Birthday in Malacca

We spent the whole morning at Kampung Morten, a village of traditional Malay houses located in a bend of Sungai Melaka, north of downtown. We found ourselves in Melaka Raya for lunch and found an upmarket restaurant serving Baba Nyonya cuisine.

Don't worry, he's just pretending (he actually hates the smell!)

Brendan knackered by the morning's activities

The sambal sotong was delicious

Since it was my birthday, dinner was at a slightly upscale Baba Nyonya restaurant near Jonker Walk.

Welcome to Nancy's Kitchen

Cat was worried that we ordered too much

We had it covered though

Can't remember what we ordered, it was that plentiful

Birthday in Malacca

We celebrated my birthday in my spiritual hometown of Malacca. I am actually a very proud Terengganu boy but we don't know why we have this strong sense of affinity with the land of Hang Tuah.

Existing the Air Keroh tollgates, we spent the whole morning at the Mini Malaysia Exhibit (Coordinates: 2.282498, 102.303806) in Air Keroh before headed down town for lunch. At Brendan's behest, we had lunch at Famosa Chicken Rice Ball shop (Coordinates: 2.195460, 102.247554) in Jonker Walk.

Brendan at his favourite chicken rice ball shop

what to eat, what to eat

Waiting for our food to arrive

The shop had some interesting old photos on its walls

Lunch was finally served (and Cat glared at the rude waiter)

After lunch we gallivanted around the Jonker Walk area, and stumbled upon a quaint little coffee shop.

The bread spread was home made, and it was buttered not margarined

Brendan said it was the best roti bakar he ever had

Dinner was a simple affair at one of the many roadside shops along Jonker Walk.

We were captivated by the stage performance nearby

Brendan wants to go see a toy collection exhibit nearby

CNY Gathering

My office mates and I gathered at a colleague's home in Puchong to have our very own loh-sang session and celebrate Chinese New Year.

It was nice to meet everyone outside the confines and environment of the office, and let our hairs down. No alcoholic beverages were served (sigh) as we were responsible adults who needed to drive our families home.

Dinner was on a potluck basis, and we sampled each others dishes with much enjoyment.

Yee Sang

How 'loh' can you go?

To health and wealth!

Even Brendan got in the act

Brendan having the tomato rice (i think?)

As usual, we conveniently parked ourselves upfront and centre

We should do this more often!

Xmas 2008 @ Hat Yai Day 5

Our last day in Hat Yai. We'll be catching the 12PM bus back to Kuala Lumpur. Predictably, we had Bak Kut Teh for breakfast (again).

Pretty quiet in the morning

Keeping the streets clean

The same shop as yesterday

We'll be missing this

 After breakfast, we went around looking for souvenirs and stuff.



Exploring back lanes and alley ways

Not as cheap as you'd think

Lots of pickled fruits

And a variety of nuts

We settled on a big bag of cashew nuts

Then it was back to the hotel for the last time to check out.

Collecting our passports held (safekept) by the hotel

A short walk with our luggage to the KBES office to check in, and we forlornly boarded the bus.

Same double decker bus

Brendan was sad to leave, Cat could only muster half a smile

No more smiles in this shot

No matter, we vowed to come back next Xmas!

Xmas 2008 @ Hat Yai Day 4

Our penultimate day in Hat Yai started off with yet another Bak Kut Teh shop for breakfast.

It was a wet morning

Brendan absolutely loves the tuk-tuk

Although along Lamai Songkroh, this shop (7° 0' 8.00", 100° 28' 32.50") was further down the street and it catered to the locals.

Anyone read thai?

The lady boss

Steaming dim sum

Friendly waiters smiling as always

And the even more friendly 'she-male' waiter!

We had dim sum and BKT, it was cheaper than yesterday's breakfast! (200+Bt)

After that was a spot of shopping at Robinson (7° 0' 14.25", 100° 28' 8.50").

Robinson (pronounced ro-bin-san)

Brendan looks exhausted from all the shopping

Lunch was at Rose-E Son again, at Brendan's request (which is rare, he never showed a liking for tom yam before).

Had roasted pork instead of squid

Pricey, but the tom yam was delicious

Still can't believe Brendan's eating (and finishing his plate of) rice

We're gonna miss this when we go back tomorrow

After a bout of shopping, Cat went for a foot massage.

Located right beside Lee Gardens Plaza

Someone's enjoying herself

In the meantime, Brendan and I headed to Chester's for teatime and to kill time.

A sight that warms our hearts

I want my 55Bt cafe mocha!

Cosy

Brendan relishing his drink

Check it out, I could do their print ads!

Once Cat was done with her foot massage, we were off gallivanting again.

Cat invigorated after her foot massage

Located along the same street as the hotel

Plenty of shopping at Odean

After that our hunt for food continued.

A couple of hungry ghosts

So much to eat, so little tummy space

Mamma mia

Need we say more

While Cat was enjoying her drink..

Brendan was queueing inside..

For his favourite cheezy fries

Popped by the tattoo shop to bid farewell to my new best friend Mhen (pronounced 'meen'), the tattoo artist responsible for the latest additions to my body art.

The genius behind my inks

Later, being the night before we went home, we decide to have ourselves a little feast at the local Sizzler's located on the second floor of Lee Gardens Plaza.

Sizzler!

Cat drooling over the menu

And drooling over the salad bar

View of the night market below

Someone's impatient!

Digging in

Hey, get your own beer!

Double racked Boston pork ribs

Can't remember what Cat had

Brendan had the kid's steak set (and free refills of soda)

And guess what, the bill came to only 1000+Bt, can you imagine that? Downstairs the air was still festive and merry.

The group was singing to raise funds for a chariable cause

My son the philanthrophist

There was even a free concert

Brendan and I decided that before we slept, we ought to get ourselves a foot massage as well.

This is the life!

Goodnight!