Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Skytrex - Extreme Challenge!

On the second day of the year 2011, I successfully organized a bunch of us to go for Skytrex! After hearing so much about it, Skytrex is definitely in my to-do list! Knowing Lisa is keen on having fun around tree canopies too, so she came and brought along her Sydney friends and I brought the Cengal bunch, plus Yi Ching and Karen :). 

Skytrex Adventures basically eco-recreational acitivities which will take participants from tree to tree (on the canopy!) via series of aerial obstacles suspended at 3 to 22 meters in the air. Agility, courage, strength are needed to complete the challenges in the sky. But don't worry guys, it's utterly safe!

To go for Skytrex, you've to make reservations and pay via online. Among the routes they have are: 
  • Extreme Challenge RM45 (RM40 effective 1 Jan 2011)
  • Big Thrill RM40 (RM45 effective 1 Jan 2011)
  • Little Adventure. 

However, if you get more than 10 people to go, you're entitled for a 10% discount. There are 13 of us so each of us only need to pay RM40.50 for Extreme Challenge :).
Interested? Visit its official website

Before going for Skytrex located at Taman Pertanian Shah Alam, we went over to Klang to have Bak Kut Teh brunch at Teluk Pulai Bak Kut Teh. 

Potential Bak Kut Teh Restaurant ambassador ;)
Dried Bak Kut Teh, Yau Char Kwai, Sang Choi, Wet Bak Kut Teh. After having our tummies filled with these scrumptious food, we're energized to for all the climbing and flying fox woots!

Weng Hoe driving us there ;)
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Upon reaching, you've to pay RM3 to the reserve forest and there will be a shuttle bus/van/vehicle that will drive us to the Skytrex location. Be prepared for a really bumpy ride.

The good looking couple, Brian Moi and Mei San :)
Myself, Weng Hoe, Slyvester(Quan Yuan's friend that replaced Lilian) and Quan Yuan
Next, we're required to sign indemnity forms, and put on gloves. (You can purchase new ones for only RM3 or use the recycled gloves they provide for free).

& yes, place RM5 deposit if you wish to have a locker for your belongings.

Weng Hoe and Quan Yuan are readeh!
Hi guys, meet Karen :)
Climb!
Everybody excited!
Harnest and gears will be provided. Don't worry there are crews to help you out ;)
Top (L-R) : Dexter, Brian, Slyvester, Quan Yuan, Sabrina, Kar May, Yi Ching and Karen
Bottom (L-R) : Lisa, Mei San, Weng Hoe, myself
Missing : Li-Jen
All ready with the harnest! Off we go guys!
Took us 2 hours ish to finish, with around 33 obstacles. Can actually finish it real fast but the waiting for one another is what dragged it so long. I was actually kind of shocked as I reached the last obstacle, thinking to myself, "Har, that's it?". To be honest a bit potong la cause I was expecting more.

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Upon completion of the Extreme Challenge!

Sab the Hitman
Sab making Quan Yuan and Weng Hoe do the same pose lol.
All smiles :)
In the shuttle bus/van/vehicle that's gonna send us back
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These are a few syiok sendiri shots of me.




Ze ladies ;)
Final group picture before we depart :)
Frankly, we definitely enjoyed ourselves, but to be honest, it's not as scary or as challenging as we thought it would be. Would probably come back to taste the Big Thrill, or even cycling around Bukit Cahaya - but not anytime soon :P.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

The Maxis Om Nom Nom Race - Location #5 : Dancing Fish, BSC

Tis’ has been an enticing journey around Klang Valley and Kuala Lumpur. Reached our final location for the Maxis Om Nom Nom race: Dancing Fish- Malay-Indo Cuisine! WE ALL LOVE THIS PLACE, although it may be a lil secluded to be located at the third floor of BSC. But, this place is a gem!

To be honest, our taste buds have been pampered so much for the day. Being at this last location kinda makes us feel sad for not having more time at each location to savor each of the dishes gao gao! Meh.
Anyway, enough with the emo-ness…

This is how the outer part looks like! Pretty, no?

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And the interior:

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Classy much! So romantic, ain’t it?

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Well, as usual, we are extremely easily to be distracted with food. Started to dig in when the food is served. Om Nom Nom!

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For starters, we were served emping with sambal terasi. Made from nuts, it is balanced nicely with the spiciness of the sambal.

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We were also served some barley and lime to quench our thirsts after racing around PJ/Kepong/Bangsar and KL ALL DAY!

And here comes our beautiful mains:

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The Ayam Panggang – yummy and tender spring chicken, charcoal-grilled to perfection after going through some serious marination with their famous homemade BBQ sauce. It is served with ulam, which seemed as if some mango juice was dripped all over it, adding a tinge of sweetness and asam chili sauce to help accentuate the flavors of the chicken. We personally enjoyed this greatly, as the combination of the wonderful tastes made us feel proudly Asian!

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I love the chilli yo. *slurrp
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Ching giving dancing-fish kissy kissy.

And their house favorite, as their restaurant is aptly called, the Dancing Fish! As the manager explained, the fish is fresh from the tank deep fried until golden brown, whilst ensuring that the juiciness is kept. He goes on to say that it is prepared in the image of a traditional Indonesian Baron Dancer, as you can see by the unique cut and placement of the fish. It is served with their homemade sambal terasi. Heck, it was fried until the bones were edible! The sauces helped balance out the hard and dry exterior of the fish, and we ate as much of it as we could!

They also served us some gelato for dessert!


It is truly a pleasant place to dine in, with decent price too. I give this place a 4.5/5 and do recommend this place as a decent eatery destination. More information? Check the deets below!




Details:



Address: Dancing Fish, Lot T120, T121, T122, Third Floor, Bangsar Shopping Center (right above Tutti Frutti)



Contact Number: 03 2095 6663



Business hours: 11.30am - 3pm and 6pm - 10pm daily. However, on public holidays and weekends, they are available from 11.30am straight till 10pm! Nice!

The Maxis Om Nom Nom Race - Location #4 : Thaibase Sdn Bhd

4th location at Restoran Thaibase Sdn Bhd with the Foodologists for the Maxis Om om Nom race. More good food to savour! Woo hoo! Located the place right in the heart of Sri Damansara. As we heard, this place mainly does catering. Food here tasted awesome as well.

This is how the outside look like, recognise this well for future visits, peeps

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And the interesting interior design with plenty of aquariums with pretty fishies swimming in it as displays. Look look:

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Well, the main outline here is the FOOD! Wheeeeeeeeeee~~~ With a reasonable and affordable pricing, this place is not bad for a good family dinner. Check out what we had:

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Yum yum? Even out little Yi Ching still has space in her tummy for more of these food! Haha.

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Salivating yet? Tee hee. Now, if you are interested...


Details:


Opening Hours: Daily from 12 noon to 10.30 night. Closes on public holidays and Sundays though =S
Address: Restoran Thaibase Sdn Bhd. No. 7-1, Jalan Tanjung SD 13/2 Bandar Sri Damansara, 52200 Selangor.
Contact Number: 03-6275 2284

The Maxis Om Nom Nom Race - Location #3 : Sate Kajang HJ Samuri

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Chicken, Rabbit, Mutton and Venison Sate

Succulent, tender meat. This sate meats are grilled to perfection and taste absolutely amazing. Sate Kajang serves a wide range of meat to choose from such as beef, chicken, mutton, venison and even rabbit meat. It definitely is a must try for those who have never tasted any rabbit meat before in their life. 
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The sauce that accompanies the sate sticks taste really good as well. It’s like most typical sate gravies which have a very nutty flavour to it but what makes this special is that it isn’t that sweet and the peanut aroma isn’t overwhelming. Even our teammate, Yi Ching who hates peanut didn’t mind it all that much.

As usual, there are side dishes accompanying the sate sticks such as cucumbers and ketupat. The vegetables and ketupat go very well together with the peanut sauce and we all love it. It tastes good and I’m pretty sure that everyone regardless of age will love it just as much.

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Besides that, they serve other Malay food as well.

This Damansara outlet has ample amount of dining seats (2 storeys). It is decorated with simple elements of wood that resembles traditional Malay architecture.
Check out the collection of antique clocks they have.

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Details:

Address – Damansara Utama, Uptown (Same row as Village Park Nasi Lemak)
Tel – 03-77105318
Business hours : 11am – 12am (perfect for snack, lunch, tea time, dinner and even supper!)

The Maxis Om Nom Nom Race - Location #2 : Tarbush Restorant, Sunway Pyramid

We have now reached our second destination, Tarbush in Sunway Pyramid! We’re pretty pumped that we’ve kept our lead :)
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History: Tarbush is the leading Middle Eastern Restaurant in Malaysia. Since its humble beginnings as a small sandwich bar in Ampang in 1998, Tarbush has 3 other branches: Jalan Bukit Bintang, Starhill Gallery, and Batu Feringghi, Penang. The next branch will be opening in Wisma Atria in Singapore so our friends across the sea will also enjoy wonderful Middle Eastern cuisine that we Malaysians have come to adore. Besides these branches, there is also an Al Halabi Lounge in Marriot Hotel on Jalan Bukit Bintang.

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With Ms. Shereen, BossLady of the establishment!


Drinks Ice Lemon Tea (RM9.00) and Lemon Na ‘Na’ (RM11)

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Arayes Chicken (RM20.00)
Crunchy, pan fried Lebanese bread wrapped around flavorful minced chicken with greens and a lemon to squeeze on the side. We personally enjoyed this the most among all the wonderful dishes served to us at Tarbush. It’s basically a savoury grilled sandwich Middle Eastern Style!

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Biryani Lamb (RM24.00)
Louis was the only one amongst us to have tried Biryani Lamb before, just once, in KL, and this was totally incomparable! It was an explosion of flavors and tastes in all our mouths. The generous portions of Lamb were amazing to eat; juicy, tender and well-done! The accompanying chili sauce and curry also went very well with the Biryani rice. The aroma of the parsley also brought out the best of the Biryani.
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Appetizer: Humus Tahinah (RM10.00) and Dessert: Mahalabia (RM10.00)
A mildly tasting milk cream pudding garnished with chopped pistachio! We thought it was a pleasant way to end our meal after all the strong tastes and herbs we’ve been having!


Décor:

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The restaurant is well lit and had wonderfully comfortable chairs! 2 wonderful fountains placed in the middle of the restaurant. Cushioned seats and beautiful Middle Eastern pottery and paintings adorned the inside.

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We also learned that they serve shisha for those of you who enjoy it after 3pm daily!

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Details:


Opening Hours: Daily from 10am-1am, perfect for chilling after a late night movie!


Address: Tarbush Restaurant, Sunway Pyramid, LG Floor. It’s in the Marrakesh area of the pyramid, near FootMaster Spa & YinYang clothing.


Contact Number: 03-5633 9222


Fax: 03-5635 5922


Branches: Bukit Bintang – 03-21428558, Starhill – 03-21446393, Penang – 04-8852558, Tarbush Express (Pyramid) – 03-56353830

The Maxis Om Nom Nom Race - Location #1 : Strawberry Fields Cafe

SO ! Our team, the Foodologists consisting of Khai Sim, Louis, Yi Ching and I have just arrived at the first location, the Strawberry Fields in OldTown Petaling Jaya in first place! Let’s hope we get to keep our lead at the remaining 4 restaurants!

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Conveniently located in front of the MPPJ Building, The Strawberry Fields Café serves a variety of local dishes such as Asam Laksa (RM6.95), Tomyam Soup Meehoon (RM6.95) and even seafood like the Butter Cream Prawn Rice (RM9.20).

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We were served three dishes to sample in total, the first:

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Strawberry Fields Fried Mee RM 8.10
The springy thin noodles are a perfect expression of our local flavors, with ingredients such as fresh prawns, carrots and onions. It tastes like home cooked food which is something that most of us love. The flavors in the dish go together very well and the ingredients complement one another just as well.

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Thai Pineapple Fried Rice RM8.20
The Thai Pineapple Fried Rice is as we expected: tangy, full of fresh seafood and comes served in a pineapple as it’s name clearly suggests! It does taste a lot like most Thai dishes I have had in Thailand before which is a very good thing. However, it isn’t very spicy. Probably the dish was tweaked a little to suit the tastebuds of us Malaysians.

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Yi Ching devouring em D:

Both Main Dishes were served in hearty portions and were appropriately priced. Presentation wise, they were both served in a very eye-catching manner. For example, the Thai Pineapple Fried rice was served in a makeshift pineapple ‘bowl’ made out of an actual pineapple. As for the Strawberry Fields Fried Mee, it was served with vegetables that added colour to the otherwise plain looking dish.

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Sagu Gula Melaka RM4.00
After tasting 2 main meals, time for desert! For desert lovers out there, you just got to come and try this. Just sit around chilling and indulge in the Sagu Gula Melaka. It’s sweet with good authentic gula melaka taste.


Decoration:

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The Strawberry Fields Cafe is decorated with various tokens of the owner’s past, from Elvis,

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to a small picture of the Beatles in the Kitchen:

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Overall, we certainly enjoyed the local fare and decor. We would definitely recommend it to our friends and families.


Details:
Address: Ground Floor, Jalan Tengah, 46200, Petaling Jaya.

Opening Hours: Monday – Thursday (11.30am -2am) and Friday t0 Sunday (11.30am to 3am) – perfect for late night lepak/football match watching!

Phone Number: 03-7960 1268

The Strawberry Fields Café also has a branch in Taipan, Subang: 26, Ground Floor, Jalan USJ10/1B, Taipan Business Center, 47620, Subang Jaya.