Land of a Thousand Smiles

Why Phuket?! Dunno ... just random. We bought a Groupon Deal that's worth it.  We stayed at Mandarava Resort. Awesome view.  The deal includes Panoramic Deluxe Room and Breakfast.  The place is simply beautiful.  The staffs were friendly, sweet, helpful and just plain nice. Everything was just so nice no I'm not exaggerating. Cos we went on hubby's birthday weekend and they prepared something special for him.  I elaborate more later.

Anyway I did some research (actually I don't know what to research on) and here are some of the places we can consider going.

OTOP Market -  checked

Central Festival Phuket - checked

Naka Market - checked

Jungceylon - checked

Phuthai Souvenirs Market - Did not manage to find

We reached Phuket at about 9am. We paid airport transfer to fetch and send us back to the airport at a small cost of 960฿.  

Eh Ms pulak.  It's ok. effort tu. The driver gave us 2 cold towels with jasmine scented for our faces and chilled mineral water.  The journey from airport to the resort was 1hr to 1.5hrs. He showed us the beaches on the way to the resort. We were early and the room was not ready.  Hubby rented a bike (300฿ per day) its cheap, fast and free and easy for us. 

When I saw the bike .... I pity the bike. Hahahah ... 2 heavy weight champion on it.  Seriously the seat was not enough for my butt.  I was joking with the husband, rasa-rasa kalao ringan tu tenggok lah kat belakang ye in case I tergolek ke ... but really, I can fall any time as it was a small bike,

I can't stop giggling we kept laughing (mostly me).  We ride around to find food nowhere in particular.  

This shop is located near Masjid Nurul Huda.  I think the name is Murah Dao Halal or maybe I'm wrong.  We ordered 2 Thai Iced Milk Tea, Tom Yum Soup (a must of cos), plain rice with basil chicken (mine) and I think the husband has Green Curry Fried rice anyway its fried rice. It was YUM! for 440฿. 

They had rice with dishes.  We did not get to try those dishes. In Phuket, the halal places has halal word on it or Malaysian logo or ladies wearing tudung that one sure halal (no alcohol of cos)

Iced Coffee it's a stall beside the Muslim Food restaurant.

 And across the street was ... AYAM GORENG! ... We had this everyday when we were in Bangkok.

Simple pleasure. It's almost zohor so we decided to go to the Mosque and come back later for our chicken.

This is Nurul Huda Mosque (there's a lorong to go to this mosque). It was so nice to be here.  It's so hot outside and inside was cooling and calm no air-con ok.  The place was clean, the telekong was clean no make up stains. Muslimah's prayer hall is upstairs.  Yes UPstairs.  I climbed the stairs.  The place was huge.  Azan was by a little boy very cute.

This is Nurul Islamiyah Mosque that is by the road side.

Fried chicken with chilli sauce and sticky rice. Annnd I bought som yum.

of cos we ta bao-ed it back to the hotel.  After the heavy lunch we still can squeeze in these. Here everything they serve accompanied by raw long beans and cucumber.

Complimentary lemongrass drink (my fav) and cold, wet face towel,

Complimentary fruit bowl (chocolate-chocolate takde ke?)

Home for the next few days.

Parked bike opp Jungceylon Mall.

on a hot day for 25฿ only.

Ini prata lah sey ... and I think they are Patani people. Pancake Flying at Junceylon

I can't resist lah Dunkin Donut. 

We ta bao-ed dinner from Sasural Indian Resaurant. As it rained heavily on the way back. The most expensive meal so far in Phuket (675฿).

Hubby ordered Thai Fried Rice which tasted like his mom's cooking.  My Vegetarian Pad Thai tasted like mee goreng and we ordered margarita pizza and it came with Mcdonald's tomato sauce.  -_-''

Tomorrow will be a better day, I promise. 

Happy Birthday to My One and Only! ...  

I'm not good at drawing and I don't like birthday cards.  So my wishes are in the crane.

Singpost screwed-up I almost did not get this watch on time.  I received it on Friday, the evening before my trip.

A few days before the trip, I decided to contact the resort for suggestion on nice cafes nearby serving cakes and balloon and what not.  They offer me prepare the cake.  What happen next was just priceless.

They sang him a birthday song. haahhaha ... see that look any redder he might turned into a lobster.  Since it's his birthday I let him play his toy while I napped cos it was raining heavily that morning.

Spot Singapore?

Hunting for brunch

Brunch was yummey @ Saveena.  This was recommended by my SIL and bro. It's cheap and sedap ok!

After brunch we went market ... Banzaan Market.

The market was so clean!!! ... Geylang what happen?!!

 Veggies are so fresh and bright

The seafood!!!! Fresh and huge!

and at the corner you see kids playing.

Local desserts.

Patong Beach

On the way back to the resort, drop by Saveena to ta bao banana nutella and Som Tum.

Tengok tu sedap sampai terangkat mata.

Nice lah but me banana no like ... I just want to try cos my brother likes it. (Aku makan on behalf of kao ok)

yey! they made our bed nice nice. 

We are on a quest to find Central Festival Phuket and the Weekend Night market there known as Naka Market. That is far away from the resort. About 45mins to an hr ride. No ... we took more than 1.5hr ride ok.  My butt pain tao.

and we saw ice-cream.  Birthday boy wants ice-cream.

Expensive leh ... but oklah once in a while ok.... 

Are you smiling under the mask? hee hee ... I think he find us funny lah

That is a Happy Face.

We ride stop take photo .... Ride stop take photo ...

Here are some photos from the Karon Viewpoint.  Previously it was called Kata Viewpoint.  Not sure why the change of name.  Calling it Karon is odd as this view is far away from Karon beach and way past Kata Beach.

Note that the Thai name is Kho Sam Haad which means 'Hill of the Three Beaches'. err ... I did not know that cos I just googled. We stopped to admire the panorama and snapped photos like crazy cos we can't get enough of it.

[taken from google] Kata Noi Beach view from Kata Viewpoint

Kata Noi Beach You really can see three magnificent bays from up there. The closest and smallest one is Kata Noi Beach, then a bit further is the beautiful bay of Kata with its island 'Koh Poo' which means Crab Island, and in the far, the very long Karon Beach.

 

After a long ride, we found Central Festival.. Weeeee!!!! erm ... it's just another mall ... erm ... yahh.

I don't understand why man is sooooo shy to ask for directions.  We decided to plonk ourselve at the Black Canyon.  Ordered ice coffee and I asked the waiter how to go to the night market from here.  The waiter (stenggah masak tergedik2 smiling2) trying his best to show us the route by drawing.  This part I switched off ... I don't how to look at map, I don't know how to read map and I'm suck at direction.

My pro husband manage to find the place whooohooo!!!! Sooooo clever.  The place is huge.  It's not as big as chatucak ... but still very big lor.

So talented perghh... these are soap!!! I faint.

These are the photos I am not allow to take baby turtles, sugar gliders, hedgehogs, bunnies ... OMG!!!! I like them all.  There's puppies and kittens ... the kitten like kena milk-coma liddat.

Jackpot! Halal food. Hee hee...

 so cute the pineapple!!! ... ok we did and buy alot of things here but I'm too tired to take photos at that moment 

The next morning we went back to Saveena to have our big breakfast

I am so gonna miss the food ...

We wen Jungceylon again ... it's hot outside and we just want to enjoy the aircon.

Lunch at Shawarma

Like a Boss

I was in the taxi when I snapped this.  I have been waiting for this baby elephant the whole day.  Time balik tu lah dia keluar.

Halo Amigos

So yesterday we can not decide what to have for dinner.  I was thinking Nasi Lemak Kukus but the husband wanted to eat something light.  Heard about a new place that serves Halal Mexican Food.  We decided to give it a try. Afterwit is located at 778 North Bridge Road.

The place was dim not the romantic kind of dim. Mexican songs played at the background.  It was quite catchy.  The wall arts are awesome! hubby said it was spray paint. Erm the space is compact but not claustrophobic.

I had Salmon Ahumado (Smoked Salmon and Jalapenos Tacos) that was served with side salad and chips. It's quite tasty. $12 for this spread I feel it's too pricey. The smoked salmon is so little. And the tomato dipping sauce tasted like Pizzahut breadstix's dipping sauce.

Alitas de Pollo Picantes (Spicy Chicken Midwings seasoned with garlic, honey, hot sauce and lime) tasted ok but not value for money, to me at least.

Pato Jarabe De Arce (Duck Burrito with Syrup) 

It's roasted duck chunks with some maple syrup, guacamole, onions, scrambled eggs, tomatoes and Mexican Rice. The hubby wanted roasted beef but it was not available.  He did not enjoy his burrito. He felt meh after having a few bite and he did not finish it... and dinner was on me yesterday.

Overall not a very nice experience for us. They have nice servers though but their food did not shout fabulous! 

Hubby, will not return again.  I might give it another chance as I have not try their desserts.

Gula Melaka Scones

Over the Jubilee weekend, I invited some friends over for some makan-makan session.  I prepared DIY Burger. I just prepare all the items and my guests can be creative and create their own ultimate burger. There's the burger buns, cheese, lettuces, butterheads, tomatoes, cucumbers, turkey strips, beef and chicken patties, fries and bottles and bottles of sauces

Got the bread box from Mustafa! 

and the spread of food ... ouh ya I manage to bake some Gula Melaka Scones from my left over gula melaka.

See that layers ... use cold butter and rub in the flour to form bread crumbs

There's bits and pieces of shaved gula melaka in between the layer.

I used a normal scones recipe and just add the shaved gula melaka.

Recipe taken from herworldplus

Gula Melaka Scones

Ingredients:

200g salted butter, cut into small cubes and softened

500g self-raising flour, sieved

shaved gula melaka

60ml fresh milk, plus more for glazing scones

Methods:

Rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips.

Add in the shaved gula melaka and mix well

Mix in the milk and knead the mixture lightly into a dough.

Preheat the oven to 200 deg C.

Roll out the dough on a floured surface with a rolling pin to a 2.5cm thickness. Cut out 24 rounds with a 5-inch (12.7cm) round cutter.

Place the rounds on a greased baking tray and glaze the tops with milk. Bake for 10min until risen and golden-brown.

My kind of Monday

Alhamdulillah it rained in the morning. So I snuggled even deeper under the duvet. It was so peaceful until that unpleasant smell.  The Mister decided to let out a smelly bomb *insert crying emoticon* It was 8.30am!!!!! I was late!!! Decided to take urgent leave and continue sleeping.  I lost my mood to sleep. 

9.30am or so ... felt hungry.  Bathed and walked to KFC in the rain (romantic right).  After that we went home and continue to nap.  Lazy in so many levels.  After Zohor, we were out and about.  We had late Lunch at Agrobazaar

It's located at Lot 37-43 Sultan Gate.

Cute center piece.  This is a tudung saji (food cover). This is a mini for deco purpose.  Normal size can cover about 4 dishes or more.

This was rock melon juice.  It came with the package $55 for 2 pax.

Fried Popiah with Otah filling

Personally, the ambience was abit off. It's a Malaysian cuisine, the set up was ok but!!!! the loud background music made me feel like I was in a club.

Curry Chicken. Had a very rich coconut flavour to it.

Stir-fry Vegetaables

Young Mango Kerabu.  No it does not taste like Mango salad.  This was super sour that makes the hairs behind your neck stands.

Seabass 3 rasa.  I like steam fish more than fried.

PisGor = Pisang Goreng.  This was sooooo good.  Sadly in came only 4 slices per serving.  Sweet, Crispy and Yummeh.

Aftermath.

We left with happy bellies.  All in all it's quite ok ah for the price and the quality of food.  It's reasonable enough.  Minus the background music that have to change sey. They also have durian buffet.  I almost fainted .... almost.  It would be nice to share these food experience with your love ones cos the servings were quite generous.