Reading a book = Zen!

To me, finish reading a book within 2 days (about 300 pages) can be something I called "achievement" as I have never cultivate such hobby since young. I do read once a while but I hardly finish reading a book or it may take months just to complete one.  But lately something strange that have never happened to me before. I begin to find the joy of choosing books in the library and especially love the quietness inside. For the past weeks, after dinner I put on my glasses and start reading all the way before I go to bed. To my surprise, I finished 2 good books (to me) within 3 days. Big Achievement! Hahaha...

I been thinking, why I am changing? I conclude aging could be one of the biggest reasons. I seems to be more patience these days (hope so.. haha..) and really like the "zen" feeling when I indulge in my reading.

By the way, I love true stories or Biography.

Even though I am not the biggest fan of Michael Jackson. I must say after reading this book, I kind of feeling sorry for him because he was too popular and talented.

This book is really inspiring and she is definitely a very brave and funny lady. I have not laughed so much while reading for a long time.

This is what I am reading now. Need lots of patience!!! I will try....

Malacca!!!

Life has been rather flat and uneventful for the past few months. So last week I decided to take a 4 hours coach from Singapore to this little town in Malaysia called Malacca. Honestly, Malaysia is never in my list when I think about having a break but I must admit this trip was rather a good break for me.

Upon arriving the main tourist attaction (Jonker Street area) where we were alighted from the coach and since it was only 12pm, my first thought will be "Lunch Time! There are many restaurants and coffeeshops serving the famous "Chicken rice balls", and what caught my eyes was this red ancient chinese temple selling Chicken rice and we ordered whatever the waitress suggested. But I was disappointed as I think I have better chicken rice in Singapore. Maybe this is not the best one in Malacca. Price S$11.60 for 2 persons

If I get a chance to try the chicken rice in Malacca again. This will be the one. Apparently, there is always queue during lunch time.

One of the highlight that I always look forward to is the hotel stay. This time it will be the famous Majestic Hotel . What I was told by the coach guide, long time ago this hotel used to be a residence of a rich Chinese businessman family in Malacca. It was one of the first hotel in Malacca and now it has become a small luxury hotel.  

While approaching the lobby, a doorman opened the glass door with a friendly big smile. Immediately, a front desk officer and few other staffs welcome us and lead us to the couch for check-in. That was really a nice touch and it all done within 10 mintues. I did also realised that there was this very pleasant smell throughout the whole hotel area.

 There were some display of different kind of teas that produced in Malaysia. Boh tea is the biggest brand there.



A small library for some quiet reading and they do serve High-tea from 3pm to 6pm. One of the disappointment was, the free wi-fi is only available at the lobby area.



After checking in, a young japanese porter holding a small basket leaded us to our room. Once the door is opened, he opened up the basket and served us a pot of chinese tea. Which I think is quite an unique way of serving welcome drink. Cheer!!!

The room was really impressive and a comfortable size for 2. But what shocked me was I know when my neigbours were using the toilets as the running water or flushing sound was really loud.

Bath tub is really nice especially after a long day of walking. Water pressure superb! 

Majestic hotel do provide free biscuits in the library in big glass containers and I did witness some guests scooped a handful before heading to their room. These biscuits were really my childhood snack, so memorable. 

When we were ready to explore Malacca at around 4pm suddenly it rained so heavily. So with no other choice we decided to try the High Tea at the library. Mmmm.. The savoury hot pastries like curry puffs etc were worth to mention but the rest like cakes etc still need alot of improvement.  Price is about S$15 each.

This should be one of the landmark in Malacca.

One of the most beautiful part of Malacca is you get a chance to try local delicacies that prepared in such cart. This Po Piah stall was really good. $3.50MYR each. The secret ingredient is the pork lard. Whuu... delicious!!!

Peranakan food is what you shouldn't miss in Malacca and there are many choices to be spoiled with. I decided to try Nancy Kitchen (around Jonker Street area) as it is one of the best in town according to the coach guide. We have ordered about 5 dishes all in small size (but more than sufficient for 2) together with 2 drinks and white rice. Price S$20 for 2. This was the most delicious lunch I had in Malacca. Queue can be scary during Saturday and Sunday for lunch. Beware!

Otah! So yummy!

Is like Chicken Redang. Really... good!

Try to explore those small lanes as it can be really surprising. This is a Chinese Tea House. 

This local snack (rather sweet to me), is actually a very sticky Gula Melaka (Palm sugar). I was offered a small sampling potion and it quite nice. But I don't understand how the kids who bought it in a plastic tub ate it like snack.

In conclusion, Malacca is not a very big place but the journey there is not worth to stay just a night.  So I think at leasts 2 nights is more than enough. Malacca is getting more popular and crowded especially tourists from Singapore (since it is only 3 hours drive from Johor) during weekend. Throughout the whole trip I can see lots of constructions and upgrading so I think is a good sign. Good Luck Malacca!!!

"Ameizing" Taipei !!! Part 3

During this trip, thanks to our good friend recommendation. We had such a wondering lunch at this restaurant called Oregano. This Italian restaurant provide such high standard of services that no doubt I have to come back again in my next trip. Though it is not easy to locate and reservation is a must, it is definitely worth it to have a meal here if you happen to visit Taipei. Initially, I thought it will be quite expensive due to the decoration and the ambiance but to my unimaginable surprise. A set lunch cost less than S$15, which include a soup, a main course and a dessert. The point is, the food is really in good standard. Is too good to be true!

Spinach soup with fresh bread.

Lasagna. The portion is huge.

Chocolate tart

I forgot what is this but it is really good.. that is all I remember.

The famous 101 Towel. Apparently, I feel that the exterior of this towel is more fascinating than the shops inside. I mean around 101 Towels there are others shopping malls which provide more choices of local and foreign brands. This area is big enough to spend at least a day if you are a hardcore shopper.

Luili Gong Fan is about 20 minutes walk from the 101 Towel and it is not easy to find. At the moment, there are construction just in front of this outlet. And I was told there are building a concert stadium and hotels around there.

Sadly, there isn't many display of the Luili art work but it is quite a nice place to chill and have coffee or meals with a big group.

Don't forget to check out the washroom! It is quite a piece of art and I am sure you will feel like a super star when you are inside.

Yes! This is the main reason we organised this Taipei trip. This is the first time I attended Ah Mei Concert in Taipei Arena, Xiao Ju Dan. Taiwanese are such good audiences and the energy was dynamic through out the whole show. Of course, Ah Mei concert is always entertaining and powerful. I would love to attend her concert in Taipei again.

My Taiwanese friend told me that Ah Mei concert tickets was sold out in just 2 hours. And in total there were 7 shows and added more because of overwhelming respond. Ameizing sounded really appropriate.  

ATT and Fun is one of the newest shopping mall in Taipei. It is near to the 101 Towel and well linked with other mega shopping like the Mitsukoshi etc.

I know I will definitely come back to Taipei again but keep wondering when will that be. I am sure there are more to explore in my next trip and I really can't wait....

"Ameizing" Taipei!!! Part 2

Jiu Fen is a very popular mountain for tourists. According to my friend, she said this place has the most consolidation of Taiwanese ancient and well known brands of goodies. So it is a place not to be missed.

Jiu Fen is very easy to reach, take a MRT to Zhong Siao station, exit E and look for a bus stop that written 1602 or 1620 (if I can still remember correctly). Anyway, if you don't know the direction just go to any MRT control station for enquiry and you will know how to figure that out. Public bus journey is about 1 hour.
It is best to reach Jui Fen around 1030am (I think most shops should be open by then), take your time to enjoy sampling and shopping of the goodies, have lunch there and travel back down from the mountain before 2pm. The reason is when I arrived at 230pm it was already very crowded. And due to the old road which is very narrow, lots of package tour buses and cars it easily caused a huge traffic jam. Seats for the public buses are limited and no passagers are allow to stand for whole journey (in Taiwan traffic rule, buses using the highway, passagers are not allow to stand). We waited for almost 30 minutes to catch the bus back to the Taipei city due to long queue.

This yam dumpling with different colours and favours in hot or cold soup is so common in this mountain.

This is the first yummy that caught my attention. It is a freshly deep fried prawn ball.

It is sizzling hot. It goes so well with the prickles and chilly sauce. I am drooling again...

You walk, you see and then munch... then it starts all over again... hahaha

This is another local snack that I cannot miss when I am in Taipei. Muachi! It is so soft, light and not too sweet. And I can have a few in one go. These days they have some many flavours, strawberry, blueberry, greentea, yam, lemon etc. Tips: it never taste as good when you buy them back. Infact, I think the freshness can only last 2 days. I used to buy a few boxes home but it turned hard and chewy after 2 days.

What a simple delicacy! It goes really well with Tea.

You can see lots of local crafts and toys too.

This is something I have not tried before and it is really creative and interesting. A thin layer of crepe (pohpiah) wrap with coriander leaf, sprinkle with lots of peanuts and a scoop of ice cream. Our eyes were wide opened with a big smile when we have our first bite. So delicious. 

That is a huge block of peanut cube and it is scrap out only when it is needed. That is why, everything tasted so delicious and fresh. Keep it up, Taiwan! 

I didn't get a chance to try this. Apparently, it is like our Suen Kwey (Teochew) but instead of raddish it is wrap with red dates.

These are tins of local famous brand peanuts and crackers. 

The barbecue mushroom is one of my favourite. It tasted amazingly like Squids. Again it is very easy to prepare, barbecue mushroom and sprinkle some chilly powder and salt. That's it! It feels like a treat! Trust me, once you pick up the first piece with a toothpick, you just don't know how to stop until you can't find anymore in your cup. Thumbs up!!!

Once it is cooked, it is cut into big chunk and served in a cup.

Ru Rou Fan (minced pork with rice). This is what I called Taiwan national dish. It is so easy to find this in any part of the country. Sadly to say, my friend who ordered this do not really like it. He complaint that the rice was too wet and soft. Pity!

I was so happy when I saw this, homemade Winter Mellon Drinks. My body weakest part is my throat, everytime when I eat too much deep fried or chilly etc, anything that can caused heatiness my sore throat will say Hi instantly. After having 2 bottles from the bucket I feel so much better and relief.

When you walk all the way to the end of Jiu Fen, this is what you see. A spectacular view with a late winter chill. I can't ask for more!

This is something I never know how to appreciate, infact I would walk as fast as I could if  I know there is such stall around. Deep Fried Fermented beancurd! Is just like durains, some like it others run for their life when they smell it.

Usually I love to window shop those cake shops in department stalls. The decorations and packaging always catch my attention.   

How can you do without afternoon tea when you are having holiday? Find a nice seat, relax, have a aroma coffee with cakes and feel such moment as heavenly.   

Yes, this is how it served. Don't be fool by the look. This hokkien traditional snack called Wa Kwey. We used to have this in Singapore but these days I doubt is easy to find. It is made of Yam, Chinese mushroom, deep fried spring onion. This particular stall is one of the most famous stall in Taipei, it located at Ning Xia Ye Shi (Ning Xia night market). Ning Xia Ye Shi, is so called their local night market. From what I know, the local do not really fancy the Shi Ling Ye Shi where all tourists go.

It was already 10pm and we were near to our hotel, to our surprise we passed by this spa call Karada Factory. Its interior is rather contemporary and chic. So a friend and I happily walked in and requested for a slot each. Luck is not at our side, it was fulled. Sigh. Next time then!

Mostly are young therapists and their service looks really good.