10000 views!

Teh:

We hit 10000 views! From the start of this blog till now (at least a good 1.5 years), we managed to hit 10000 views. Amazing! We would like to thank you for your relentless clicking, your curiosity, your resilience and of course not forgetting the ever hardworking spam bots!

Not sure if you remember, but getting 10k hits was one of my resolution for this year. Now that it has been achieved, i need to set a new resolution. I was at a course recently and the trainer said we should set goals first, then think about how we can achieve them. Instead of setting realistic goals that we think we can achieve. So just a random figure off my head, how about 100 000 hits by the end of 2014? If those popular bloggers can get a few thousand hits a day, i think 100 000 hits by the end of 2014 should not be a problem for Lim and I? There i go again, setting a goal i think i can achieve =p Or 100 000 hits by end of 2013? Now how in the world are we going to achieve that? That'll be something to think about for a few days!

On a side note, i managed to catch the musical "The Phantom of the Opera" on Friday. Without giving too much away, i want to tell you i loved the sets. The singing was pitch perfect and frankly, quite amazing. You should try to go catch it if you can! 

On an even further side note, i still have a soft spot for "Wicked", especially the songs "For Good" and "Defying Gravity".

100 000 hits, here we come!

Trip to Kuala Lumpur

Teh:

Recently i gathered my friends for a weekend getaway trip to KL. Here's what we did. We hopped onto a no frills coach and zoomed our way up to KL. We stayed in Jalan Bintang area (a shopping stretch). It was basically an urban shopping, eating an drinking trip. The coach, hotel and travel insurance only cost us $140. What?! Yes, only $140 for 3D2N no frills getaway. What are you waiting for?

I booked our coach ride at www.easibook.com. It lets you see the bus schedules, pick up and drop off point. It was hassle free. You have an option to buy your travel insurance at the same time if you want. We took "Starmart" coach. The coach was comfortable. No cramped at all. But there is no entertainment on the coach. We saw Sri Maju buses had individual TV at their seats but i'm not sure if they are switched on.

First you book your tickets via the website. Print out the confirmation slip. On the day of departure, arrive 30 minutes before departure time to get your bus and seat numbers from the coach company located inside Golden Mile Tower (Do not go to Golden Mile Complex, the one with 5 starts travel). We booked the 8am coach. We arrived at 7.30am, got our numbers and waited out at the main entrance for the bus. We were lucky to be able to board an earlier bus to KL because it still had available seats. We went by the 2nd link (Tuas). The coach only made 1 rest stop during the journey (not at Yong Peng! So eat your breakfast first if possible). The entire ride from Golden Mile Tower to KL (including customs time) was around 5.5 hours. We alighted outside Berjaya Times Square along the road where the Starmart Kiosk is. That is the same place to board the bus back to Singapore.

We stayed at Sky Hotel. It is very near Berjaya Times Square but abit tricky to get to. Nevertheless, with the help of the locals and my faint memory from 2 years ago, we still made it to the hotel in good time. It is a no frills hotel. The walls are abit thin though. We could hear people talking along the corridor and doors closing at night. For S$70 a night in "KL Orchard road", i think it's a good bargain since free wifi is included in the room! Here's how the rooms look like:

Our hotel was very near Jalan Alor. The zichar food stretch! Tons of stalls there. I introduced my friends to this zichar stall. I patronised this place the last 2 times i went to KL. The food is reasonable priced and the lady boss is friendly. It is somewhere in the middle of the whole stretch. Four of 4 had salted egg squid (nice!), kang kong, chilli clams, hotplate tofu with salted fish (nice!), spring onion and ginger pork. RM70 only!

Jalan Alor Zichar Stall

We also tried the lok lok on the 2nd night we were there. It is basically food on skewers that you choose. They can be boiled, deep fried or BBQ. You are supposed to eat them with chilli sauce, satay sauce or sweet sauce. Quite a new experience. Diff colour sticks are priced differently. We had about 27 sticks in all. It cost RM 70. Same price as our zichar dinner!

Jalan Alor Lok Lok

We had breakfast at Berjaya Times Square on the 2nd morning we were there. This cafe call "Rasa Utura" served really good nasi lemak with a coffee/tea for RM 7.90. Shiok! There is free wifi too!

It was quite a good weekend getaway doing what Singaporeans love - Eat and Shop. But you know what? My heart is still in Phuket~~~~

P/S: A word of caution. Avoid dodgy looking people who seems to be headed your way intentional. Always becareful of your belongings and try not to walk too close to anyone who isn't a tourist!

New Udon Thai Food - Mookata!

Teh:

Yesterday after alighting from the coach from KL (another story soon!) i was at New Udon Thai Food (5001 Beach Road, Golden Mile Complex. Opens daily.) to try their Mookata. Sorry i didn't take any pictures. I was too hungry to think about anything other than cooking them eat and eating them! If you are curious about how the place looks like, try googling. There are plenty of pictures out there.

Here's my two cents worth:
We arrived on a monday evening at 7pm. The place was about 3/4 full. There were still plenty of seats available. A set of $39 comes with the following: slices of hotdog, squid, pork liver, marinated chicken and pork, 5 prawns, crabsticks, fishballs, white cabbage, kang kong, chinese celery, xiao bai cai, tang hoon, 2 eggs. There is no other ala carte dishes you can choose from. So you either eat the set or you get out. You can pay to top up food if there aren't enough to eat. There were 3 of us eating, i felt the portion was just nice. We shared a bowl of rice. Yes, 3 ladies trying to cut down on our carbos but loading on the meat. lol.

While i think the meat marinate pales in comparison to Tom Yum Kungfu's, i quite like the wide variety and the tasty soup they have. They made the effort to de-shell and cut open the prawns' body (Head and tail still intact! Black intestine stuff removed. Alot of effort required). But no tom yum instant noodles here. Bummer. The clear soup at the end of the meal was quite tasty nevertheless. Maybe it is just my love for instant noodles.... Oh one more thing, they use a fire stove instead of charcoals =(

Be prepare to smell like bbq food after having your meal there. I do not suggest walking around or hanging out elsewhere after eating.

Verdict: Tom Yum Kungfu (http://comingsoonlah.blogspot.sg/2012/03/food-review-tom-yum-kungfu-boat-quay.html) is still my first choice but i don't mind coming back here again if i'm in the area when the mookata mood strikes.