Kopi Luwak and Tanah Lot

On our way to Tanah Lot temple, our driver took us to a Luwak Coffee Farm.

This is a civet (luwak).

You can read about how civet poop is made into coffee here. It involves coffee leaves being digested by the animal, and it's poop being made into coffee. Kopi luwak is apparently the most expensive coffee in the world, which is rather interesting,

the farm also produces tea and other coffee of sorts; from vanilla coffee to ginseng tea. If you liked them, you could purchase them in cups or sachets

My kopi luwak. What did it taste like? Black coffee, really. I like my coffee black, so it was good for me. Nothing so special.

Kopi luwak 101

We sat by a paddy farm(?) and had our coffee and tea! It was a very serene experience :)

On our way out, there is a store that sells all the tea and coffee we had for tasting, as well as Kopi Luwak. I didn't buy any kopi luwak, which I wish I did now!

After that, we continued our journey to Tanah Lot.

Bali Tanah Lot temple is a Hindu temple in Bali Indonesia that has a stunning natural beauty, it stands on solid sea rock and Tanah Lot Bali or (Pura Tanah Lot) is one the very famous temples in Bali and became one of the top places in Bali to watch the sunset.

Tanah Lot temple is one of the very sacred temples in Bali island, and according to the legend, Tanah Lot Temple Bali is protected by holy sea snakes which was formed from the scarves of its founder. Tanah Lot Bali is a romantic place to visit while enjoying the sun goes down when spending the holidays in Bali Indonesia.

Tanah Lot is derived from the word "Tanah" means land and "Lot (lod / laut)" which means the sea, because it is situated on a rock in the sea and resembles a small island floating on the sea, so the people call it TANAH LOT, Tanah Lot temple is located at Beraban village, Kediri district, Tabanan regency, on the south coast of Bali island, approximately 25 kilometers from Denpasar city. extracted from http://www.baliglory.com/2015/04/tanah-lot-temple.html

It was quite rainy when we were there and the tides were strong. It actually only stopped pouring when we were walking in to the temple. That is the view of the temple from the other side.

group picture!

It was rainy, that's why my friend was in a hoodie and looking incredibly out of place.

We also had a photographer with a dslr take our picture for only 20k each (B$2) in a frame that says Bali, which is a nice souvenir.

time-lapse of the high tide

After that we made our way to the temple.
The journey to the temple is around 45min- 1 hour from our villa in Seminyak.

Here's to us!

Our sweet driver followed us in and helped us take a gazillion photographs because we kept getting photo-bombed by Chinese tourists everywhere!

Here being photo-bombed by a crazy tide The wind was strong!

After that, Wendy and I went to that little "island" for blessings. We could make a small donation (any amount you wish), drink and wash your face from the holy water and receive blessings.

The tide was high and the ground was rocky, full of pebbles so it was important we took caution while making our way through.

We did not go to the top because its meant for serious worshipers. Tourists usually just stop where we stopped for blessings. 

There was also a holy snake which we did not stop for.

Wendy and I. We were both given a flower each and rice bits on our forehead but mine all flew/fell before I could take a photo :(

There are a lot of people selling these flower clips/ head bands so I got a bunch for my colleagues and we got a bunch for ourselves too. Can't say you've been to Bali without wearing a flower on your hair (like San Francisco)

OH! And it is also this temple where legend has it that if young couples who are not married who go to this temple, they will break up. This is called the Bali Breakup Island Curse. It is a real thing that I am not making up. You can read about it here: 7 Ways to Avoid the Deadly Bali Breakup Island Curse

In brief:

The story has it that a Prince and a Princess from the Brahman caste, the highest one in the Hindu order, came to visit Bali from the neighbor island of Java. While visiting Bali and watching a romantic sunset at the famous Tanah Lot temple, the unmarried couple had sex (“became intimate” as the legend goes). Sadly, one the Prince had taken the Princess’s flower, he left her and refused to marry. Devastated and ashamed, the Princess became so enraged that she threw a curse on all unmarried couples visiting Tanah Lot: Should come here, then they would break up within 6 months. Thunder. Lightning. Fear.

I personally don't know if it is true but my friend said it did happen for two of her friends. A friend of mine went last year and is now married, so maybe it isn't that much of a truth, but I guess just better to be safe than sorry, I will go back here with my significant other only after we are married :-D

Om suastiastu!

Om suastiastu!

(At least I hope that's correct. I got it off Google for "saying hi in Balinese")

(If it wasn't, the thought was there)

(It is the thought that counts, right?)

(Right)

I just got back from Bali less than 2 weeks ago with 5 of my girlfriends, because two of them are getting hitched! So it was a short get-together hen's trip. It was 5 days, but technically and factually it was only 3 because we flew to Bali at 9pm on 11th, and back 7am on 15th.

Royal Brunei.... Take this as a public plea to amend the timings of flights to Bali, please?

So we booked a villa through airbnb in Seminyak, and it had 4 rooms which could cater up to 8 pax. They were 6 of us so it fit us comfortably. The villa came with airport transfer at 240K rupiah for 2 cars, due to our luggage which couldn't fit into one. We arrived to the drivers waiting for us with signboards, which was a first for me. Haha. Also, one thing we had the distaste to experience was a man coming out of nowhere "helping" us to carry our luggage only to later demand payment for his services. It stunned us because we thought they came with the drivers. He asked for 500K rupiah, of which we gave him 400K which he accepted reluctantly. We were later told by the local drivers that these "helpers" are always there and that he are not inclined to tell them to go away because its not a good thing for them to do.

Okay, anyway.
Our villa was acceptable, I suppose, but I expected something more which I am not sure why because I was there when we made the decision to choose that villa. We chose it over a few shortlisted ones because it had the biggest pool, and that meant a lot to many of us.

The villa is old, the cracks are visible on the walls, and the villa is not as clean as we would've liked; the floors felt sticky. The pillows in our rooms did not have pillow cases on them and we were unable to use any of the safe deposit boxed because they seemed to be jammed shut. A dragonfly died on Day 1 and there it stayed for the remaining days, with its new-found ant friends.

However, we had a "live-in" helper who was there to help make breakfast (they actually lived in a small house outside the villa). We could tell her what we wanted a day before and she would return with the groceries and a receipt for you to pay off. The pool was nice too, but it was very deep (I'm 5' and the pool was at least 6' and it is the same depth entirely). Location-wise, it was okay. We got a personal driver taking us around so location was not a big problem for us. We had a driver for 600K/day for 6 pax, which is not expensive at all. He was also very helpful in guiding us (aka take pics for us) and was very friendly, and he could speak English well.

Overall the villa was acceptable, but I would not return.

The pool

Just be my the pool

We took a gazillion photos by the pool, in the pool, next to the pool, outside the pool- you name it. We also rented floaties (because what else is more insta-worthy?) from an Instagram account for 2 days. They delivered it to us and collected it when we were done.

We basically had the watermelon, pizza slice, clam and donut floaties.

We spent a lot of time taking photos on these floaties because it was not easy to position them. You literally just float away on a slice of pizza, which is really most people's dreams but it did not do photo-taking any favors at all. However, the floaties kept me afloat in the (deep) pool so thank you for that, floaties!

Different swimsuits because they were taken on different days. We spent a lot of time in the pool (aka taking photos).

Yours truly livin da life

I really don't know how many bottles we devoured on that short trip! haha

Breakfast!

The last supper

Will blog about our excursions around Bali in my upcoming posts!

Bye!

Singapore #TelcoTalk

I've been to Singapore 4 times over the past 2 years and have been purchasing a local SIM each visit.
I've tried Singtel, Starhub and M1. There is no denying that Singtel is Singapore's biggest telco and no doubt has the widest coverage and best internet experience. I remember having an M1 SIM and it could not upload due to congestion (I was at USS) while my boyfriend, who was on Singtel, had INSTANT upload.

I usually get the SIMs at Changi airport, right after arrival.

Singtel used to have a $15 Hi! Tourist SIM offer that had up to 100GB local data, 500 minutes local calls and 100 local SMSes valid for 5 days, which I managed to get on my visit late November 2015 to catch Elton John live in concert.

They have since stopped that offer, and is now apparently offering the same but with 4gb of data only. However, I could not find any such offers in the airport. Every telco seemed to only offer a $30+ Tourist SIM when I was there a week ago (21st Jul- 25th Jul).

Hence, I bought a Starhub Prepaid Internet SIM which only offered data for 5 days. It had up to 2GB per day allowance which I did not exceed daily.

The SIM only offers data, and absolutely no voice or SMS. However, Whatsapp conveniently allows in-app calls now so we actually utilized that aplenty (especially when I am lost in the huge Malls of Singapore LOL). 

Coverage was fair, albeit slightly slower than my previous experiences with Singtel. Singtel speeds is really smooth- you can click on a Snapchat video and it loads in a second.

My boyfriend and his mum purchased Starhub SIMs too. They are usually Singtel regulars but the time we were in Sg, the booths selling Singtel SIMs were closed for renovation, and only Starhub was available to us. They purchased a different SIM from mine:

Pretty good deal, except:

Note:

• #Per Second Billing applies. Per Second rates are rounded up to two decimal points.
• $8 SIM gets you up to 99 mins of talktime; or 160 Local SMS; or 1GB of data. $15 SIM gets you up to 185 minutes of talktime; or 300 Local SMS; or 2.2GB of data. These numbers are for indicative purposes only. Your prepaid value can be used on talktime, SMS and data, depending on your preferred usage.
• Directory Enquiry - Calls to Service 100 charged at 70¢ per call, plus Local Prepaid call charges.
• International Calls - Local Prepaid call charges plus prevailing IDD charges (StarHub IDD 008 / 018).
• 30¢ per MMS (less than 30KB) / 80¢ per MMS (30KB and more*).
• **What you get is based on the assumption that all of the credits are used solely on that service.
• * Via activation of Prepaid Mobile Data plan
• 100GB local data can only be used on 3G network
• 4G Booster can be activated via *123*3*4*1# after the expiry of 100GB data 

The 100GB is on their 3G network, not 4G and is only valid for 5 days. That was OK for us as we were only there for 5 days but my BF kept complaining about the lack of speed. Mine was on 4G so I did not really feel that pinch.

Personally, I would still opt for Singtel for the coverage and speeds, but it was not convenient and their SIMs were not readily available for purchase.

Bangkok eats

Sawadeeka! I just got back from Bangkok last night (technically this morning at 1am) after spending almost 5 days there over the Raya break. The trip was one of those overdoing it types, with us walking almost every second we were awake.

We covered almost everywhere I wanted to go, and we managed to eat a lot of really good food. We did not get to do any sightseeing this trip because we didn't have that much time.

 One place that I made a point to revisit was Petite Audrey, a lovely cafe inside Siam Center (I always get confused with Siam Center, Siam Paragon and Siam Discovery but I think I pretty much got the hang of it now).

I love this Thai Tea Crepe Cake from Petite Audrey!

I love Thai milk tea, its so refreshing and so authentically Thai. I do not have a single sweet tooth in my body which makes this cake perfect; it isn't sweet but tastes just right.

Me with my Thai Tea crepe cake!

There are several branches in Bangkok, so do make time to try this! Its their bestseller.

One of the nights, we went to have Korean BBQ for dinner. Bangkok is flooded with Japanese and Korean cuisine places because it is like the IN thing for the past few years. My bf;s brother took us to Doo Rae, a triple-storey Korean restaurant in Korea Town, near Terminal 21 in Sukhumvit. Korea Town, as you can guess, has a lot of different Korean shops, cafes and restaurants.

It is only logical to have Korean beer at Korea Town. 

We had a lot to eat, from beef, chicken, pork to kimchi and this mushroom soup. The service was excellent; the waitress constantly helped us grill the meat, as well as renew the metal stoves so that the taste from the previous grilled meat do not linger. It was all very quick so I didn't manage to snap any good pictures of the food!

The food was really good and the meat were all grilled to pretty much perfection. Nyum.

On this trip, I only managed to have Mango Sticky Rice twice. 

The first time was at this small night market near our hotel outside MBK

 Second being some random eatery in Chatuchak weekend market.

Speaking of Chatuchak weekend market, we found an absolute gem of a place where we had lunch. It was as authentic and raw as it could get. It wasn't a nice place but the food was so good! I love Thai food, the more authentic the better (but no pork blood PLS!).

We walked til we did not know where we were (always happens in Chatuchak for us, its like Timbuktu there. Now you see it, the next time you're back you just cannot find it again!) but we walked pass this restaurant where there were many locals eating. Picture cement ground, non-matching wooden tables and plastic chairs and an outdoor stove.

We were grateful that the menu had picture because the wordings were all in Thai. So we just pointed at what we wanted from the menu.

Pork! Apparently our Thai friend said this is the most simple dish in the Thai food world. Haha and we love it. This was really good, we really liked it. It was spicy and sweet in the right dose.

Clams! Normally I don't eat seafood much, especially shelled ones but this was really nice. I normally dislike food like this because of the "ocean" taste but this one had none at all.

Papaya salad, also good.

Basically, we really enjoyed our lunch there and I do feel that even though sometimes food is cheap and the atmosphere isn't great, the food can just be amazing like this one was. I do live for experiences like these.

See you next time x

Penang eats and beats

Hi guys!

I just got back from Penang, West Malaysia last Wednesday! The entire journey to and back was really tiring because we had to drive to Miri, take a plane to KL and then another to Penang. Overall, it took us 8 hours, including the transit hours. Could've flown to Dubai with that time! Its because initially our flights were direct flights from Miri to Penang but in March, Airasia cancelled all direct flights so we had to be rerouted to KL first, and then have a transit period of 3 hours in between.

But its okay because Penang was amazing!

As known large and wide, Penang is famous as a FOOD HAVEN! We were really excited to eat all the yummy food in Penang. In Penang, the hawkers and street food is the best. You can't go wrong. 

Famous for their char kwey tiao, asam laksa, rojak and more, Penang did not disappoint when it came to satisfying our taste buds.

This is a food dedication post. Of course Penang, being a UNESCO certified site, has a lot of other sites to visit, such as the many museums, temples and churches, and these will be featured in a later post.

Disclaimer: the trip was a birthday present for my boyfriend. It was meant to be a surprise but due to some issues to avoid clashing, I had to tell him a couple of months before. However, I had another surprise which went smoothly; which was surprising him with our friends from KL! He had no clue they were coming and only realize they were there when we were walking in Little India and I just opened the car door of the car parked by the side. His expression was priceless!

So our friends, Kong and Yvonne took us around (in a car- phew!! Penang heat is no joke!), tasting all of their favorite food that they felt we had to try.

So first things first, we went to the food court by Padang Brown.

The food court was split into halal and non-halal eateries. The food listed in this post are from the non-halal section.

This is what it looks like, except when we were there, it was FULL of people

Crab meat Popiah. First time I had this, it was really special because I definitely have not tasted crab meat popiah before.

No brainer Char Kwey Tiao! I love how Penang ckt use "La chang" which is pork sausages.. It really adds the umph to the taste. It was so yummy!!

Otak Otak and Sotong Rojak.
I read online that only Penang has this particular sort of Otak Otak. The rojak was good too, considering that I do not normally eat squid, I liked the sauce.

No cut-open shots but inside the Otak Otak was big chunks of fish.

"Otak-otak is a grilled fish cake made of ground fish meat mixed with tapioca starch and spices.^[2] It is widely known acrossSoutheast Asia, especially in Indonesia,^[1] Malaysia and Singapore, where it is traditionally served fresh, wrapped inside a banana leaf, as well as in many Asian stores internationally — being sold as frozen food. It can be eaten solely as a snack or with steamed rice as part of a meal."

Squid rojak!

That was our Padang Brown food court adventure. I really recommend going there because there is a huge array of choices for every taste bud. They have a lot of famous stalls selling different food and all of the above we had were on point. LIT. I def miss it.

Next in line is the wonderful crab congee we had in Nt Cheang Kee. It is their signature dish. The restaurant is located in mainland Penang, which was quite the drive from where we stayed, Georgetown. Penang is consisted of an island and a tiny strip of land that is at the same place as Kedah. So this restaurant was on that tiny strip. We got there via ferry. There are also two really longgggggggg bridges that combine Penang Island and mainland Penang.

It is absolutely with no joke when I tell you how delicious this was.

The broth was so full of taste and so rich in the crab taste... Every bite was just.. out of this world. I truly miss it, can you tell? Have you ever ate something and feeling sad that you know you will be missing it already, while still chewing? That was exactly how I felt. I don't even know if we can ever get the chance to return. #emodayz

The congee is teochew style, so you may notice the congee is like rice, and not the normal porridge-y type where it is soft and mushy. What was amazing was that there was a lot of crab meat as well. I don't recall how much it was but this, along with 2 other dishes and drinks were less than RM50!

Highly recommended if you have a car for the drive!

Moving back to the island of Penang now. On our first night right after we landed, we walked to China House, which was recommended by our Uber driver. He said that the restaurant was very unique, and we saw what he meant. It looks tiny from the entrance, but it is a LONG restaurant split into 3 different sections. One was more of a fine-dining type, leading to a kopitiam feel, and there is a pub inside near the back.

It was full so we had to sit in the fine-dining room, which is the first room next to the bar.

The tiramisu is to die for. Non-alcoholic, the last layer is SOAKED in liquor. It was so rich and so good. it was the only time my BF and I finished a slice of cake. (We are not big sweet tooth people)

Also, the mosque on the table will be explained in a later post ;P

888 Hokkien Mee:

in Penang, when you say Hokkien Mee, it is referred to as the Prawn Mee.

Its the best prawn mee I've had. I know the entire post is just praising everything but nothing but truth here.

The broth is so rich in prawn taste, it was the best thing. We opted for maggi noodles with our prawn mee, and added other optional add-ons like pork slices and egg. Ahhhh- the perfect combination!

We also tried the Lor Mee, but I am naturally not a Lor Mee fan because it is too thick for my liking but my BF and friends liked it too.

Highly recommended.

Up on Bendera Hill (Penang Hill), we had the most impromptu decision to have coffee in the middle of the forest while we were on our buggy ride.

Yep, we had Kopi Hutan (Jungle coffee) in the jungle.

I'm a black coffee drinker, so the coffee suited me just fine. Nope, no sugar, no milk- when you go back, hell no you going back! Ha. 

I think the whole experience was just so remarkable because we were literally seated in the jungle, on stools on a hill. And being on a hill, it wasn't hot so everything was just lovely. Lots more pictures obviously, but in a later post.

I do recommend it as a one-time thing, because of the experience being so ever unique. Also, the cafe that serves the Kopi Hutan has a free "shuttle" drive back to the Hill entrance after you're done! Score!

After Penang Hill, we went to the Kek Lok Si Temple at Air Itam. No, we did not get to eat the super-famous Asam Laksa that everyone is talking about. I'm not kidding, go google Air Itam Asam Laksa. Or just Penang Asam Laksa.

Instead we went to another one deeper in. I can't recall what it was called but it was a restaurant and not a food court.

Now, some people may not be able to take the strong fish taste of Asam Laksa, my bf and mum being in that category, but I liked it. Its not healthy, no, but it was good and I liked it! I wish they had bigger chunks of fish in it though. We had this dish twice in Penang and both had only tiny mashed fish bits in them. :(

CKT was obviously good too!!!

Banana Leaf in Little India? At a place directly outside our Hotel? What could be better?

We went to Sri Ananda for Banana Leaf Rice and two of us only amounted to less than RM40. It was so cheap and really yummy. We had the normal options of chicken, beef or mutton and we both opted for mutton because mutton.

We also had the dhal (recommended by the waiter) instead of the other 2 sauces, which he said is mostly for bread and naan.

Now, I am no Indian food expert so I do not know what the other condiments were but I really liked them because they each have a different taste to sort out neutralize each other out. The first is well, cabbage and the second is somewhat sweet while the third was extremely salty. The mutton was just nice, lots of meat and big pieces too.

We were afraid we wouldn't know how to order but we did pretty good. I would definitely go back. I've always been a fan of Indian food for their rich taste and sauces! Nyum.

These two below are just random eats we had. The Asam Laksa is from a cafe really near to Khoo Kongsi and has a reflexology upstairs.

Pretty good, the taste was there but I still wish they had bigger fish slices. The noodles were really springy and slippery compared to the one we had at Air Itam.

Char Kwey Tiao directly beside our hotel. Our Hotel location is the bomb. More on that later.

Another highlight was the Road Famous Teochew chendol! It is really literal, whatever you see on the signboard. It really is by the road side, and really is hell famous. There was a long queue before we could get our hands on a bowl. RM2.70 for a bowl of cold kick was just what we (and obviously everyone else) needed on a crazy hot day in Penang.

Lemme tell you how this man wasted zero time when it came to preparing the Chendol for customers.

See what I meant?

What is really special about this particular chendol stand is that they make their own chendol (the green thing). It wasn't also too sweet, which was excellent. It was nice to have, but it isn't something I will necessarily queue for again now that I have tried it.

That is (unfortunately) all of our Penang eats. I wish we had more time because it just really isn't enough and Penang has WAY too much delicious food for us to discover at every corner and street. Penang food portions are tiny and cheap, so it made way for more food.... Good thing we did a lot of walking and sweating so I THINK (and pray and hope and dream and praaaaay) we didn't gain too much weight. Got darker- fo sho.

Til the next post, folks x 

Of Scammers and Pickpockets

When we were in Europe, we had a lot of warnings from our tour guide, Mel. She warned us against pickpockets that have taken an alarming rise in popular tourist spots as of late, True enough, we encountered a few but my boyfriend and I took a lot of caution the entire time.

1. Eiffel Tower
In Paris, especially around the Eiffel Tower, there were many women holding onto young children, and they will walk up to you and ask you to sign something as a "donation" but once you do, they make you give them money and say you've already signed it so you can't say no. One of the ladies from our tour said no to them, but instead of leaving, the woman and the child took food from her (we were having a picnic on the grass next to the Eiffel) and when the lady from our tour told them they couldn't do that, they asked "why not?"icily.

2. Basilica of the Sacré-Cœur
Also, in Montmatre, we ourselves encountered those scam artistes who try to do the "bracelet trick". What they do is forcefully grab your arm and force a friendship bracelet onto your wrist and because its those thread ones, it is difficult to remove after it has been pulled tight. Then the scammer will force you to pay them for it and it will be difficult for you to remove it and say you don't want it. So there at the staircase to the top, we saw a group of dark-skinned and big sized men waiting. I don't know why we didn't go the other way because there were two stairways leading to the top to the church. We saw them harassing a bunch of girls before us but we went for it anyway. We were separated from the tour because we went to get souvenirs. So as we were passing, the men tried talking to my BF asking him where he's from and he made a grab for his arm! luckily my bf and I managed to pull away without being forced to wear their stupid bracelet.

3. Rome's Metro
As all of the hotels we stayed at, our hotel in Rome was far away from the main sights and we had to travel a bit to get to the touristy spots. The Metro experience in Rome was by far the creepiest. For starters we were almost shut OUT of the Metro the first time we tried it. Thankfully my BF forcefully held the doors open for the 3 of us left-behind girls to hop in,or I wouldn't know what would've happened. The Metro in Rome is really dangerous and shady, because it is filled with pickpockets and scammers. I don't mean to generalize it but its true. One of the tour members took a photo of the railway and there happened to be a French man on the other side. He got really angry because he thought he was taking a picture of HIM and he shouted that he wasn't even doing anything, why is he taking his photo? It was a good thing he was on the other side of the rail.

photo taken from Google

The tube in Rome is not clean and it is heavily vandalized- which I thought was pretty cool. They had spray paint all over the tubes, both inside and out.

Okay, pickpocket story.
The stairways leading to the tube is known to have a lot of girls carrying babies in their arms. These are the girls you should be cautious about. Make sure your bags are always zipped and that you have nothing in your pockets. Alas- one of the eldest members from our tour did not was unfortunate and was pick pocketed on our way to the Colosseum. He had his wallet in his backpack and a group of young girls managed to take his wallet and hopped out the tube seconds before the doors shut. The scary part was that the poor man had no clue until one of the tube passengers told him that the girls that hopped out just took his wallet, He hopped out of the Metro too but he was never able to retrieve his belongings. When I asked him how he was later, he said "things like these make you want you to do things you never thought you would want to do" and I thought that was deep. But thankfully he was able to call his children back home in Australia to cancel his credit cards. Good thing he still had his passport safe.

If I had a choice, I wouldn't want to sit in the Rome Metro ever again because it is not an experience I want ever again. The Paris one too, because the Paris metro is really shady too and smells suspiciously like piss.

Travel safe,guys! x