on to our next destination.


To be continued.

Click here for Part 2