Category: Food Porn

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Spring in Luoyang, China

Posted on By sweet surrender No Comments on Spring in Luoyang, China

Went to Luoyang in Spring but only posted it now and it’s already summer going into autumn soon! Hahaha!!

Luoyang is known as the City of Peonies. We took flight from Kuching to KL using Malaysia Airlines, then to Guangzhou using China Southern Airlines. Stayed a night in Gunagzhou and took the early morning flight to Luoyang with China Southern Airlines. Just the journey itself is tiring enough. We came back by using the route Luoyang to Guangzhou with China Southern Airlines and rushed to the other terminal to catch flight to KK also using China Southern Airlines but we couldn’t check through our luggage. Baiyun Airport is huge! We practically had to run all the way until check-in counter to check in our luggage again. Then from KK to Kuching with Air Asia. The journey took us the whole day just to get home.


We stayed in the new business district, it gave me a feeling of Putrajaya *LOL*. Bustling in the day and practically empty at night! There’s stark difference between the old and new district. You won’t find any cable or wiring throughout the new CBD.



About 5-10 minutes walk from Holiday Inn Express Luoyang City Center, there is a food street(政和路美食街 Zhen He Lu Mei Shi Jie) and a shopping complex. The food street selling all sort of Chinese food. No English menu though… Saw a lot of pork dishes and chicken feet hahaha… Was tempted to buy them but I didn’t. However, I did buy some from the hypermarket instead. Very spicy chicken feet but it was oh so good!!


One of the nights, we decided to go to a fish noodle shop to try out their fish noodle. The name is literally translated as Five Grains Fish Vermicelli(五谷鱼粉). So I ordered their signature dish. There were 5 different types of noodles with fish meat, fish ball, and vegetables. It’s a bit spicy though even though it didn’t look spicy. I can’t remember the taste but it’s not so bad or I was just too hungry that time. Hahaha… Portion was rather huge. Couldn’t finish it.


My colleague ordered their Rou Jia Mo(肉夹馍) aka Chinese hamburger aka pork belly bun. I seriously do not remember the taste of food I had back then, it’s been a long time. Well… Anything with pork is yummy. My colleague was happy with it so means it’s good enough.

Since it’s spring, let me share some photos of flowers I took while we walked around the CBD.


Sakai enough.. First time see real sakura 😛

Peonies were everywhere in the city! So pretty.


My first time seeing real peony too.


Aside from that, there are other flowers around. This looks like mini version of sakura. I’m no flower expert. I only know flowers are pretty hehehe…

Will be posting the tourist attractions I went while I was there soon. Enjoy your weekend!

City of Peonies - Luoyang, Food Porn, Going Places

Hui Lau Shan @ Vivacity Megamall

Posted on By sweet surrender No Comments on Hui Lau Shan @ Vivacity Megamall

Hui Lau Shan, no stranger to many people. To be frank, it’s my first time trying the food there. All the while, I never have any intention to try it out when I was in West Malaysia or China.

Finally, the 20th outlet is now in Kuching inside Vivacity Megamall, also the one and only outlet in East Malaysia. I was fortunate to be able to join the launch which had given me the opportunity to try out their key products that made Hui Lau Shan, Hui Lau Shan 😀 Price is a bit on the higher side but quality is there.


Durian Pancake (RM12 for 2 pieces) filled with cream and real D24 durian flesh is the best of all! It’s a real deal! This is my favourite. The pancake is made fresh on the spot in Kuching since there is no central kitchen. In other word, you will get the freshest Durian Pancake only in Kuching. By the way, durian dishes are only available in Malaysia, China, Hong Kong, and Macao.


Mango is their key ingredient. You can find real mango in the Mango Pancake. They source their mangoes from the Phillipines and Thailand. The pancake is freshly made on the spot as well.



The mochi is basically similar to our onde-onde except the inside isn’t coconut but durian and mango.


Left: Signature Mango Cube and Mango Jelly. Didn’t get to taste this.

Right: Hui Lau Shan is indeed a must-go for mango lovers. Try all the key mango desserts in one order. The Mango Romance is the right one to go for. It’s made up of mango mochi, mango chewy ball & mango crystal jelly.


Left: Mango Pop Pop. Pop the white ball in your mouth to release the the syrupy content in it. The burst of sweet and sour syrup will fill your mouth.

Right: Sago Duet has pomelos in it. I prefer this as it has good balance of sweet and sour.


Left: Mango Chewy Ball. Didn’t try it though. Anyway, the balls are definitely tasteless, the ice cream and mago will give it the flavour. If you like to chew your dessert, this might be for you.


Lastly, to balance out the sweetness, something savoury like this curry fishball will be good. It is very common street food in Hong Kong that you can get here.

Not to forget, Hui Lau Shan’s central kitchen in Malaysia is halal while the one in Kuching is definitely in the process to be certified as one as well.

So? The Hong Kong “King of Dessert” is now in Kuching! Get ready to queue and brace the crowd.

Food Porn, Uniquely Kuching

Nagoya Mansion Hotel & Residence, Batam, Indonesia

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Our tour package in Batam inclusive of hotel stay. We opted for Nagoya Mansion Hotel & Residence because according to the map, it is very convenient to go to the shopping mall.

Batam Hotels – Nagoya Mansion Hotel & Residence is the newest iconic on the island of Batam, the first to offer residential, hotel and lifestyle facilities in one environment. Other facilities are available to support your business and leisure activities include Meeting Rooms, La Bamba Restaurant, La Brisa Juice Bar, La Brisa Foodpark, Parlente Bar, Swimming pool, La Destino Fitness Centre, Bakery & Pastry Shop.

After the tour, we check-in in the evening. The staffs were friendly and helpful. However, one problem, they were extremely slow in servicing you when you request something from your room. We waited forever for a toilet roll and we ended up took it directly from the housekeeping staff who we bumped into who happened to be pushing the trolley to clean up other rooms while we were on the way out.

The room was spacious and cozy enough.

Basic coffee/tea making facilities were stocked.
Bathroom were also spacious as well with all the basic toiletries available.



Our room is facing the city view. This is how one side of Batam looks like.


They have pool and gym but we didn’t bring anything for these activities. Then again, I don’t think I will dare to swim there in my swimsuit. People are already looking at you one kind with sleeveless and shorts, what’s more in swimsuits -.-”


The breakfast buffet was not too bad. Not too small, not too big.

Next, sharing with you the food that I had. Those food that were supposed to be sweet were really sweet. I couldn’t stand it.

Left: Black glutinous rice waffle which was something interesting to try. It was too sweet for it.
Right: Porridge with all sort of condiments.

Left: Olives!! I just emptied the whole bowl, oppss…
Right: Colourful vegetables at the salad counter.

Left: The very sweet glutinous rice, I couldn’t stomach it after one small spoon.
Right: First time eating and seeing real passion fruit.

Overall, the place is clean enough to stay. The receptionists were very good.

As for walking to the shopping mall, it sure wasn’t a pleasant walk. Road conditions were bad and felt unsafe with all the wolf whistling, staring, and name callings, you will get it as long that you’re a foreigner lady even if you are decently dressed. Luckily there were two of us but we walked really fast and kept observing our surrounding.

Address: Kampung Utama, Jl. Imam Bonjol No.1, Lubuk Baja Kota, Batam Kota, Kota Batam, Kepulauan Riau 29444, Indonesia

This concludes my Batam trip. It sure is one very different experience. Be thankful with what we have.

Food Porn, Going Places, Moi Musing - Batam, Review It!

Short Getaway at Batam, Indonesia (28-30 Dec 2016) – Part 1

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Busy April. Too many things going on. Finally get to update my last year’s trip to Batam. Another record broken for not updating for 2 weeks.


It was quite an impromptu decision, no idea where to go. Friend said why not go to Singapore then pop by Batam then back to Singapore for new year’s countdown. That’s how we decided to go to Batam. Found cheap tour package also, why not? I spent less than RM200 there for 3 days 2 night while the return ferry ticket, tour, and hotel room were less than RM300 for 2 pax. We didn’t splurge there too, nothing to buy. We can get them all in Malaysia with cheaper price, better quality, and authenticity guaranteed.

Once we arrived, was caught in surprise that we had to pay potter fee to the potter which we were not informed of to release our check-in luggage. Can’t remember how much though. Our tour guide and bus were there ready waiting for us. We got on the the bus and the tour started.

The itinerary gave us an impression that we were going to many places but hahaha… Felt a bit cheated because it’s all around the corner, hop on and hop off and not what we expected, even just across the street also we got on the bus to be driven over.

I guess Malaysians will not feel that it is anything special because we have it better than here and shopping isn’t as cheap as expected due to our weak currency, they didn’t even want our currency! What’s more, the products at the factory outlets didn’t look genuine to me. I could get genuine ones at Parkson with cheaper price. Read a bit about the place online and had rather high expectations on it but it wasn’t as good as described(well… at least the tourism ministry sure is doing the right thing in terms of marketing though, describe about the place so wellyet it’s not as good as described, maybe we’re on the wrong tour :P). However, looking at the place and the people, it sure did give me a sense of appreciation of what I have back home.


We were grouped with tourists from mainland Chinese as we understand the language. We went to visit Cheng Ho Mosque, nothing much, just a red small mosque, a mosque dedicated to Cheng Ho, we didn’t go in but just stopped for a quick photo. Next, we stopped by chocolate shop, again… bought nothing, went in one round, out we went back into the bus, we would get all these in Malaysia, cheaper…


Kueh lapis, if you are from Sarawak, you won’t bother hahah! I tried it, I prefer ours. It’s so expensive here also! You can get it much cheaper in major shopping malls in Batam.


Same row of shops, an illusion museum. I didn’t go in because it’s optional, means need to pay extra. We only signed up for the basic package and I’m glad we did.


Still at the same row of shops, coffee outlet. If you like coffee, why not? Can find kopi luwak or civet coffee here. I didn’t buy or try any because I don’t drink coffee.


Nicely packaged coffee powder and beans of various variance for buyers to choose. Tried the coffee chips, coffee flavoured chips! At least something I’ve never tried.


After that, went into the next few shops, the same row!! *LOL* 1st Factory Outlet and Polo Ralph Lauren Factory Outlet. Went in one round and out empty handed. We(including Singaporeans and a handful of mainland Chinese) ended up waiting in the bus catching up with sleep and enjoy the air conditioning while waiting for those in the illusion museum and factory outlets to come back. Can imagine how boring it was haha… The again, it’s just a very leisurely trip for me. I had no specific things to see or buy, just want to relax, no hassle, no rush, just to get out of the country, go to somewhere I’ve not been before.

To be continued…

Food Porn, Going Places, Moi Musing - Batam

Win Soon Cafe @ iCom Square

Posted on By sweet surrender No Comments on Win Soon Cafe @ iCom Square

Win Soon Cafe located at iCom Square is another latest addition to the F&B scene in Kuching. Out of curiosity, we checked it out. Food wasn’t cheap at all, almost all dishes priced at above RM10, likely due to the prawn and fish head.

Obviously, prawn and fish head beehoon/meehoon are their specialty.
Right: I hope I got this name correct, it’s fish paste meehoon. This dish was extremely salty.


Fish head meehoon soup and fish paste meehoon soup. The soup is milky and salty. Too salty for me, gosh…

Not a place I would come back again. All too salty. Nothing special though. I’m sure you can get it cheaper and nicer at other places. I’m just not a fan of these type of dishes.

Food Porn