We continued our partying journey from Penang to KL, checking into Sunway Pyramid Hotel for our KL leg.
(Hennessy Penang Party post HERE!!)
It was quite a rushed affair as we touched down from Pg & had barely an hour to get ready before dinner. Still we managed to look awesomely hot for the party yea?? 
I had to take this shot. The twin towers! Hahaha… both Bryan & Leo Chua are so skinny & tall!
I wonder if the popularity has dwindled for places like Zipangu, Kampachi & Iketeru – all these restaurants that were once considered the old dame of Japanese buffets, ever since the proliferation of cheaper, mass market Japanese buffets like Tao, Jogoya, Tenji, Saisaki & the likes.
When I walked in on a Sat afternoon for lunch, the restaurant was considerably packed, with the crowd much much better behaved & sedate compared to the monkeys people that you normally meet jostling for fresh sashimi & oysters at your other mid-priced buffets in town. I guess the “prestige” of being in Shang filters the crowd a bit.
Zipangu, for RM96++ /pax offers almost pure Jap fare for their weekend buffet. Fresh seafood was aplenty; though it was no longer sourced from Japan directly, and this poster in the lifts & at the front of their restaurant clearly stated their source of fresh produce.
Zipangu’s salmon is imported from Norway, beef and scallops from Australia, crab from Alaska, tuna from Indonesia and local herbs and greens from Cameron Highlands.
While I won’t say that patrons of Zipangu Japanese buffet are spoilt for choice, for choices were obviously lacking; I would say this is worth considering if you are looking for purely Japanese fare, & definitely worth your moolah if you are a Shang card holder. For it is “Buy One Free One” if you are.
The appetisers. Pretty much the norm.
The fresh sashimi. Nothing too fancy but you can expect the expected. Tuna (maguro), salmon, kampachi, octopus, hen clam, scallops, shime saba (mackarel) & butter fish.
Broadband provider YTL Communications launched Yes Life for iOSapp and thus making its voice/SMS services available on Apple iOS devices such as the iPod, iPad, the MACs & of course, the iPhone.
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Previously YES Life was only available for PCs. However the recent launch of the Yes Life iOS App upped YTL Comms share on the market for it has now tapped into the pool of the Apple die-hard fans, for this app specifically allows your YES ID to work on any of your favourite Apple devices.
Yes Life iOS App:
While I’m sure all countries are proud of their cuisine, we Malaysians takes it up another notch with our fevour on dining & our food heritage. We have food at our disposal 24 hours, food is a universal language for us & there’s no better ice breaker or conversation starter than the topic of “Where to eat“, “Where to find the best xxxxx“, “Have you tried..at… ” ??
And we are more than delighted to show & share with fellow foodies on recommended places to eat & the same goes to any visiting friends or foreigner to our country.
I remembered that’s how my blog started; or any other food blogs for that matter. It usually begin as a platform to document our makan adventures & to impart our thoughts on the food we ate, or to shout out of our recent discovery of a new eatery, an awesome F&B promo or what we thought to be the best char siew/chicken rice/curry mee..etc available out there.
So when I was emailed a request to host a Ms Catherine Bell, a food journalist from New Zealand based magazine Dish, my immediate reaction was “why not“!
It would fun, & I would make sure she had a good time!
She has just departed for NZ yesterday, and there is so much I have to share as we certainly went places! So much food, so many places in just 2 days.
But it was this moment that I felt really proud about personally, this particular instant when she took her first mouthful of rice using her hands at Vishal’s in Brickfields. This was one of the highlights of her trip as it was her first time sampling banana leaf rice & her first time eating using her hands! (She said eating with her hands during her childhood doesn’t count of course!)
Holiday Villa Cherating held its annual sand sculpting competition just last Sunday.
Thanks to Advertlets I was there with 8 other bloggers for the competition as well.
We did a videoshoot of the resort, interviewed the manager who gave us a comprehensive tour of the place & dined on scrumptious food during our stay!
** Beach holiday + sand sculpting + time spent catching up with friends made for an awesome weekend!
There’s a lot I have to share about the premise – Holiday Villa Cherating; which was lovely especially for the Eastern Pavilion private chalets but that will be reviewed in proper another time. Now let’s see what’s the sand sculpting competition is all about shall we??
For a start, the prizes were a good enough bait; the 1st prize being a reward of RM3,000.00 in cash & a 4-day/3-night stay at Diwangkara Holiday Villa Beach Resort & Spa Sanur, Bali, 2nd prize RM2,000.00 in cash & a 3-day/2-night stay at Holiday Villa Beach Resort & Spa Langkawi while the 3rd prize is RM1,000.00 in cash and a 3-day/2-night stay at Holiday Villa Subang, Malaysia. In addition, each winning team gets a gift memento. There are also special holiday awards for various categories : “Best Teamwork by Family” & “Best Teamwork by Students”.
I was seriously amazed at some of the brilliant sand sculptures that was created in the span of 2 hours. Some teams were certainly professionals in their approach (they came equipped with spades, sprayers, decorative items such as seashells, pails etc!) while there were those that were obviously sculpting for fun. Whichever it was, all 30 teams that took part were in high spirits & there were a air of exuberance on the beach that morning.
Each team were allocated a demarcation of space measuring 10 ft x 10 ft (3.05 m x 3.05m). We were given a number & a white flag to decorate as our own.
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Here’s respected & astute public figure Tan Sri Francis Yeoh showing us that sometimes, life shouldn’t be taken too seriously & one has got to go with the flow man!
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The highly anticipated Sephora at Starhill Gallery was launched with a big bang a few hours ago. It was a blast; imagine dancing girls, blasting club music, plenty of champagne & finger food, a dazzling display of makeup, skincare & fragrances and of course; the who’s & who’s of the society plus the media.
A mind blowing array of products……
Few weeks back I was privileged enough to be present at a 1 night only, exclusive 7-course haute dinner paired with a trio of acclaimed La Motte wines, guided by an Oenophilist (wine expert).
The dinner showcased 3 chosen wines from the La Motte vineyard; the La Motte Leopard’s Leap Chenin Blanc, La Motte Chardonnay 2008 & La Motte Millennium 2005.
How many of us are loyal patrons at Starbucks outlets? Whether it’s by choice (there are some who swears by their daily dose of Starbucks coffee) or by force (like me, who always has to conduct meetings at Starbucks) all of us are somewhat frequent patrons of Starbucks.
I have blogged before about Starbucks’ Food (HERE) when they launched some new additions to their food menu and I still think Coffee Bean offers much better options, especially for their breakfast sets & their salads.
Still, I applaud their recent campaign where they offers reduced/low fat options for some of the range of drinks & pastries.
In February, I was thrilled when I saw the Starbucks Reduced Fat Mandarin Cranberry Muffin, in conjunction with Starbucks’s In With the Good winter promotions feature beverages that give better-for-you beverage options without compromising on taste or quality.
Starbucks Reduced Fat Mandarin Cranberry Muffin. RM5.90 +
The two all-time-favourite beverages, Green Tea Latte and Caramel Macchiato, have a lighter option now — Low Fat Green Tea Latte and Low Fat Caramel Macchiato.
Here’s my Low Fat Caramel Macchiato (RM12.00) with my Starbucks Reduced Fat Mandarin Cranberry Muffin as breakfast during one early morning meeting.
