Taiwan Travel Fair, 1 Utama 25 - 29 March 2015

Hey hey travel addicts!

MATTA Fair maybe over but if Taiwan is on your travel bucket list then swing by 1 Utama from 25-29 March to catch the first ever Taiwan Travel Fair organised by Taiwan Tourism Bureau Kuala Lumpur (TTBKL).

 

With the first Taiwan Travel Fair, you can expect great value travel deals thanks to TTBKL who have tied up with top Taiwanese and Malaysian travel agencies to offer a variety of exciting packages and the most attractive travel deals for all destinations in Taiwan. This also includes customised packages or tours specially-catered for Muslim visitors who has food concerns. 

Frisky Goat Bakery Cafe, TTDI review

After hearing many good things about Frisky Goat in TTDI, I finally dropped by for a lunch. Parking however was a challenge and I had to circle the block three times before I lucked out and scored a parking spot right in front of Frisky Goat.

Upon entering, I was greeted with a cheery 'hello, welcome to Frisky Goat!', was quickly shown to a table and given a menu. It was a weekday and the cafe itself wasn't crowded with a nice upbeat music playing in the background. The chattering of three Australian ladies at the table next mine gave me the illusion of being in Australia. One can imagine, can't she. The ambiance was inviting with a corner offering their pastries and bread and a display of tantalizing cakes and desserts. The seats against the wall were lined with funky cushions and was quite cosy.

Insurgent: Divergent sequel review at TGV Cinemas

Being a TGV Cinemas Movie Club member has its perks. Firstly, I was first in (on)line to get advanced tickets for Avengers: Age of Ultron in April. Secondly, I got premiere screening tickets to watch the Divergent sequel: Insurgent.

Oddly enough, I only just watched Divergent the previous week on Astro (out of curiosity and intrigued) and found out hey, the sequel is coming out this week.

Laugh Die You: Malaysia vs Singapore

Growing up during my primary school days, I had bad English. Like really bad. I was talking like a Cina person and had a tendency to throw out this phrases 'HAH!', 'ABUDEN' and 'THEN WHAT TALKING YOU?!' very loudly. And I owe it all to Phua Chu Kang, best in Singapore, JB and some say Batam. Yeh, growing up I didn't exactly the best role model for English...

But yet I would loyally follow the series every Sunday night. Let's not forget PCK's impersonation of the infamous Ris Low. So when news came that Gurmit Singh retired, I was sad. Asia lost a cherished comedy friend.

So when I heard that he was hosting Laugh Die You, a comedy showdown between Malaysia and Singapore  at HGH Convention Centre right here in Kuala Lumpur (hah, take that Singapore!) I was excited!

24 Hours in Singapore

So I was in Singapore recently for a work thing and since it spilled into a weekend, I decided to extend my trip by an extra day so that I could explore more of Singapore.

One would think that Singapore is too pricy and much too similar to Malaysia to be any more fun. Well, yes and no. Yes, it is rather pricey especially to visit its main attractions like Universal Studios. And no because there are tons of things to see and do whilst on a budget and all within 24 hours. 

9am - a lazy morning exploring the eateries in front and around Ibis Novena, my hotel for the first night. Unlike Malaysia where coffee shops and mamaks are plentiful, the area was sparsely and lacking in food choices. 

Pork Chop @ Stall 33, PJ Old Town Food Court

Let me share with you a little hidden jem in the midst of PJ Old Town. There is a food court right next to the morning wet market which serves pretty good curry fish head, Yong Tau Foo and also banana leaf.

It is also home to the most delicious succulent grilled pork chop. This little unpresumptious western stall serves up the basic chicken chop, pork chop or beef steak topped with a choice of garlic, black pepper or mushroom sauce. Two sides of grilled vegetables and homemade potato chips (super good) completes the dish. 

Enorme restaurant, Section 13 PJ review

A friend just opened up an Italian eatery at the new PJ Centrestage, Section 13,  a stone's throwaway from my house and office and mostly importantly, also serves upon oven-baked thin crust pizza. I just love thin crust pizza especially when topped with a lot of meat! But I'll get more into detail on that later.

The restaurant is called Enorme, Italian for enourmous and I'll show you why the name befits the place. Because of this!

How to get free movie tickets [Thanks to TGV]

So a day before Chinese New Year, my office gave us a half-day off and my colleague and I decided to watch Kingsmen: Secret Service at  the newly opened TGV Cinemas outlet in Jaya Shopping Centre. It was a weekday and half of Petaling Jaya was outstation leading to a quiet mall and even better yet, a quiet cinema hall.

The best part was...I didn't have to pay a single thing for my movie outing. Not for my tickets or for my popcorn and drinks. Nadah. Zilch. Zero. Nothing. 

And it was all thanks to my TGV Cinemas Club membership. Upon signing up, each members gets a pair of free movie tickets of their choice and a popcorn set. And in one go, I used both. Totally worth it. I felt like I was being rewarded for my love for movies.

So I guess that's one way of watching a movie F.O.C.

Another way would be to join the TGV Cinemas' 30 Days of Goodies that is taking place at Jaya Shopping Centre. From 5th March to 5th April, the first 100 moviegoers everyday stands a chance of walking away with a free movie ticket or a free popcorn. To be one of the lucky people, all you need to do is....

1. Buy ONE movie ticket.
2. Take a photo of themselves with the TGV Cinemas' signage
3. Upload the photo to either Facebook, Instagram OR Twitter with the hashtag #tgvcinemas and #JayaShoppingCentre

 And voila! You're done! If you're one of the first 100 people to do that, then a free movie ticket or popcorn is a done deal! Save it for a 'forever alone' day or spend it on your date, it's up to you.

This only applies to TGV Cinemas at Jaya Shopping Centre ya..... (can't stress this enough knowing how people are...)

By the way, if you haven't bought your tickets to watch Avengers: Age of Ultron, you can find out how at this link: Avengers 2 Advance TGV Cinemas Ticket.

Mukha, TTDI review

I first heard about Mukha from my ex-boss who recommended their fried Mars Bars. That alone engraved the little cafe in Taman Tun Dr Ismail in my mind for years to come. Ironically, only four years later, did I decide to visit Mukha for dinner.

I was in luck as around the time of my visit, they had just revamped the menu and had a few new entries. Mukha offers modern Turkish dishes, simple, delicious and fuss free.

Bangkok 2014 - Street Food Hunting

Besides shopping for clothes and weird snacks, Bangkok is also known for awesome reasonable street food at every nook, canny and corner of its lively city. Once I decided to walk from MBK center to my hotel in Wireless road just so I could see what the streets had to offer. And it was a lot. I ended up eating so much that I was stuffed by the time I reached my hotel. I supposed I did burn off some of the calories I was consuming.

So on my previous trip in Dec 2014, I took to the streets and malls again and went food hunting with a checklist in hand. If you're ever in Bangkok in need of a quick fix of food, here are few quick bites to look out for.