Author: sweet surrender

Kusmi Tea

Posted on By sweet surrender 2 Comments on Kusmi Tea

So, I’m done with all my travel posts. No more. Don’t think there will be anymore to come with the new lifestyle I’m going to embark next month. Gonna miss all those freedom and flexibility.

Let’s talk about tea today. I bought Kusmi Tea from Paris last year. There were so many choices and I ended up buying the green tea range (I don’t remember the price). It came in 5 different flavours.

Kusmi Tea is a brand of tea with headquarters in Paris, France. The company, which produces Russian-style teas and tea blends, was established by Pavel Michailovitch Kousmichoff in 1867 in St. Petersburg, Russia.


Left: The top of the tin. These little tins are filled to the brim with 125gm of loose tea.

Right: Strawberry green tea, Sencha green tea flavoured with strawberry. This is one of my favourite. Strong strawberry smell and you could taste the strawberry’s sourness and sweetness too. Great for afternoon tea with your girlfriends. Very fun to drink.


Left: Rose green tea, Chinese tea flavoured and scented with rose petals. Another favourite of mine. Spot the rose petals? The pink bits are rose petals. Just by smelling and drinking it made me felt like I’m falling in love. I personally think that it’s a great tea to have with your loved one while enjoying the time together.

Right: Imperial label, Sencha green tea from China combined with orange, cinnamon, liquorice root and sea buckthorn berries. Great to drink it cold even though the blend was inspired from a traditional Russian drink served since the 12th century and drunk as a remedy against the harsh winter conditions. With sourness of orange, sweetness of cinnamon and liquorice and the taste of lemon and sea buckthorn combined with a hint of vanilla is unique. It doesn’t feel like you’re not drinking tea but some refreshing and fancy blend of beverage.


Left: Ginger-Lemon Green tea, Chinese green tea flavoured with lemon and ginger. May be drunk hot, or in the summertime, iced. Strong ginger and lemon smell and even taste. Drink it hot when you are having period for the ladies, it felt quite comforting. During the winter, it’s great to drink this hot while relaxing with your favourite book, TV shows, or loved ones.

Right: Spearmint Green Tea aka Green tea with Nana mint, Chinese green tea with Nana mint from Morocco. This is the one that could kill everything you tasted. Could even smell it even when the tin wasn’t opened. Once you tasted this, you can no longer taste any of the tea above, everything will taste like spearmint. I don’t like it, first thing that hit me was chewing gum! Too overwhelming. The smell lingered in the teapot too. Not only that, it stayed on your taste buds for God-knows how long. It took me quite awhile to forget this scent and even the after taste was there for days.

My first time reviewing tea hehehe… My first time buying loose tea too. I wasn’t into tea until I was in Adelaide. I was introduced to various types of tea from China which my friend bought every time he went for business trips. It’s interesting to taste so many types of tea in which each has its own characteristics. Too bad, can no longer enjoy tea with him.

Food Porn, Review It!

Sarawak+Brunei Road Trip (18-25/11/2013) – Part 9

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We reached Limbang at night from Brunei. Was quite late already.

Limbang is located on the banks of the Limbang River (Sungai Limbang in Malay), between the two halves of Brunei.

Owing to its geographical location, Limbang is completely cut off from the rest of Sarawak’s road network. It however has good road links to both parts of Brunei located to the east and west of the district. There is also a good local network of roads in the district.

Source: Wikipedia

Apart by using road to go to Limbang (going through Brunei, means you will need passport for going in and out of Limbang even for Malaysians) Limbang has an airport.




We stayed at Purnama Hotel which is located in the highest building of Limbang, Plaza Limbang. There’s a shopping centre which reminded me of Hopoh(a shopping centre in Kuching). Government offices are located in this building too. The room we stayed was very spacious! It has all the basics you need. I guess this is the best hotel you can get there. Don’t expect too much from it. It’s good enough to stay.

Was already pretty sick, we slept the night away and woke up pretty late in the morning. At first thought of just sleeping more while waiting for the rest of the team to check-out but we decided to head out to the Pasar Tamu, just opposite the hotel for a look. It’s a must! Already there, can’t just spent it in the hotel room even though was feeling quite sick. God knows when will I come back here again, this might be my first and last time here.



It was so hot and being sick didn’t really helped. We quickly browsed through the market, bought some local produce.



Took some photos too of the river. The river is very important for the people here just like any other places in Sarawak. The day was so hot with clear blue sky. After taking the shoots we wanted, we headed back to the hotel to escape the heat and to rest as much as we could as it would be a long drive back to Miri.


It’s time to go at around 2pm. While the others were still packing, we, the media team decided to ask our driver to drive around to take more shoots or drop by some places nearby to have a quick look. We stopped by Limbang Regional Museum, located in a fort built by Rajah Charles Brooke in 1897. Very small museum with the background of the local leaders and the history of the place. Not much artifacts though. Mostly photos and texts.


The buffalo and crocodile, both are common animals that you can find in Limbang. Beware of the crocodile in the river! Serious! Not joking, there’s even a sign there at the jetty warning people about it.

We were all pretty tired, this is our last destination before heading back to Miri to stay for a night before driving all the way straight back to Kuching. Oh dear… Dreading it so much that I was contemplating to catch a flight from Miri or Limbang to fly back to Kuching but at the end I didn’t hehehe…

Finally! Done with the road trip post! After staying a night in Miri, we drove all the way down to Sibu. Had a short rest there, had our dinner before went straight back to Kuching. We started our journey from Miri at around 10am. Was in Sibu at about 5pm or 6pm. The journey from Sibu to Kuching was really scary, the road was so dark. Couldn’t see anything at all. We arrived Kuching at 11pm. One hour earlier than our estimated time as we didn’t waste any time after dinner in Sibu.

That’s the end of my one week journey with the Cats Rangers. I’m thankful for the opportunity given to me which was made possible by CatsFM, Ministry of Tourism Sarawak, and Sarawak Bloggers. If you want me to do this again, I think I’ll fly the next time around hahaha… At least I’ve done this once, it’s enough for me, a once in a lifetime experience, won’t complain too much except it was exhausting! ;p

This year is Visit Malaysia Year and also Visit Sarawak Year. Why don’t we take this opportunity to discover our own state and own country. There’s a lot of hidden gems lying behind our own backyard. Hope you enjoyed this series of posts even though I didn’t really share much.

Going Places, Limbang

Sarawak+Brunei Road Trip (18-25/11/2013) – Part 8

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To Brunei we went. None of us had been there before. All so excited.

Left: Going tru’ immigration.

Right: Welcome to Brunei! Not staying there, we were just passing by… Only spent few hours there before we headed to Limbang.

Views that greeted us while we try to locate the tourism office of Brunei.

Left: One of the mosques.

Right: Brunei International Airport. Looks grand.


Left: One of the government offices.

Right: Prime Minister’s Office. Very majestic! In case you’re wondering who is the prime minister there. It’s the Sultan, he’s the Sultan and also the prime minister.


Left: Special pass for us.

Right: Handing over of banners to the tourism office there as they are interested in collaborating to help promote Visit Sarawak Year 2014.


Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque located at the Brunei River. It’s known as the most beautiful mosque in Asia Pacific. The main dome is covered with gold. Was told that the inside of the mosque is very cold brrr… By the way, Brunei is hot! Just like Miri. Also, we noticed that all the indoors in Brunei are so cold! Shivering… Once got out of the buildings, the heat was really something.


Left: Temple somewhere in the city.

Right: The shopping mall that located opposite Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque. Didn’t know it’s a mall, doesn’t look like one hahaha…



We had our dinner at Tarindak d’ Seni. The interior felt very grand. I thought we’re going to have buffet but instead we’re ordering from the menu. So many choices! Spoilt for choice!

These are the views from the restaurant as it’s located on the bank of Brunei River.

Kampong Ayer- the “village in the water”.


The view of the city.


The view of the Brunei River.


The Rangers and I. The sick sick me…

Let’s see what were the food we ordered. As I was rather not in the mood, I didn’t take note of what everyone was ordering.

This is one of the burgers ordered. The I love Brunei badge didn’t come with the dish, it’s what we got from the tourism office and one of our travel mates thought of this idea.


Left: Fried marinated chicken with condiments (BND6.50). Looks very appetizing.

Right: This should be soup ekor (BND5.50).


Left: I ordered Spaghetti Olio-Olio (BND6.50), that’s how it’s spelled in the menu, not aglio e olio. I don’t know what’s wrong with me *LOL* Went to Brunei and ate western food, crazy! I thought Olio-Olio should taste light. Since I wasn’t feeling well, that’s why I opted for it but a bit regretted it after that as it was quite flavourful, spicy too. The spaghetti was cooked just right though.

Right: Nasi Goreng Tarindak (BND6).


The sunset view that we’ve been waiting for. See some buildings with lots of light far far away? It’s the palace! The Istana Nurul Iman Palace. HUGE! What do you expect from the world’s largest palace? Massive car collection of the Sultan is right there in the palace which includes custom-made Ferraris and Bentleys as well as Rolls Royces.

After dinner, it was time to say goodbye to Brunei and we headed straight to Limbang.

Abode of Peace - Brunei, Food Porn, Going Places

Be Right Back

Posted on By sweet surrender 2 Comments on Be Right Back

Almost a week not updating this blog. I’m still alive! Don’t worry. As if anyone would care ;p

It’s a crazy week! Suddenly I got a part-time job offer without going tru’ interview, what’s more I have got no experience in it too. Thought it was a case of mistaken identity but good to know that it’s not. It’s better than what I asked for. Thank you for this opportunity and might be given the opportunity to travel to major towns in Sarawak for it. Due to this, I’ve been busy sourcing materials and also revising the whole thing to refresh my memory of what I had learned 10 years ago just for this weekend! As if going to sit for major exam. Not saying what’s the job nature is (don’t wanna jinxed it yet.) but let’s just say that it’s something I’ve been looking forward to do since I came back last year but after tonnes of resume submissions, no one contacted me even for an interview. I almost lost faith in it.

Then, yesterday, I got a call asking me to go for an interview. Supposed to be today but I told the person that I’m too occupied this week, can only do it next week. Will be going for the interview on Monday. Again, it’s a totally different industry. Don’t know what kind of job as I just submitted my resume to my friend and she passed it to her superior. There’s quite a number of positions available, we’ll see which one they will ask me to do. I’m pretty much open to anything as long that I am confident that I can handle it. There’s one problem though… It’s a full-time job. I will have to let go of many things (attend events and potential sponsored trips) and even the just accepted part-time job, I’m so afraid of working full-time for people. I’ve been self-employed for almost 10 years! It’s going to be hard. Sigh… Dilemma… If I want to learn something new, see more, get stable income, and to meet the potential other half(according to my ex-colleague *LOL*), I will have to take this step. I wonder will I be able to even hold a full-time job for 3 months. We’ll see how it goes next week.

In fact I had the urge to attend Emirates cabin crew open day which happened yesterday as I found out that I have an arm reach of more than 212cm even though I’m quite short. I have long arm ;p I submitted my application online and wasn’t shortlisted for the interview. However, I actually thought of going there to submit my application on the spot, who knows it might yield a different result but at the end I didn’t go hehehe… First, I chickened out. Second, my time was quite tight with this weekend job preparations. I would still go there to have a look if I got nothing to do as I’m quite curious with how the whole process is.

That’s all for now. I’ll be back next week 😉

Bulletin Board

Sarawak+Brunei Road Trip (18-25/11/2013) – Part 7

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I’m sure you had enough of my big face that greeted you for the first few days of 2014 hahahaha… Let’s get back to business.

After Bintulu, we drove to Miri. It was about 2-3 hours drive. Not so bad but my nose and my head weren’t in very good shape already.

When we saw this, we were excited! Miri!! Finally! You no longer being greeted by teh-c-peng but blue sea, blue sky. The beach here is far better than the beach in Kuching. However, do bear in mind that Miri is very hot. You’ll easily get tanned or sunburned. Be sure to protect yourself from the notorious sun. I got so tanned few years back after going to Miri for 3 days 2 night. Well… It was also because I didn’t wear hat or use an umbrella and walked a lot.


You see these? You’re in Miri. The seahorse is Miri mascot. You can call it the seahorse city. As for the structure erected on a roundabout near Miri City Fan that looked like a type of hat from the native, I’m not sure what it’s called.


We stayed at Grand Palace Hotel. Was so “lucky”, being assigned to a smoking floor with smoking room! Wanted to request for room change but thought that it shouldn’t be a problem, don’t want to trouble anyone as everyone was very tired already. Guess what?!?! Suffered the whole night from stuffed nose and cough. Really cannot stay in smoking room. Two continuous nights in smoking room was enough to bring me down.


The hotel was good for a comfortable stay. It’s surrounded by many nightspots, eateries, and a hypermarket. However, I would prefer staying in the middle of the city such at Mega or Imperial rather than here, it’s a bit too far away from the city centre. Back then I stayed at Imperial Hotel, the location was quite good, I could walk to many places. What’s more, the awesome view of sunset and the sea. At Grand Palace, all we saw was buildings. A bit disappointing.


After check-in, we headed to Miri Resident Office for the flag off. Folks, don’t forget that it’s Visit Sarawak Year and Visit Malaysia Year this year.

Taken somewhere in the city. If you can locate an eatery called Yi Hah Hai Seafood (1st Floor, No. 892, Jalan Permaisuri, 98000, Miri, Sarawak), that’s where we took the photo.

Sunset mode.


Normal mode.


Love the sunset in Miri. We were in time to catch the sunset. Isn’t the colour amazing? If only we could go to the beach for it.


After taking photos of the sunset, we went to Tanjong Lobang for seafood. It’s the seafood place located on the beach. I think it’s called Taman Selera. The sea is just out there. You’ll get to enjoy the food and the sea breeze. It’s a good thing, it wasn’t raining. However, it sure got me very sticky at the end of the day. Will try my best to recall what were the food, didn’t take note and no idea of the price and which stall we ordered it from too. Was kind of sick to bother too actually. Stuffy and itchy nose coupled with headache and a bit of cough weren’t helping.


Left: Mutton satay, nice! Love it!! Despite being sick and not having good appetite, this sure woke my taste buds.

Right: Seriously, I have no idea what soup is this ;p


Left: Buttered prawn, not bad but didn’t eat much. Sigh… Being sick, resulted in the lack of appetite really couldn’t enjoy any food.

Right: Steamed fish.


Left: Calamari with sambal if not mistaken.

Right: Midin with belacan. Not impressed with it. Only tasted salty, maybe it was me being sick.


Left: Ok… Another unknown dish, I think it’s Nestum chicken. *shrug* Just simply guess, it was sweet though.

Right: Clam in soy sauce, didn’t eat much too.

Actually the food was overall all pretty good but due to me being a sick cat that time, I couldn’t enjoy it properly 🙁

After dinner, we called it a night and continued our journey to Brunei the next day.

Food Porn, Going Places, Land of the Hornbills - Sarawak, Miri