By The Sea Hotel - Phuket

Venue - By The Sea Hotel Cape Panwa Beach.
Address - 7/6 Moo 6, Soi Bor-Rae, Vichit, Muang, Phuket, Thailand 83000
Phone - +66 76 305044-5
March 2017



Overview
An excellent beach resort and being away from the hustle & bustle of Phuket. Do not be fooled by the Front Office settings.
Being away meaning you should rent a car if you want to travel out often for
sightseeing although many attractions offer hotel pick-up.
As for me, I rented a car from Andaman Car Rent. A Toyota Vios for SGD42/day for a week. I just want it to be free and easy for me.

Rooms
We were really awed when we checked into our Deluxe Room. Very spacious!!
We were allocated the sea facing cabana rooms and it was excellent.
The room came with a kitchenette, a huge living & bedroom. The lawn outside the room were really nice.
The toilets were clean, not jaded and came with full amenities and bear in mind I am a person who is picky over my toilets.
Both options of bath tub and a separate shower are available.
What I like about his place are the nice little touches they had. For example, they provide a nice woven bag with 2 Towels and 2 pair of slippers in it.
There are many more on this small touches like the free usage of JAVA mountain bike available, rubber boots for kids who wanna keep their feet sand free
and a logical shower area at the gazebo upon entering the hotel premises from the beach

View From The Room

The Bedroom

Living Room

Service & Ambiance
They have a very pleasant group of people working for this place, however communicating might be an issue as they are not very fluent in speaking
the English language.Try Google translate instead!

There is a DIY laundry if you need to, 2 Washers & 2 Dryers, Get with the Front Office for the detergent.

Checking in & out was a breeze.
The housekeeping are prompt as well, rooms are cleaned up nicely.

Perhaps one thing that could be improve for this property, are the breakfast. Limited choices for me and after 3 days, you would just skip it altogether.
They have only one restaurant, and it serves all meals for the day. Prices are average and not too expensive.

The beach here in Panwa are just as nice as the ones in Patpong, so no issues in that.

Kids by the beach

Clean Pool

Rooms : 8/10
Services : 8/10
Surrounding Environment : 7/10
Public Area Cleanliness : 8/10
F&B : 6/10 (Only for breakfast)
Worth Staying - A definite big yes.

http://www.bytheseaphuket.com/

Dorsett Grand Labuan

Venue - Dorsett Grand Labuan

Address - 462, Jln Merdeka, Financial Park, 87029 Labuan F.T., Wilayah Persekutuan Labuan

Phone - +6087-422 000

Overview
A brand is just a name if it doesn't being up-kept. Better off with other nearby local branding hotels. Not worth paying premier price just for the brand.
Great service & location but it's condition is a letdown.


Rooms
I have to give this to them, their rooms are spacious to begin with and they come with many room amenities. It seems that this hotel needs to have a soft upgrading
by at least having the carpets changed, replacing all the faucets in the bathroom and a fresh coat of paint & varnish.
The sink was as good as choke when it took 10 mins for the waste water to go away just by me washing my face.
The cistern was faulty as well. It needs to be flushed in a certain way before it could function proper.

Oh.. the TV set. It is way too small for such a big room. It's probably a monitor and not a real TV set..
Luckily the WiFi signal was better, however you have to log in (and Forget Network) each time you return back to the hotel. It doesn't prompt you to do so but I figured that out
when my phone stayed quiet for 2 hrs.


Having stayed there twice each with a different view.
The city view is decent and so does the sea view overlooking all those tankers and vessels.

There was no day curtain and the bathtub sucker type mat was very mouldy.

Standard Room

Very Spacious

View from the main road

Service & Ambiance

They have a very pleasant group of people working for this place. Checking in & out was a breeze.

The housekeeping are prompt as well, cleaning the rooms every morning.

F&B

They served a very decent breakfast spread serving local & western dishes.

The Gym, it's pretty decent, have all the needed equipments for me. (I only run on the treadmills - 2 out of 4 functions well).

Having a pool towel in the gym is a bit of an overkill, they should provide smaller towels instead.

The Pool is a standard size free-size pool. Good for guests who needs a leisure swim. Nothing for the kids though.

Rooms : 6/10

Services : 7/10

Surrounding Environment : 6.5/10

Public Area Cleanliness : 7/10

F&B : 6.5/10 (Only for breakfast)

Parking: Free

Worth Staying - Not really.

My Rasa Restaurant - Perth

My Rasa Restaurant

Address: 1/18, Welwyn Avenue.Manning.Perth.Australia.
Phone: +61861611335
Time - Dinner (23 Sept 2017)


Overview
Where should I start? Another Malaysian Restaurant in Perth with a slight high end pricing for
serving typical southern Malaysian dishes and desserts.
About 20 mins from the city centre. I am from Freo, so it took me 35mins via Canning Highway.

A local friend here told me that a few Malaysian celebrities
frequent this place, Zahirah McWilson, Zul Ariffin and their very own Prime Minister, Mr Najib Tun Razak.



Service & Ambiance
My first impression when I drove pass the restaurant to park (opposite att IGA) I was suprised
to see that it was actually a nice restaurant by the exterior looks of it.
I believe the place was formally a cafe and the owner took it over,
but added some of his own personal touch onto it.

It was really nice and I liked it, it's like having your normal Malay dishes in a 5 star hotel! Perhaps one
of the few Malay Restaurant places here in Perth that I like (interior decor wise) Thumbs up to that.

Service was great and efficient, the waiter came around twice in 5mins asking if we are ready to order our food. I think that's
great giving that this is a proper restaurant and therefore should provide great service.

However not all is perfect, and being a 1.8m person I have legroom issues. That single sized table have to go.
Ergonomical wise, it's terrible. You would have little legroom and your knees would be in a V-position with constantly hitting onto
the metal legs and support. To eat well is to seat well.
To avoid that, we moved to a round table with better legroom.

The Legroom!!

Food
So I was there with 4 of my other mates (It's Aussie ya' know... Mate!) and I had ordered the Mee Rebus Johor. (Yes.. Datang Restaurant makan Mee Rebus!)
The others had Nasi Ayam.

As usual, to be fair, I shall only comment on what I had which brings us to the Mee Rebus Johor. My first thought was, "Hey.. This is contentious you know, S'pore had
our Mee Rebus as well and we did not call it Mee Rebus S'pore" and so I thought it would taste same.
But, my instinct told me to try it as Mee Rebus is a dish that varies from place to place and there are no standard gauge on what goes in it.

Well our food got delivered 10 mins later, which is reasonably fast and so all the cameras came out snapping away!

My Mee Rebus... First impression - Oily. Extremely oily with at least half an inch of cooking oil covering the dish. And so I went to ask for a small bowl
in order for me to syphon whatever oil I could with my spoon.

Oily.. Oily.. Oily... Oi.. Oi.. Oi..!

Now. The makan part. This Mee Rebus are not the typical ones I had back in S'pore.
The "kuah" or stew whatever you call it, taste different. It's a bit soupy, not thick as thick as it normally was. They had beef slices, fried tofu, 2 halves
hard boiled eggs and the usual condiments.
The serving portion was generous as well for a Mee Rebus priced at AUD $16.50.
I quite liked the Mee Rebus as it kind of took me by suprised on how it taste like. Something new and if you're keen you should try it too and perhaps tell the Abang
to lessen the oil.

Mee Rebus Johor

Sittings - AC Indoor - Approx 70 pax. Outdoor - None.
Food Type - Malay
Cleanliness - 8/10
Service - 8.5/10
Parking - Public. Free Outdoor Parking at IGA.
Recommended? - Yes. Spend more time there to make your money worth.

Esplanade Hotel - Fremantle, Perth, Australia

View of the hotel at sundown

This is a hotel that looks magnificent on the outlook. Something that I would relate to our own Raffles Hotel back in Singapore.
The Colonial architecture painted in white adding to the already majestic look overlooking the beautiful Esplanade field.

Sadly enough, it ends there.
The moment you checked into the rooms, all that expectations fade away. Pooof!!

Rooms
Fully furnished, slightly jaded but still in good shape.
The carpets though are much less to be desired, if you do have dust allergy you do have to be careful while staying there.
The toilets are alright as well, something that you will find similar to any Holiday Inn or Ibis.

Depending on the allocation of your room, if you are unlucky enough to be facing the road, do expect noises from the cars, drunkards walking pass your room

Deluxe Room

Cost
It may appear cheaper around AUD200/ night (depends where & how you booked it) but there are some hidden charges that you would have to be aware like the overnight parking (Valet) will cost you AUD30/ night.

Ammenities
Internet wifi are free only up to 1000MB.
Hotel bikes are chargeable by the hour.
Laundries, they do have a communal area for you to do your laundry with coins or you can do the housekeeping way with higher charges.
Decent pool size, not sure if it will be heated during winter, so I can't comment much here.

Pool

Breakfast normally doesn't come with the room charges, but if you do want to, it would amount to AUD30/ head. I would suggest you eat out at the local cafes which are better and cost less as well.

Restaurant

Surroundings
Fremantle itself is a great place to be in but read out on my next blog of the option you will have when staying over in Fremantle.

Rooms : 6.5/10
Services : 8/10
Surrounding Environment : 8/10
Public Area Cleanliness : 7/10
F&B : 7/10 (Only for breakfast)
Worth Staying - 6.5/10


Click here to Hotels Website
Address: Marine Terrace & Essex St, Fremantle WA 6160
Phone: (08) 9432 4000

Bagus La Mian Yong Tau Fu

Venue - Bagus La Mian Yong Tau Fu
Address - 276 Changi Rd, Singapore 419756
Time - 11am - Lunch

Having a good, healthy and yet a tasty meal are normally not easy to find.
Just like my previous post on the eaters dilemma, it's hard to convince oneself or another on just getting a decent meal.

Well look far no more Singaporeans!

Have a read on my review of this excellent place where they serve traditional Chinese Halal Food. One of Singapore's favourite dish - YONG TAU FU.

History of Yong Tau Fu

The origins of Yong Tau Fu varies, but I would like to believe one which is logical.

Yong Tau Fu originated from the Hakka tribe where they reside in Central China. As they were migratory, some moved to the South where wheat was a bit scarce to make their usual dumplings. So as a substitute, the replaced it with Tofu to make it as the dumpling skins which were then wrapped around the meat and  then boiled it in hot water.
It was an experiment and when they found out that this new dumpling tasted great, they decided to keep it and thus Yong Tau Fu was born.

Thank you to the Hakkas..!

Review

Well at this eatery located in Changi Road, just before the Still Road junction they served probably one of the better Yong Tau Fu's in Singapore.
The pricing are average with different set meals you could choose from or you could go with the traditional ala-carte way of picking and making your own Yong Tau Fu.

What makes or break this dish? In my opinion, it will definitely be the soup and the chili paste or what we call here as "sambal". Slack in this section and all is gone.
But Bagus La Mian Yong Tau Fu excel at both of this and the dish are excellent.
This is a place I would recommend to everyone here, be prepared to wait for about 10mins to get your food served.

The only downside on this premise are that they don't have a proper "made to order" hot drinks. All hot drinks would come from the machine. You have to put your cup underneath it and choose your liking. For someone like me who doe not fancy too much sugar, it will be impossible to order a less sugar Hot Tea.

The type of  Noodles to choose from

Many varieties to choose from, you'll be spoilt for choice

Our dish

Ambiance

Bagus La Mian Yong Tau Fu interior are bright, clean and airy. You wont have to worry about having food smells on your hair or clothing's.

It could probably seat about 90 pax in one seating indoors. They are a few outdoor sittings but not much, perhaps enough for 18 pax.

Sittings - Open Indoor -90 pax. Outdoor - 18pax
Food Type - Chinese Hakka
Cleanliness - 7.5/10
Service - 8/10
Parking - Public. Paid Parking. Plenty.
Recommended? - Yes. Go for it...!

Makan with Sandy on Facebook

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Makan to survive...

Life most difficult choices

There are many types of food in this world.

Food for your soul, food for your body and sometimes food that makes you happy when you are depressed.

It's hard to find something that matches all 3 of the above isn't it?

Mostly food for the soul are normally oily, fattening or just plain sinful to eat but they are heavenly tasty the moment your taste buds are triggered by them.

Food for the body are normally what we eat or train our mind to think that, "Well, this is good for you, eat it" which are normally bland, boring and not easily available.

And the food that makes you happy, well that's the best food definitely. You pig out yourself and stuff all the goodness into you till you fill your hearts out. Kudos..!

Some believe you Eat To Live and others simply Live To Eat.

For me. I sit on the fence going both ways most of the time. I bet many of us does. Isn't it?!!

So what are your favourite indulgence? Why do you like them? Does the costs influence your choice?

Trust me, making a choice is never easy. We eat everyday but are normally faced with a big dilemma every single day.

You don't believe me?

Go out with your missus today and ask her.

"So dear, what/where shall we eat today?"

That my friends.. Are a men's all time Fear Factor question.

Happy weekend. Happy eating. Do not binge. And if your other half decide to take a photo of the food before eating, let it be. She loves her food.

Ah Dong Teh House

Hey people!

I am back.. And I apologize as it has been quite some time since I update my blog. 

So let's start where I have paused... Makan..!!!

Tuck away in a corner where not many people know nestled in Punggol, there is a nice little area called Tebing Lane where a few local eateries are situated at. And this time round, my food adventure brings me to this local delight called "Ah Dong Teh House". (Halal)

This place served local & western dishes but the main attraction got to be their DIY Ice Kacang. This is a local version of Chocolate Fondue where you get to mix & match your own Ice Kacang concoction to your own liking. If it's your birthday, they would throw in the giant sized DIY Ice Kacang for free! Yes free.. (You bloody Singaporeans) Haha.. :)

While there are many dishes to choose from, I got to savour some of them below.

Chicken Curry Noodle

Ok people.. Go and order this. You will love this, trust me. It's not as what the photo on the menu shows but it's better. (Photo shows a dry version while the actual comes with gravy and all)

XO Fried Rice c/w Cucumber & Pineapple Achar

Nothing fancies me in this dish. The XO sauce doesn't really surface up and the taste gets saltier as I reach the bottom of the bowl. I stopped eating two-thirds into it as I couldn't chow it anymore.

Garlic Butter Mussels

Ahh.. Nothing can go wrong with this dish. Perhaps something missing is the tangy flavour from the lemon, or could be the lack of it. I felt "jelak" halfway through it.

DIY Ice Kacang

Something you must try if you love this local dessert. Some call it the King of Local Dessert. Pour it, throw it in, stir it, mash it up.. It's up to you. You are your own dessert chef here. All of the toppings & syrup will be served separate and you decide what you one..

Cleanliness - 8/10

Ambiance - 7/10
Service - 8/10

Indoor Sits 45 pax

Outdoor Sits 30 pax
Recommended - Yes.. Go for it..

Click here for address

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