Friday, July 18, 2014

Ramadhan Buffet Dinner @ The Eatery, Four Points by Sheraton Penang‏

Other than E&O hotel, there are some other hotels that offer Ramadhan Buka Puasa meals for all our muslim friends.
Opened for less than a year, as one of the top hotel in Penang,  Four Points by Sheraton Penang is offering Ramadan Buffet for the first time.
The Ramadan Buffet dinner is priced at RM 78++ per pax, as for children aged from 3 - 12 years old will be entitled for a 50% discount.
The dishes are vary from day to day, so that all the chefs can bring out their different specialties and giving their customers different surprises everyday.

The Ramadhan Buffet by Four Points is available from 29th of June until 28th of July, priced at RM 78.00++ per pax, additional discounts with certain bank credit cards.

This is my first time in Four Points by Sheraton for food review, The eatery is the name of their restaurant, you can dine while enjoying the sea view here, kinda relax though


The swimming pool is also located next to The eatery, this is also a nice place to stay as they also have private access to the beach.

Bubur Lambuk & Sup Ekor is what you will usually find in most of the Ramadhan Buffet Dinner, and Four Points also have their very own Bubur Lambuk that is different from other hotels. The Bubur Lambuk can taste different depending on how the chef cook it and the ingredients that they add. 


There are various Malay dishes for the buffet, I'm pretty sure that it will suit Malaysian.

Kari Ikan, quite a must for Ramadhan dishes though, it all depends of what type of curry you cook with.
In fact I really like the chef's cooking style of frying the fish before cooking it.

Ayam Rendang, it was quite good and not too spicy for me. The mixture of the herbs are just nice that this dish tasted well. 

Ikan Masak Kicap is one of the best dish for that night. I really like the chef fried fishes to crisp and then only cook with soy sauce. Kinda great to include this dish into their Ramadhan buffet though

Daging Masak Kurma, Kurma is one of my favourite curry, but due to I don't take beef, I didn't try this dish.
But it really attracts me, and I have the strong urge to try the curry though. How I wish that it was lamb so that I can try this!


Kai Lan Ikan Masin, they don't have much choices for vegetable, but this one is really good as they have added some salted fish into the dish. I'm also glad that the vegetables are not overcooked which is commonly happened in most of the hotels buffet as they keep heating it to keep it warm.

Sayur Campuran, there are mushrooms, corns and other vegetables in this dish and it is kinda chinese style though. That's another vegetable dish in the Ramadhan Buffet. 


Tempura Prawns and Calamari Rings, look kinda unusual in Ramadhan buffet right? But the chef mixed some of his own specialties in the buffet dinner to make it more varieties. And that is why you may find all sorts of Asian delights in their Ramadhan buffet.


Mussels! One of my favourite! I just realized that Kepah can also refer to Mussels, and this dish is called Kepah Masak Kunyit, which is rather good to keep the mussels juicy while absorbing the yellow ginger sauce herbs sauce.

Ayam Masak Gulai, also one of my favourite dish of the night. Curry chicken is always my favourite dish whenever I visit economy rice stall, and the curry chicken here just suit my taste and I like it.

Udang Masak Gulai, I personally find that this dish was a bit too spicy. But anyway, I don't really take much of this because I'm just lazy to remove the prawn shells. 

Daging Apor, I don't take beef so I didn't try this either.

Terung Belacan, I really like brinjal but I find that it was a little bit overcooked. 

Other than those Malay dishes, they also have like soup noodles and other appetizers.

The appetizers and sauce are vary, some special ones are like Sambal Tempoyak, Sambal Hijau, Cincaluk and etc.



Ulam Raja, I think that it is a must for every buffet dinner.

Prawn crackers and other crackers, another favourite of the night

Fresh fruits, I'm surprised to find that they also have like Rambutan, dragon fruits and a lot of other fruits are also available here.

Toppings for Ice Cream

They also have like nyonya kuih and pastries.
But I find that it is not much of varieties, they could have remove some of the fruits and add more desserts into their buffet.


Kurma, Kuih Kapit and other Malay snacks

They also have drinks that what our muslim friends will serve whenever we attend to their Open House party during Raya.

Mixed Fruit Cocktail, one of the bloggers' favourite drink of the night.


Other than the dessert corner, everything is good at The Eatery. 
I do hope that I would have another chance to review at their buffet again, not just the Ramadhan Buffet.
There's an additional 6% charge for the government tax.

The Eatery @ Four Points by Sheraton
Address: 505, Jalan Tanjung Bungah, 11200, Penang.
Contact No: 604- 371 8888
GPS: 5.354004, 100.3630021
Maps

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Hopping Around Eagle Island, Langkawi

Pulau Langkawi is a beautiful island that filled with tourist attractions.
Beautiful beaches, cheap chocolates, party nights, and many many more.
Pulau Langkawi is a place for you to holiday, to relax, to enjoy, a perfect place for a short getaway.
I've been to this place when I was a child, therefore I don't have much memories about there.

On March this year, I've decided to go back again for the 2nd time of my life, and to explore this island on my own for the first time.
The tickets to Langkawi from Penang is RM60.00 nett per journey, if you were to buy 2 ways ticket it will be RM115.00, slightly cheaper.
There's only 2 boats a day from Penang, which is at 8:15am or 8:30am, and from Langkawi is at 2:30pm or 5:15pm.
A selfie inside the boat, it was actually very cold and yet I was wearing a singlet

Each journey will takes you about 4 hours, and you don't have to worry about food cause there are snacks, sandwiches, cup noodles and beverages available for purchase inside the boat. Toilets and smoking areas are also available on the boat, and please bring a jacket or something cause air conditioning is pretty strong.

You can also go up to the top of the boat, and this is where people smoke

Tickets can be purchase at https://langkawi-ferry.com/home/schedule.aspx
Or you may contact their sales counter at
Ticketing Counter Tel. No:
Penang : 604-2642088 (Hunting)
Langkawi : 604-9663779

The moment I arrived at Langkawi Port, the first thing to do is to walk to Dataran Lang a.k.a Langkawi Eagle Square.
This is one of the main attraction in Langkawi Island, some people may ask: Why Eagle?
I'll leave this question for you to find out, the moment you step on this island and you will know the answer.

The mighty Eagle Statue that stand strong at Langkawi Eagle Square

It is located beside Langkawi port, so you can walk to there directly after you get down from the boat.

Langkawi Eagle Square
Entrance Fee: Free
Operating hours: Available all the time
GPS: 6.307674, 99.852829

Next, we rented a car nearby the Jetty, the cars from this car rental company is rather affordable or consider cheap in this island, but what matter most if to be safe and not to be cheated.
My cousin was previously conned by another car rental company, they didn't get to see the car and they got charged when they returned the car for car damaged but they didn't do anything to the car.
I've rented a Honda City for a day at only RM80, and of course you need to pay additional money for the deposit. I would recommend this car rental company to all my friends and readers, it is pretty good that they also can pick up the car from airport as I will fly back instead of taking the boat back. And it is without any additional charges.

It is called SAMAVESTour, they have all range of cars from MPV to small cars like Perodua Kelisa or Viva. All at affordable and reasonable price.

The Honda City that I drove, and what I matter most was the air conditioning system, but the car really performed well. I'm all satisfied!

Our first stop was the Galeria Perdana, it is a museum that opened by Malaysia's Ex Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir

Extrance fee is RM 5.00 per adult and RM 2.00 for per child with MyKad, RM 10.00 and RM4.00 without MyKad. 
Extra charges of RM2.00 for bringing in every camera and RM5.00 for video camera.

This place been established since 1995, full with antiques that obtained by Malaysia and mostly by Dr. Mahathir when he was still a Prime Minister. All the antiques are mostly from the leaders of other countries.
 For more photos of the Gallery, you may visit my photobucket album at http://s167.photobucket.com/user/jjzai/library/Galeria%20Perdana%20Langkawi%20Island

Galeria Perdana
Address: Galeria Perdana Jalan Ayer Hangat, Mukim Kilim, 07000 Langkawi Kedah Darul Aman
Operating hours: Daily 8:30am to 5:30pm, School and Public holidays 8:30am to 6:00pm
Entrance Fee: Adult RM 5.00(With MyKad), RM 10.00(Without MyKad)
                      Children RM 2.00(With MyKad), RM 4.00(Without MyKad)
Extra charges: Every camera RM 2.00, Video camera RM5.00
Email : najibadnan@jmm.gov.my
Contact No:  04-959 1498
GPS: 6.403012, 99.853872

After the tour at the museum, we headed to HIG Kompleks HIG for some chocolate shopping, buying chocolate is a must in Langkawi, because it is tax free and all the chocolates here are cheap!


Bought a lot of chocolates! One trolley full!

Total here around RM400+




Next, we headed to hotel for check in.
I have booked The Cabin Langkawi, cabin concept hotel, every cabin has got 2 rooms.
It was RM 169.00 for a double room per night, a little bit overpriced to me.
The hotel was a bit out of maintenance, the toilet was a disaster as it was flood whenever you bath.
Anyway, here are some photos of the hotel.

The Cabin Langkawi, the location was quite ideal as it is just 5 minutes walk from the Cenang Beach

The surrounding are kinda peaceful with lots of plants, fresh air too

This is how the cabin hotel looks like, one cabin has got two rooms

Simple bed, but they are actually putting 2 beds together to form a queensize bed instead of a piece of queensize bed, kinda dissapointed with this.

A small area infront of the room for you to chill or smoke

The bathroom is simple, but a bit under maintenance, clogged sink and drain.

The fridge was a disaster, I cleaned it up myself before I use it to store my chocolates

The Cabin Langkawi
Address: Jalan Pantai Chenang, 07000 Langkawi, Kedah
Contact No: 012-417 8499
Room rates: RM169++
Website: http://www.thecabin.com.my/
GPS: 6.288787,99.728318

After that, we headed out to Langkawi Underwater World, one of the main tourist attraction in Langkawi Island. 

Underwater World is located at Cenang Beach too, it is like 5 minutes walk from The Cabin Langkawi.

There are Penguins! So damn cute!

Lots of fishes and also birds, for more pictures please visit:
http://s167.photobucket.com/user/jjzai/library/Underwater%20World%20Langkawi?sort=3&page=1

Underwater World Langkawi
Address: Pantai Cenang, Mukim Kedawang, 07000 Pantai Cenang
Operating hours: Daily 10:00am - 6:00pm, School / Public Holidays 9:30am - 6:30pm
Contact No: 04-955 6100
Entrance Fee: Adult RM 40.00(Without MyKad), RM 30.00(With MyKad)
                      Children RM 30.00(Without MyKad), RM 20.00(With MyKad)
                      Senior Citizen RM 24.00 (With MyKad)
GPS: 6.286911,99.729359

We got very hungry when the sun going to set. So we headed to the nearest seafood restaurant. This restaurant is called Orkid Ria Seafood Restaurant.
Through my researched on the internet and saw some blogs, I think this is the place that got more good reviews, but the meal was surprisingly disappointed. 
The staffs will treat you like totally transparent, I sat there for like 10 minutes but nobody gives a damn to take my order nor send me their menu. They do not attend attend to you unless you call for them.
They are also rude as when I asked them to introduce about any signature dishes and they just ignored my questions and ask me to see the whole menu.

The seafood are not cheap too, but they have already listed their price so they won't simply charge

Fried Vegetable with Oyster Sauce 蚝油菜旦
RM10.00
This dish is seriously too salty for me, I'm someone who can really take salty food but this is just too much, but luckily the vegetable is fresh enough and kinda crunchy. If you were to order this, ask them not to make it so salty.

Butter Prawns
RM 18.00
The prawns are not fresh anymore, guess this is the quality of prawns they would use for this dish then. One word, disappointed

Szilling Oyster
RM 10.00
This is something like Fried Oyster in Penang, but it is really too watery, and the oysters are not fresh, they have some kind of weird smell when I had this.

Salted Egg Crab
RM 40.00 for 2 crabs
The salted egg crab tasted not bad, but it is really disappointing that the crab is not fresh.
Guess you should not really come to this restaurant, as I heard that there's one Thai Seafood Restaurant nearby which is much better and cheaper too. 

Orkid Ria Seafood Restaurant
Address: Lot 1225, Pantai Cenang, Mukim Kedawang, 07100 Langkawi, Kedah
Contact No: 04-955 4128
Business hour: Daily 12:00 - 3:00pm, 6:00pm - 11:00pm
GPS: 6.295602,99.72378

After the dinner, we head back to hotel for a rest.
I went out for some drinks later on, the place that I went for drink was Low Wrong Bar, Pantai Cenang.
This place was really good as it is just next to the beach, you can enjoy your seaview while having your drinks.

And the bar tender and waiters are very friendly and helpful too

The cocktails are only RM10.00 nett for a glass, they use only plastic cups here, beers are available too

There's also a barbeque stall next to the bar, you can order the food from them too.
The food here is a bit costly though, but they are really good.
Especially the jumbo sausages!

Drink in Langkawi is really too good, all the alcohol here are pretty cheap as they are all tax free. 
You may also buy some alcohol, whisky or liquor from Langkawi at very reasonable price. 
The first day of Langkawi ended just like that, it was a great night with cheap drinks and live bands around.

Day 2
Woke up kinda early in the morning so that we are able to visit more places before we head to the airport.
Breakfast was included in the roomrates, so we had some quick breakfast in the hotel cafeteria. Nothing much, the hotel only provide simple breakfast, and we checked out from our hotel right after breakfast.

There are few more places to visit before we fly back to Penang, so we dropped by at Kota Mahsuri Langkawi, which is also the Tomb of Princess Mahsuri, one of the legend in Langkawi

 Kota Mahsuri is quite secluded in this island, you have to follow your GPS or carefully look at the road signs

There are lots to see in this museum, entry fee per adult is RM 7.00


This is the Tomb of Princess Mahsuri, for more please visit:
http://s167.photobucket.com/user/jjzai/library/Kota%20Mahsuri%20Langkawi

Kota Mahsuri Langkawi
Address: Kota Mahsuri, Kampung Mawat, Mukim Ulu Melaka, 07000, Langkawi, Kedah Darul Aman.
Contact No:  +604 955 6055
Operating hours: Daily 8:00pm - 6:00pm
GPS: 6.33872, 99.784158

After the visit, it comes to the last spot of this Langkawi short tour.
It is to visit the Sky Bridge and take the SkyCab to get to the top of the hill.

Standing at the top of the place was rather chilling.

Unfortunately the SkyBridge is still closed for maintenance until further notice, don't get to stand on it then.

I only took a picture with it, the only thing I can do



There are some nice spots for great scene during certain hours too

The views are breathtaking, you gotta go up to experience it yourself!

SkyCab @ Langkawi
Address: Panorama Langkawi, Langkawi Cable Car, Oriental Village, 
              Jalan Teluk Burau, 07000 Langkawi, Kedah Darul Aman, Malaysia.
Contact No: 604-959 4225 / 1225
Operating hours: Monday, Tuesday & Thursday 10:00am - 7:00pm
                          Wednesday 12:00pm - 7:00pm
                          Friday, Saturday & Sunday 9:30am - 7:00pm
GPS: 6.3683085, 99.7776744
Ticketing fees are vary and comes with package, entrance with MyKad will entitled a 50% discount for normal price tickets please refer 

That's the sum of my whole Langkawi trip, it was really short but it was rather packed and fun.
I wouldn't mind going back to Langkawi again because there are much more places to visit.