We have been to Taang Shifu Restaurant quite a couple of times and it is a restaurant that we frequently dine at [for dinner] whenever we go to KSL City Mall in Johor Bahru.
Well, during our recent visit to Johor Bahru, we went to Taang Shifu Restaurant for dinner and to our surprise, their entire menu has changed and some of the old dishes that we usually ordered were no longer available on the menu. Since we had quite a couple of positive experiences dining there, we decided to give their new menu a try.
Our Review of the Dish:
The texture of the brown rice was acceptable but the entire dish lacked the flavour. The stewed pork was rather dry and the portion was rather small.
2. Dry Vermicelli with Sliced Abalone and Shitake Mushroom
Our Review of the Dish:
To our amazement, this dish is exactly the opposite of the Stewed Pork with Brown Rice. The portion is really huge and the vermicelli is of the right texture, flavour, and taste. However, it would be good if they have added in other ingredients that would probably enhance the presentation and nutritional value of the dish.
3. Stir-Fried Broccoli with Sliced Abalone, Scallops, and Red Dates
Our Review of the Dish:
The texture of the broccoli was rather hard and some of them were quite raw tasting. The presentation of the dish was generally alright.
Our Review of the Dish:
The texture of the duck meat was alright and easy to chew. Also, the duck meat was rather flavourful. However, because of the fats present in the duck meat, there was literally oil all over the serving dish and the presentation could do with some improvements.
For Beverage, we ordered our usual Luo Han Guo with Longan and Sea Coconut.
Our Review of the Beverage:
The taste is still the same and we still love it just the way it is. We highly recommend this drink if you’re looking for something that is sweet-tasting and will quench your thirst.
Our Overall Dining Experience:
To be really honest, the level of service standard has dropped quite a fair bit and we were quite disappointed because our previous experiences were rather positive. With the new menu, we felt that there wasn’t much variety and furthermore, the prices of the dishes have gone up quite a bit too. The dining atmosphere was literally cold because of the air-conditioning and it was rather uncomfortable. On the whole, we spent about SGD $35 and we really hope that the management would consider a review of their new menu. By the way, Taang Shifu has a new outlet at City Square Shopping Mall so you can try dining there instead of making a trip all the way down to KSL City Mall.
On a separate note, we went to Kim Hair Studio at KSL City Mall, Johor Bahru for a haircut [since Chinese New Year is 14 days away] and I must say, it was a rather positive experience. Here’s a before-haircut photo of me.
It’s quite a transformation and I really love my haircut! Looks like I have found a new permanent place to have my haircut! And well, I also bought a Kerastase Hair Shampoo and a Loreal Tecnic Hair Clay from the Salon at a price of SGD $32 and SGD $20.50 respectively. And oh, my haircut cost SGD $27 only. Pretty worth it! 🙂
If any of you noticed, we have not been blogging much and no, we’re not giving up blogging totally; it’s just that we don’t have the luxury of time to blog due to our busy work schedules. Nevertheless, most of our blog posts this year will be rather personal and occasionally, you might get to see sponsored blog posts for the various brands that we’re writing for.
Anyhows, we are really happy that as of now, there are 73 Winsomelifers whom have signed up for our Winsomelifer’s Programme and for our current giveaway that is ending in 10 days time, we have received more than 55 entries! So really, here’s a big “Thank You!” to all you Winsomelifers for supporting us all the way.
In this blog entry, I will be blogging about my recent trip to Ipoh.
Three weeks ago, I went back to Ipoh with my family to attend my cousin’s wedding and the entire trip was a blast. The last time I’ve been to Ipoh was many years back and though I don’t really recall much of the past, this recent trip back to Ipoh left quite a lasting impression on me.
Ipoh is the capital city of Perak state, Malaysia and it is approximately 200 km north of Kuala Lumpur on the North-South Expressway. When I was there during my recent trip, I personally felt that the city was laid-back and the pace of living is not as fast as Singapore. So, if you’re looking for a very laid-back and relaxed kind of getaway, you might want to consider visiting Ipoh.
Since I have previously blogged about the first day of my stay in Ipoh, this blog post would very much touch on the second day of my stay in Ipoh.
Before the wedding “gate-crashing” ceremony, we went to a nearby roadside stall to have breakfast and I really like the laid-back feel of the city.
In Malaysia, apparently all of the “kopitiam” [coffee] shops are known as “restoran” [restaurants] but they are really unlike the Singapore kind of restaurants where there’s air-conditioning and waiters.
The Penang Fried Kway Teow [Wat Dan Hor Style]. To be honest, the food wasn’t that bad and I kinda enjoyed it. The only exception was the prawns. For some reason, the prawns had a rather odd taste that smelt as if it has been left to decay for days and this didn’t happened at just one store in one location; in fact, I tried the prawns at many different stores at different locations but they had the same fishy or “decaying” smell.
As usual, I try not to miss out on the Iced Ipoh Coffee in the morning because the white coffee is unlike the white coffee that is available here in Singapore.
after a rather eventful morning, I went for a mini cyber-gaming competition with my brothers and cousins at one of the nearby cyber-cafes before heading back to our serviced apartment to rest. Needless to say, gaming is not my cup of tea and I lost in most of the matches.
Having prepared and rested enough, we got ready for the wedding banquet and walked to the restaurant from our serviced apartment [it was a 5-minutes walk].
And well, all the cousins were allocated to a table right at the very front near the stage and thank God for that because I managed to capture quite a number of good photos with my trusty iPhone 5 Camera.
Well, this concludes day 2 of my stay in Ipoh and in the next few upcoming blog entries, I will share about the various attractions in Ipoh that are worth checking out.
I’m currently in Ipoh, Malaysia and because I wanted to travel light, I didn’t bring my laptop along and I’m blogging using my iPhone [for the very first time].
Due to the limitations of using my iPhone to Blog, the content of this Blog Post may be shorter than usual. Also, the photos that are in this blog post are taken using the iPhone 5 camera and are also at the same time, edited on my iPhone using the Snapseed App which I personally find extremely useful.
For my trip to Ipoh, Malaysia, I took the Firefly Airline and it was my first time taking their plane.
And well, I didn’t quite expected that we had to take the transit vehicle to our plane since most of the time, boarding the planes are directly via the boarding gate.
It came as a shock to me when I found out that the plane we were taking to Ipoh flies with propeller fans!
Well, guess I shouldn’t expect much since it is a small plane that flies short distances. The cabin was average and the inflight service was not too bad. In fact, light snacks such as cakes and juices were served.
When we arrived at Ipoh Airport, we were warmly received by our relatives and we headed straight to the Serviced Apartment where we are putting up.
Although the Serviced Apartment is rather basic, it is well-equipped with a television, a microwave, a refrigerator, and even a washing machine.
Each apartment has 3 bedrooms and they either have twin single beds or just a queen-sized bed; hence, it is extremely suitable for those with large family.
A very good thing about the apartment is that every bedroom has an attached bathroom; so, there’s no need to fight over the bathrooms with one another.
After settling down in our apartment, we headed for lunch at the nearby restaurant and we really had a sumptuous and filling lunch. Just look at the amount of food we had!
The restaurant has a wide selection of Yong Tau Foo to go along with some vermicelli and wanton noodles.
Having had our fill, we went to my Aunt’s place for awhile and headed for shopping at Station 18, a newly-opened shopping mall in Ipoh.
Anyways, I may not be blogging over the next few days as I’m somewhat limited without a laptop. Nevertheless, we’re still quite active on Twitter and Instagram so do check us out over there.
Also, the latest giveaway that we just organized has commenced since yesterday, so do join in the giveaway and you might just be the winner of a set of Sticky Ties!
Alright, I shall continue from where I left off about my Awana Genting Trip with Nuffnang.
The 2nd day of our trip went by pretty slowly. After waking up, I went for a quick shower and just when I had shampoo and soap all over my head and body, I discovered a leech that was crawling rather slowly on the wall.
I believe almost everyone would have played this in school camps before and well, even though it looks easy, tight coordination and speed are required to win the game! [photo courtesy of Nuffnang]
The 2nd challenge was to have two balloons placed under our armpits and one balloon placed in between our legs, and we had to dash from one point to the other with the balloons. Again, this wasn’t that easy but it sure was fun because we looked extremely funny when dashing from one point to another with the balloons awkwardly placed! I looked kinda stupid trying to retrieve the balloon that dropped while I was dashing over to the other point. [Photo courtesy of Nuffnang]
The 3rd challenge was pretty straightforward. We had to form the longest line using only the items we have on our body. So, I guess there’s no need for a photo for that. 😛
The 4th challenge was to dash to the balloon, turn 5 rounds around it, grab the rubber bands using only the straw, and then dash back to the starting point. I think my team did pretty well for this one. [Photos courtesy of Nuffnang]
Last but not the least, we were required to perform a team cheer that lasted for 30 seconds and well, it was an overall good team effort because everyone gave their best shot for the final challenge! [Photo courtesy of Nuffnang]
The prizes were generously sponsored by Resorts World Genting and as for my team, we won a 2D1N Stay at First World Hotel! 🙂
It was overall a rather fruitful and rewarding trip to Awana Genting. I really would miss the beautiful greenery and cool weather over there. In fact, this trip to Awana Genting has allowed me to make new friends in the Blogosphere, but more than just that, it has also given me one of the rarest opportunity to experience the more adventurous side of Genting. I am really indeed thankful to Nuffnang for selecting me to go on this trip, so kudos to Nuffnang and Awana Genting! & also not forgetting Zul and the rest of the team that made this trip possible for all of us![Photo courtesy of Nuffnang]
I was with the Nuffies for a 2D1N Awana Genting Trip that was generously and graciously sponsored by Genting and the trip was really fun and extraordinary! Ok, just to make my point clear; our trip was unlike the usual Genting Trip. In fact, our Genting Trip was very much in the “wilderness” [the sort you would associate Outward Bound Singapore with].
We were told to report to Golden Mile Complex at 0630 hours and I had to wake up at 0500 hours to prepare myself! Well, it has been a long time since I’ve woken up at hours like these since my army days and so, I cabbed down and was there pretty early.
Having grabbed some light snacks from the nearby Caltex Petrol Kiosk to munch on during the trip, I met up with the Nuffies and we boarded the Five Stars Tours Coach.
Sitting beside me whilst on the way to Genting were two lovely ladies, MeiTing & Michelle! Please don’t get the wrong idea here! All of us are happily attached to our other half 🙂
We had a short stopover at Yong Peng and I got my Malaysia Mobile SIM Card here for RM$30. By the way, the Malaysia SIM Card that I got allows me to make phone calls, send SMS-es, and surf the Internet! For unlimited data access, it would cost RM$8 a day and that is relatively cheap to me because if I were to use Data Roaming via Singtel, it would cost SGD$22 per MB! What a total ripoff right?!
By the way, the Five Stars Tours Coach was rather comfy and offers a rather spacious leg space. I could even lean the seat all the way back as though I’m sleeping on my couch!
The more atas [high-class] Five Stars Tours Coach even has Personal Entertainment, Videos On Demand [VOD], Massage Chair + Snoozer Seats, and even Guide Services.
To energise us after a long journey on the coach, we were treated to a buffet lunch at the Rajawali Coffee House where a wide range of food choices were available for us to choose from.
I had quite a healthy lunch consisting of fruits, desserts, and salad. Didn’t really have the appetite for a heavy lunch especially after the long journey.
Travelling to Sarawak Long House [our camping site] from Awana Genting’s Lobby can be quite a distance. So, we travelled on the mini buggy to get there.
When everyone arrived at the Long House, we were given a short tour around the campsite by Zul! He is a very nice and friendly facilitator throughout our entire stay. [photo courtesy of Nuffnang]
The toilet isn’t as bad as what most people would think. If everyone is cooperative and makes a conscientious effort to aim their pee and clean up the mess, the toilet is actually quite liveable. The only thing which probably irked everyone was the constant flying insects and etc.
And this is the shower area. Many people would think that the showers at the campsites don’t have hot water but well, the shower does come with hot water; which I believe everyone is really thankful for!
Oh, and everyone was pretty thankful that there was power points for us to charge our phones and cameras! Truly a lifesaver indeed! By the way, there are 7 power points and it is definitely not enough. So, if you are heading there anytime soon, it would be wise to bring along a super-long multi-plug!
Since I didn’t expect that there would be power points, I actually bought along my Energizer XP4001 Universal Portable Charger which allowed me to fully charge my iPhone 5 twice! So yeah, I didn’t have to compete with others for the plug. 😛
After touring around the campsite, we broke up into 4 different groups and started the programme proper.
Here’s a photo of my team [Team Duo], consisting of Peishi, Diana, Kelvin, and myself.
We started the ECO Treasure Hunt with the Tangram Puzzle and seriously, it was difficult and complex. Thankfully, my team managed to clear this and all thanks to Peishi for her brilliant mind!
We had to decide for ourselves if time or points was more important. Obviously, the more difficult the puzzle, the more points there are; but that would also mean more time taken to complete the puzzle due to its complexity.
Having completed our first challenge, our second challenge was to locate the ECO Park and complete a physical activity. And so, when we reached the ECO Park, we found out that our second challenge was to get hooked up to the flying fox, and while flying mid-air, drop two golf balls into the hula hoops to gain points.
Following which, our third challenge was to locate the Sunrise and Sunset Complex where the Archery and Wall Climbing are situated; and shoot some arrows + climb some wall.
A photo of MeiTing’s Team at the Archery Range [photo courtesy of Nuffnang]
MeiTing’s team at the Wall Climbing area. [photo courtesy of Nuffnang] I really do miss rock-climbing a lot; since I was quite an active climber in the past!
After the ECO Treasure Hunt, we were all so famished that we could eat a cow! Boy were we glad when it was time for the BBQ Dinner at Pasir Ikan Bakar!
Seriously, the BBQ Dinner was way better than the lunch at Rajawali Coffee House and the food prepared by the Chefs were oh so yummy!
The BBQ Dinner was so fabulous that we really ate a lot! And after dinner, we headed to the campfire area for some lighthearted games like “Passing the Balloon a-la Dare Style”, “Guess the Leader”, “Charades”, and etc.
To kickoff the night activity, we had a group challenge where we had to eat [or literally downed] 2 sticks of Solero Split Ice-Creams and then aim and throw the Ice-Cream Sticks into a box to gain points.
In the end, my team only managed to get 1 Ice-Cream Stick into the box.
Adiji ahdiji ah uh ah, adiji adiji zim bom ba, ah au ah, zim bom ba, rah rah rah! [The campfire certainly reminded me of my camping days in the National Cadet Corps]
Anyways, the weather wasn’t that good when we were there. It was raining on and off and as a result, we had to move to the Long House and continue with the rest of the night activities there. [Photo courtesy of Nuffnang]
The last game we had was Charades and it was really funny because we came out with some really funny moves that were totally unrelated to what we were supposed to act about!
Well, the game of Charades very much ended the night on a high note and the mystical feeling at the Long House was simply stunning with the mists and all. We had a light supper before heading to bed and this very much concluded day 1 of our trip to Awana Genting.
By the time you are reading this Blog entry, I am on a coach to Awana Genting and I will be back on Saturday evening.
I was so elated when I received the news from Nuffnang that I have been selected to go on a sponsored 2 Days 1 Night trip to Awana Genting Highlands Golf & Country Resort [Awana Genting for short]. And well, this is perhaps one of the greatest opportunities that I ever had to rub shoulders with the Elites in the blogosphere.
I believe everyone has heard of Resorts World Genting [RWG for short] and I guess almost everyone I know would have been to RWG at least once or more than that. But if I were to ask how many of you have been to Awana Genting, my guess is only a handful will kee chiu.
A picture of Awana Genting [Credits to Sylistic.Com]
Now, what would I exactly be doing at Awana Genting during the 2D1N trip?
From the Email that I received from Nuffnang, I reckoned that there will be tons of outdoor activities that I will be participating in and some of the activities include an ECO Sport Treasure Hunt, a Campfire, and also a BBQ dinner! What’s more, some of us will be sleeping in Awana Genting Long House while some of us will be sleeping in tents!
Sounds really fun and exciting right? This upcoming trip will definitely remind me of my good ol’ camping days in the National Cadet Corps.
Anyhows, being the curious person that I am, I went to “Google” and see if I could find any information about the trip and I chanced upon a few blogs by Malaysian Bloggers whom participated in the trip that was previously organised. While I’m not entirely sure if my itinerary is the same as theirs; I could tell that they really had a lot of fun during the trip.
Since it’s a 2D1N trip, I intend to travel light and here’s what I packed:
1X Insect Repellent
1X Compact Camera and Spare Batteries
1X Torch Light
1X Portable Charger
2X Set of Clothings
1X Mobile Phone
1X Set of Toiletries
1X Towel
I’m not very sure if there will be a stopover at Yong Peng but if there is, I will probably pop by and purchase a Data SIM Card for me to surf the Internet and keep in touch with everyone via Whatsapp, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. So meanwhile, stay tuned and happy weekends everyone!
Hello Everyone,
today, I will be blogging about our recent Kelong Trip (Part 2) and in this particular blog entry, we will be sharing with you what we did at the Kelong and the many photos that we took at the Kelong itself.
As mentioned in our previous blog entry (Part 1), the Kelong offers loads of photo opportunities and hence, both baby and I seized the chance to take lots of self-shots!
Here are photos of me [taken by Baby] using the natural surroundings as the backdrop.
and here are photos of Baby [taken by myself]. As you can see from the photos, I’m not a great photographer and I do have loads to learn about photography. Are there any willing photography master/shifu whom is willing to accept me as an apprentice for the next 3 months?
While Baby was going around to take more photographs, I decided to go fishing for fishes. If you ask any seasoned Kelong-goers why they enjoy going to Kelongs, they will only have one thing to tell you; that is, to fish! As it was our first time there, I thought the Kelong would provide fishing rods like these…
but I was given this [with squids as baits]…so, if you’re planning to fish at the Kelong, you might want to consider bringing your own fishing rod. I was told that some Kelongs actually rented out fishing rods but apparently at this one, they don’t.
Seriously, I didn’t even managed to catch any fishes during our trip to the Kelong and according to the seasoned Kelong-goers, it was not a good day to fish as most of them didn’t really catch much fishes except for some small ones. So there I was waiting…
this was the biggest catch of the day and it was caught by Baby’s uncle. The intense look on his face shows that he was determined not to let the fish go without putting up a fight.
and do you know how the insides of the fish looks like? It looks like this.! I’m not sure if those things that are pricking out are the teeth but I assume it is.
while all these fishing action was happening, Baby went around shooting some rather scenic photos that I find worth sharing on this blog. If you’re a professional photographer and you happen to chance upon this blog entry, we really would appreciate if you could take some time off to write a few comments and let us know what you think of the following photographs.
Because it was raining on and off, we weren’t able to fish throughout and so, we either chatted away or took a nap. Behind the scenes, these two really nice chaps were preparing dinner for us.
As our camera battery died, we didn’t manage to capture any photos of the superb seafood dinner that we had but we did took a couple of evening/night shots of the Kelong.
As Baby and I were literally drained and physically tired, we actually turned in early and missed out on the BBQ seafood supper. So, there’s isn’t much photos that we took for the evening. In the next part of our Kelong Trip blog entry [Part 3], we will be sharing with you what we did on the final day, conclude the entire Kelong Trip, and share with you our own personal opinions on whether you should embark on a Kelong Trip [though I guess by now, you would have a rough gauge/feel as to whether you should embark on a Kelong Trip].
Hello Everyone,
this is one of the long-awaited blog post that most of you readers have been waiting for and now that I have already uploaded all the photos for our Kelong Trip on Google+, it is now time for me to introduce you to this unique place that Baby and I went to during the Hari Raya long weekend last month.
As there are more than 131 photos that we took during the Kelong Trip, I will be dividing the blog post into 3 different parts and I will also be featuring some photos which I personally feel are great shots [using the Canon Powershot S100 Camera] taken by Baby and I.
In preparation for the trip, all Baby and I brought along were a backpack containing the following essential items:
2 Sets of Clothings [one for night, one for the next day] Toiletries [shampoo, shower gel, toothpaste, toothbrush] 2 Body Towels
We also brought along other items like camera, camera battery charger, handphone charger, newspaper, and some snacks/tidbits.
For this trip, the cost per person is $60 [inclusive of return boat rides, 1X seafood dinner, 1X bbq seafood supper, 1X breakfast, and lodging for 1 night]. Just a point to note, there are many Kelongs in Malaysia but the one that we went to was Chia Soon Kelong [located somewhere at Pasir Gudang, Malaysia].
To get to the Kelong from Singapore, you will have to take the boat from the Changi Ferry Terminal [the one where bumboats also go to Pulau Ubin] to the Pasir Gudang Port. As mentioned, due to the large numbers of photos taken, part 1 of this blog entry would be mainly about our journey to the Chia Soon Kelong.
Here are some photos of the Changi Ferry Terminal with all the bumboats.
I don’t know if we’re really growing too old for this sort of thrills but when the boat kept jerking from side to side, we were so afraid that it might capsize anytime. Just look at Baby’s reluctant face for a photo.
When we finally reached the port/customs, we were so glad we made it in one piece. But to our horror, we weren’t going to take the same boat to the Kelong. In fact, we had to switch to a sampan speed boat instead! Sorry ah, Baby and I really too old for this sorta stuffs liao so must understand.
It was pretty amazing I managed to overcome my fear of the sampan speedboat, so much so that I captured a video of us on the speedboat! Here’s just a 30 seconds clip of us on the speedboat. Just look at the sea and see how fast we travelled!
After the rather exhilarating speedboat ride, we caught the first sight of the Kelong from afar.
And so we arrived at Chia Soon Kelong, the place we are gonna call home for 1 night. Looks and sounds abit depressing but well, it was our first time experiencing life on a Kelong and its pretty amazing that Baby and I were so adventurous enough to explore the more rustic side of life.
When we arrived, we took a mini tour around the Kelong and here’s where we would be putting up for the night. The accommodations are really basic so don’t expect anything fanciful. Also, the cubicles are separated by a thin wooden partition and the only sort of privacy you would get would be the curtains that you can draw across [which isn’t really any helpful anyway]. So, for you naughty couples, please don’t try any sort of hanky panky unless you want to offer some free show to other people on board.
and if you’re wondering where all your poops and pee goes to, it goes right out to the sea where you fish the fish you eat. So, I wonder if anyone is going to abstain from eating seafood now that I’ve mentioned this.
and being a dog-lover myself, I happily hopped across to the other side [which was a wrong move] and met up with all the dogs whom happily thought I was a female and kept humping my legs.
In case you’re wondering if there are any form of entertainment available, yes there is! In fact, they have a television, a karaoke set, mahjong table, and poker cards for you to watch, sing, and play all you want. But honestly, the purpose of going to a Kelong is to fish!, not watch, sing, and play.
So here’s the blog entry [part 1] of our Kelong Trip. Do stay tuned to part 2 and part 3 of our Kelong Trip where we will share with you the wonderful sights that we saw, and the activities that we did at the Kelong! If you have never experienced living in a Kelong before, this is one blog entry you must read so that you can decide for yourself if you would like to experience the more rustic side of life that nature can offer.
