#20 6th Putrajaya International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta

Sunday, 9.53 a.m. As we reached Precinct 2 of Putrajaya on a seemingly warm morning, parking spots were scarce as holidaymaking friends and families made the most out of their very last day-off of the holiday week. Sadly, the fiesta let us down with the absence of exotic hot air balloons such as Darth Vader, Smurf e.t.c. Apart from that, we had a great time catching up on each other in yet another successful round of weekend outing. Here are some of the wonderful shots taken during the sunny carnival. Ah, sweats and scorching sun, sucha authentic Malaysian experience.

6th Putrajaya International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta
Date: 27th March 2014 - 30th March 2014
Venue: Precinct 2, Putrajaya

#19 Acme Bar & Coffee (ABC) -By Day

Settled within the very swanky Troika office building, Acme Bar & Coffee stands out as a classy establishment looking just like one of those fancy Big Apple cafes featured straight right out of an episode of 'Sex And The City'.

As sunlight penetrates the modern floor-to-ceiling windows illuminating fellow diners in action, the atmosphere exudes a distinctive hint of suaveness and sophistication. Expats can be seen hanging out here basking in the afternoon sun,while locals (mostly groups of friend, hipster or family) were busy exchanging lively banters.

The interior decor sure do spell out the word 'contemporary' in a vivid manner, right in your face. While the design and ornaments aren't anything close to standard avant-garde, this cafe is still a sleek, beautiful coffee joint you won't easily encounter in the heart of the city. I'm talking about shades of dark grey here and there, basic wooden furnitures and a myriad of experimental knick-knacks scattered at racks and cabinets randomly placed in this two-storey cafe.

It's one of those uber-awesome spots that'll nonchalantly make one look cool just by either sipping on their coffee or having a casual tête-à-tête with one's partner.

The cakes galore!

Well, our sweet-tooth were aching so bad after that crazy karaoke session, so we decided to hit downtown to sample the cakes and desserts here. Alas, we were so bummed up when the waiter claimed that the Sizzling Brownie, one of the signature items, was unavailable at that moment. In the end 5 cakes and a pavlova were ordered. 'Nuff said.

Let's get to the cakes shall we?

Cempedak or Jackfruit Cake (RM 15)

The jackfruit cake infused with the exotic fruit itself was aromatic and packed with a taste that was acutely strong and intense.

Ugly Chocolate Cheesecake (RM 15)

Chocolatey? Yes. Ugly? Yes. Cheesy? Not quite. A tad too dry and coarse on the texture for me.

Lemon Poppyseed (RM 15)

Sweet and lemony with right amount of moisture and softness, this cake is a cohesive piece of dessert that comes out strong in terms of taste and texture.

Caramel Macadamia (RM 15)

The caramel was overstated with the excessive sweetness. Rest compensated by the macadamia nuts.

Orange Crumble (RM 15)

Somehow for reasons unknown, all me and Winston could taste out of this lil' devil here WAS...the taste of salt. We were picking up saltiness instead of the usual tangy, piquant flavour of orange. Are we having problems with our taste-buds?

Light-As-Air-Pavlova

Pavlova. I have no idea what a pavlova is. But here's what Wikipedia have to say about it.

"Pavlova is a meringue-based dessert named after the Russian ballet dancer Anna Pavlova. It is a meringue dessert with a crisp crust and soft, light inside.The dessert is believed to have been created in honour of the dancer either during or after one of her tours to Australia and New Zealand in the 1920's. The nationality of its creator has been a source of argument between the two nations for many years, but formal research indicates New Zealand as the source.The dessert is a popular dish and an important part of the national cuisine of both countries, and with its simple recipe, is frequently served during celebratory and holiday meals. It is a dessert most identified with the summer time, but is eaten all year round in many Australian and New Zealand homes. A Pavlova is typically garnished with strawberries, passionfruit, kiwifruit and cream."

Yerpz, the excerpt basically introduces and explains the origin of the delicate dessert.

So, back to the Light-As-Air-Pavlova. Embellished with fresh forest berries and heavily drizzled with passion fruit sauce, the pavlova was crunchy, fluffy and a bit sourish. No doubt it was my first time trying it, an experience which I say wasn't that bad at all.

Acme Bar & Coffee
Ground Floor, The Troika.
19 Persiaran KLCC,
50450 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Tel: 03-21622288
Fax: 03-21628288
Business hours:
Monday-Thursday 11.00 a.m. - 12.00 a.m.
Friday                    11.00 a.m. -  1.00 a.m.
Saturday                   9.30 a.m. - 1.00 a.m.
Sunday                     9.30 a.m. - 12.00 a.m.

#18 Zaman Restaurant

Saturday, 7.36 a.m.

Yes, 7.36 morning is considered an ungodly hour just because it's a weekend. Morning drowsiness aside, there's absolutely nothing more compensating than a complete, wholesome Malaysian breakfast. Yerpz, that will do it, I'm just that easy.

So, Keith was driving me and Winston back to our home town Kuantan for a short weekend retreat. We took off at 5 in the morning with the speed demon himself behind the wheels. When hunger strikes and collide's with the driver's 'need for speed', we managed to reach our destination ahead of schedule (still in one piece of course).

Situated along the Gambang Road, Zaman Restaurant is a restaurant selling what both locals and foreigners believe to be one of the best 'Nasi Lemak' around Kuantan. The restaurant is especially crowded during weekends as it remains a favourite breakfast spot to stop by for Kuala Lumpur-bound travellers.

"Rush to the back, pronto!,"

That was the first thing one should do in order to avoid impending long queue. Packs of piping hot 'Nasi Lemak' were freshly prepared from the kitchen at the back. All you have to do is kindly place your order  to the 'Mak Cik' and they will proceed to wrap a heap of coconut milk rice, egg, sambal and cucumber slices into a fragrant pandan leave.

Nasi Lemak (RM 2)

The rice was aromatic and hot, but the sambal was a bit too spicy for me.  Nevertheless, it's been a while since I had a nice 'Nasi Lemak' meal (All the 'Nasi Lemak' around my office suck balls, nuff' said.)

'Roti Canai' (RM 1)

Oh, this place serves hot roti canai too.

Zaman Restaurant
Lot 1-3811, KM 14 Jalan Gambang.
26070 Kuantan.
Pahang Darul Makmur. Malaysia.
Tel: 09-5381253
Business hours:
Daily: 6.00 a.m. - 2.00 p.m.

#17 Lee Hong Kee Restaurant

Established deep within the Sungai Buloh New Village, Lee Hong Kee Restaurant is a hard place to find. The restaurant is so secretive as it's almost impossible to locate without using GPS. Nevertheless, one wouldn't miss it with glowing red neon signboard.

Since it was weekend, the restaurant was packed with diners with nary a single vacant parking spot around (Yeah, smart move there Sis for reserving a table in advance).

'Dong Tok' Chicken (RM 45)

This place is especially famous for its 'Dong Tok' Chicken, otherwise known as 'Funny Chicken'. The signature dish came in the form of a standing roast chicken. 'Animal cruelty' was the first thing that struck me, but damn it I don't have a choice but to finish it (it's not like I'm a full vegan or something).

Scissors and gloves were provided for your DIY cutting pleasure. However, we gave up dismembering the chicken into unimaginable mess and instead requested the waitress to do so. The result was a product of professional knife skills.

Although the meat tasted average like any ordinary roast chicken, the skin was delightfully crispy and thin.

Braised 'Dong Po' Pork (RM 30) with Steamed Mini Buns (RM 0.90 each)

As I'm not really a fan of Braised 'Dong Po' Pork, I still enjoy having the mini buns served with the sizzling thick Dong-Po sauce.

Lard Rice (RM 4 per serving)

The secondary signature dish, Lard Rice was a bummer due to the scarcely drizzled lard oil. Nothing to shout about.

From left: Home Style Beancurd (RM 18) and Leaf Lettuce (RM 16)

The main attraction here seems to be the expensive 'Poon Choy' and the standing roast chicken. Both dishes boasted unusually splendid appearance for your Instagramming pleasure.

Lee Hong Kee Restaurant
No. 3, 5, 7 & 9, Jalan Kati GU 19/G,
Taman Medan Mas, Kg. Baru Sg. Buloh,
40160 Shah Alam, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.
Tel: 03-61402678