Strawberry Vanilla Pavlova....

hellluuuuuu........

during last weekend... i got myself into the mood of making pavlova....
pavlova is actually a dessert from either Aussie or NZ... dunno.... but it got its name from the famous ballerina during 1920's... Anna Pavlova....

Pavlova is a light and airy dessert basically made from meringue....  either the ones that are crispy all through..(i love this one) or crispy on the outer shell.. and soft and marshmallow type in the inside..(this is the original version) .. then slab with a thick layer of whipped cream.. then topped off with fresh fruits.....   wwuuhhuuu.. nyummmm....

the mixing was a breeze.. quite easy... but the baking part was tough... no wonder its sooooo expensive in the bakeries... RM120 per whole cake...
plus the ingredients was a bit pricey...

anyway.. since i was soooo excited... i can't wait for a whole 3 hours of baking.. so when then oven bell rang at 1 and a half hours.... i thought it was enough..... thus... i got the marshmallow type of meringue...

*wink* .... crispy outside... marshmallowy inside..... hehe....
i had put a little almond flavour in the meringue....

 then.... whipping up the vanilla flavored whip cream... and arranging the fresh strawberry...

TADA.....
the verdict..

nyummmm...........

Papa Rich @ The Gardens Mid Valley

hi ya...

A couple of weeks ago... my family and i went to mid valley.... perghh... its been quite a while since i last stepped into this place...  lots of changes had happen ... and all i could think was i so not updated... i said to hubby.." wow... i feel so old... it's like ages since i was here... everything has changed.."

so we all just paced around the complex... and finally stopped at Papa Rich  to have some dinner...

Very Very Moist Eggless Butterless Red Velvet Cupcake

Hi  u allzz ......

I love to cook.... baking is one of them......
i baked this somewhere during ramadhan.... i think.... it's an eggless red velvet cupcake....
yup.. for those in confinement (berpantang) you galzz can eat these... hehe.. very moist...

Where to eat in Kuching

HHMM.... where to eat in kuching...

My vacation was mainly about food..food.. and more food..
here in kuching the seafood is amazing... and cheap... hehe... so my blogging in this post will be about the foods and the activities we did...

on our arrival.. we were greeted with 'mee kolok' at batu 7 kuching ... jolly food court (i think that was the name..) ... a special kinda noodle found only in Sarawak.. yummy... sort of wantan mee.. but much more tastier.... the noodle is made by hand ...... ( not the instant one..)
and drenched in a special sauce.... huahuahua.. nyumm..nyum..

later that nite we head off to a place called TOP SPOT seafood....
yup.. the name is truly as it is... ...top notch !
when we arrived there .. we thought that is was just a simple food court.... but owh my..
the seafood presentation made our tummy rumble.... they had laid out the seafood in a speacial  arrangement... so much seafood........ fishes.. big and small....some dead some still alive... crabs.. LIVE one.. squids... prawns... lobsters.... all sorts of seafood that i could not name each one.. WOW....

this is the stall in front of us.... the best stall is beside it....

we had spend about half an hour just gazing at the fishes and live crabs....

the atmosphere was like a typical open aired food court.. a bit hot... and stuffy...
because i came on a Saturday nite and it was dinner time... there were so many people and it was jammed packed...
we ordered and after waiting like a lifetime.... our food arrive..
i was so hungry that after each food came we all just started to eat... hahahha...
but yes.... the food was marvelous..... not so much in the presentation department...
but hey.... who cares if the taste is totally a 'plate licking' dish.....
i must say... anyone travelling to Sarawak Kuching .. must give this place a try....

breakfast the next day was at Pak Amit's Restaurant....... the place was also packed with people.. good foods always attracts .. hehhehhehhe...
the famous "Mee Kolok' was served again....
nyum....
so now i know that each restaurant  has a different recipe in making the mee kolok....
for me it was so-so...

we had our lunch at a nearby restaurant.(on the was to Damai Beach resort)... tried 'nasi briyani'.... the plated served was full of briyani rice.. i did not finish this one.... so full.... burped !

then came nite time.... hhuhuh.. next was seafood at a nearby fishing village...
a shabby restaurant.. but they served a good varity of seafood.... all fresh....
unfortunately we came a bit late.. and nearly all the 'specialties' are finished.. i.e crabs... squid... so we ordered the typical fishes.... prawns.. vege.. and shellfish...
hubby frowned at this.. he wanted to eat crab so much.. hhmm..
however...
the food here was ok and nice...
(prefered Topspot...heheh)

next morning we had our breakfast at the hotel... damai beach resort.. satang cafe...
wide variety of food choices here... there even a waffle station... nice.... Belgium waffles..
i guess hotels food are almost the same every where.... hot dogs... baked beans... local delicacies... porridge.. cornflakes...

the day to go home has arrive.... so we took this time to try out mee kolok again....
OK.. this is the best mee kolok ever..... !!!
i loved the taste.... Hj. Salleh Mee Kolok... hihih
nyumm...

nyummm...

vacation to kuantan

kuantan has been a regular spot for me and my family as my in-laws are nearby there. Ok..Ok... not so near.. but it is along the same route.....

Till now now i'm not sure how many times i've been there.... but so far my vacation to kuantan has always been a pleasant one....

I'm hook with the seafood there... much cheaper and fresher than in Kuala Lumpur....
the best place to dine......... would be Tanjung Lumpur.... it has lots of small shoplots that offers a variety of seafoods....
The most common seafood type here .....Grilled Fishes with special dipping sauce.....
but my best bet woulsd be 'Mail Ikan Bakar' and 'Ana Ikan Bakar" ...
mind you .. but everyone has different tastebuds... some might prefer other .. and this is preference...
Totally in love with it... :-)

wished i'd took picture of the food so that i can post it here... but it seems the foods're always disappearing before you could snap it .. Dang!! ... heheheh

The best thing to do in Kuantan is of course heading to the beaches..  Kuantan has a lot of nice and lovely beaches... ( mainly it's location is beside the sea.. huhu)

hubby and son by the sea....

Swiss Garden Pool Side at night...

I'm kind'da a private gal.... who loves some peace and quite... and not the hassle and bustle of people during my vacations....
so i usually head out to a few place which has less visitor.. but still are lovely....
Where???  and How ????

First .. i always avoid school holiday.... the beaches here would be pack... especially the weekends.. and public holidays of course ..
Second ... i always head to hotels with private beaches...(and it's clean) ( ok some might be soooo.. expensive ...i.e Hyatt Kuantan) but actually you can find good deals of various hotels in Kuantan...
my choice would be Swiss Garden Resort & Spa..... heheh.. my ... well it ticks off all may requirement boxes... a bit pricy .. but i like it here... and since my in-law in in a wheel chair ... this hotel is what you called in Malaysia "OKU Friendly" which means this hotel offers some (not all) facilities for disable people example,  the ramp is every where.... except the sandy area of course...

i've stayed in a few hotels in kuantan before which does not sit to my liking....  you can see a few of my reviews in TripAdvisor.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g298296-d308086-r108280529-Swiss_Garden_Resort_Spa-Kuantan_Pahang.html#CHECK_RATES_CONT

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g298296-d627848-r108282776-Duta_Village_Beach_Resort-Kuantan_Pahang.html#CHECK_RATES_CONT

reviews of hotels are for sharing purposes.

i'll be heading to sarawak this weekend .... so next week i'll be reviewing and sharing my experiences with this blog sooon..