Time sure flies by fast. I can't believe that it's the second week of January already! I think I'm still in the holiday mood, and so is Naylla who has started school but already asking me when her next holiday will be. Ooohh not a good sign.
Anyways, I love the beginning of the year, months like January, February, because it means it's the awards seasons!! And I'm a sucker for those. Yesterday, I just saw the 2016 Golden Globes Awards; I was surprised Lady Gaga won a Golden Globe, and was pretty disappointed that Amy Schumer didn't win, but I guess Jennifer Lawrence must be really good in Joy, though I have not seen it yet. Now, after that one is done, I am now really looking forward to the Oscars :).
Though, I don't really follow current movies anymore, I still enjoy the award shows. But, it has been better over the years, because when I was younger I would plan my schedule around the airing of the Oscar's, I'd even apply for leave for that special day because I just felt the need to watch it live -_-!.
However, with today's technology, watching the awards shows is even more enjoyable, because I'd be able google the celebrity every time a joke is thrown about him or her. What a shameless hobby, but I can't help myself, the information is right there in my face. I have to know what people are laughing about (my rationality in all of this). Normally, I wouldn't even follow celebrity gossips!
For this post though, I'm not going to tell you about the full scoop on the Golden Globes. I wouldn't be a good source anyway because I fell asleep most of the time yesterday. Wow, how time has changed, this would be unheard of during my younger years.
This time I'd like to share our family's trip to Malaysia for the new year. It was a trip that we took in the spur of the moment, just because we felt like spending our new year somewhere just with us three. We don't really celebrate new years, usually we'd just have hot pot at home, go to sleep at 11 pm, and that's that. We'd wake up the next year. Boring, yet satisfying, or so I say. Again, unheard of in my younger years :D.
But this time, we felt like a change of mood. So, we book three bus tickets to Kuala Lumpur and a room at the Hilton.
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| Jourdan and Naylla waiting for our bus |
It felt like I just closed my eyes a moment ago, but when I opened them, we're already there. To me, that's a sign of a successful trip :).
When we arrived Kuala Lumpur, it was already time for lunch, so we just grabbed a bite at this food court near our drop off.
One thing that I love about Malaysia is that it is a country with the majority of the population being muslims, which means finding halal eateries is so easy, it is almost the norm for a restaurant to be halal or use halal ingredients, and as for the non halal places, they will place 'non halal' sign at the entrance. To us, it was very convenient.
So this food court, was where we will have our first meal in Malaysia, I was excited. The place sells Indian food, so most things (seemed) spicy. I asked Jourdan to choose for me, because after staring the food display for a while, I was still confused on what to eat. I'm sure his choice will be a hit, he's good at choosing the good ones.
So he chose fried chicken, fried chicken liver and stir fried veggies with this orange looking rice, all Indian style. We were hungry and our expectations were high. But this dish, they were almost delicious at best, but beautiful plate though.
It was an acceptable lunch, affordable too. The food pictured above costed RM 9.50. Our stomach was full, but taste wise, I expected better since I know Malaysia food tastes awesome.
After lunch, we made way to our Hotel.
This is not the first time for me to be staying at the Hilton, but it was the first time to stay at the Hilton in Kuala Lumpur, and for a vacation for that matter. Previous stays were for work, so I did not notice how enjoyable the Hilton was.
This time, I really took notice on the premises, the services and facilities offered. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised. The Hilton Kuala Lumpur really lived up to the Hilton brand.
Our room was facing the lake, and we can see the pool too, which was nice so I can see what Naylla and Jourdan were up to when they went swimming just the two of them.
And during new year's eve, we felt really lucky to have gotten this room, because we got full view of all the fireworks from the surrounding venues. The Hilton themselves did not have any firework show, but the surrounding malls and other places did, and we were able to see all of them from the convenience of our hotel room. Fantastic!! We loved it. We didn't have to dress up, get stuck in traffic, squeezed in the crowd, etc, but was still able to view beautiful firework shows. I recorded some of it in the video :).
I especially loved the bathroom, because the bath tub was not too big, so it was comfortable for someone who's not so tall like me :D. And the water pressure was also great, so the tub filled up immediately, plus the 'rain' shower in the showering area felt awesome.
The bathroom opens to the bedroom, so you could watch the tv while you're having a bath. Naylla especially loved this.
The hotel provided robes, soap, conditioner, body lotion, tooth brush and toothpaste (upon request), slippers, hair dryer. iron and ironing board, cotton bud, etc, except for the bubble bath gel. So we bought some from Bath and Body Works from a nearby mall. I'd suggest you get this one, it smells amazing! And you'll get a nice, deep sleep after your relaxing shower/bath.
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| source: www.ebay.co.uk |
I ended up buying two bottles of this one, excellent decision*pat self on back.
We also loved the pool, it has a slide, which is super nice and a great hit with the kids. The water is cold though, like ice water, even though the temperature for the day is super hot, like the sun was unmerciful, but the water in the pool is just felt like just melted off an iceberg or something. First, it was a weird sensation and I felt uncomfortable submerging my body in such cold water, while my head is hot from the sun. But, after a short while, the cold water is a great idea. It made the swim even more comfortable in a hot weather. We enjoyed it immensely.
After spending the afternoon at the hotel, lazing around, completely on schedule with our plan, we decided to go to Suria KLCC, a mall next to the Petronas Towers, the most famous attraction in Kuala Lumpur. We were planning to book a ticket for the next day's visit to the towers. We have done this before, so we thought there won't be any problem. But, we forgot it was the new years, and all spots were completely booked, there were no tickets until the end of our trip. I went online and the website also confirmed this. We were advised to go very early the next day to see if we can get a ticket, but we thought it unlikely to happen, so we just changed our plan. Perhaps we'll visit the towers next time.
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| We can go to the towers through the mall itself |
As it was time for dinner, we decided to go to Madam Kwan's, apparently a famous eating place that originated from Malaysia, that has garnered success since 1977. There was a long line, always a sign of good food, so we decided to join the queue.
Surprisingly, we were seated in 10 minutes! Nice. I was hungry and was soon turning into a grouchy old man, if I were not to be fed immediately.
Looking at the menu, the restaurant serves mostly hawker style Malaysian cuisine. Such as satay, nasi lemak, rojak, otak-otak, etc. The prices were on the premium side though. But the place itself had a cafe like ambiance, in contrast to the street style food they serve, interesting combination.
We ordered the Malaysian satay, 6 pieces, 3 sticks chicken and 3 sticks beef, it costs RM 13.90. Now, while Indonesia also has satay, I have heard Chef Wan made the claim that Malaysian satay is the best. I couldn't wait to taste the real thing, and see for myself whether it is true or not.
First bite, I was surprised to find the grilled meat had so many spices on them, I'm not used to that. I was afraid it won't go together with the peanut sauce. Then, something amazing happened. As it turned out the spices on the meat and the peanut sauce were a perfect match!! It was hard to describe, I've never experienced anything like that. So odd, yet so wonderful. The satay is a success!
On a side note, I like the chicken satay more than the beef. Yumm. Definitely one of the top things I'd miss from Malaysia. However, I cannot say it is better than Indonesian satay :P. You can see how I'm obviously objective here.
These are fried king prawns, cooked with garlic and superior soya sauce. I honestly don't remember how much it costs, was it RM 14 per prawn???...who knows.
The sauce was thick, with caramelized garlic aplenty, and the taste was super good. A full bodied soya sauce (if there is such a thing) with a hint of prawn essence, is what I tasted. Oddly, the prawn meat was tough though. My fork managed to get through it, but it was tough to pull it back out, what the....
How does that happen?
Anyways, good prawns, but I expected the meat to be more tender than that. This is the first tough prawn meat I have ever had in my life. There's a first time for every surprising experience I guess.
This is clay pot seafood bean curd, RM 25.90, with fried bean curd, paprika, onions, cauliflower, mushrooms and a bunch of seafood like small prawns and squid.
The sauce tasted lovely. It wasn't spectacular, but it was pretty delicious. The seafood was cooked properly and tender, the vegetables were crunchy, they were cooked perfectly.
Overall, it was a pretty nice, typical, Malaysian dinner :). We were happy, and we over ate, like usual. First food goal accomplished.
Here's the video of our adventure for the day, I hope you like it:
For more information about the Hilton Kuala Lumpur, please click here.
For more information about Madam Kwan's:
http://www.madamkwans.com.my/
Suria KLCC
Lot 420/421, level 4
Kuala Lumpur City Centre
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 50088
Tel: 2026 2297/98
Opening hours: 10.00 am - 10.00 pm
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